Achieving Education for All –Together

Abstract

Education for All (EFA) is a global movement led by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). The goals of EFA are to provide education to all people, including children, youth, and adults. However, although the opportunity of receiving education is increasing, we need to be cautious if people receive education in discriminatory environments. Susan Peters (2004) suggested that we should promote not only education for all, but also education for all together. That is, an inclusive learning environment. Inclusive education has been recognized as a strategy to reach the EFA goals in the Dakar Framework for Action (Peters, 2004). Through this comparative study of inclusive education in the United States and in Taiwan, we can learn how different countries are taking action to deal with similar educational challenges. Three research questions are addressed in this paper: (a) what are the historical and theoretical backgrounds underlying the policies of inclusive education in the U.S. and in Taiwan; (b) what are the practices that fulfill the requirements of the policies of inclusive education in these two countries; and (c) what are the challenges for policy-makers in inclusive education in these two countries? Recommendations for achieving the EFA goals in the U.S. and in Taiwan are provided.