Inclusive Education Ideal at the Negotiating Table: Accounts of Educational Possibilities for Disabled Children Within Inter‐Disciplinary Team Meetings

Abstract

The debate about whether to include all kinds of students in the general education classrooms is a current topic in the European and Scandinavian educational policy. This paper comes to grips with this topic by focusing on the process through which professionals define educational possibilities and risks for one group of children considered as special needs children. The study is based on the transcripts of four Finnish interdisciplinary team meetings in which professionals and parents negotiate for the school choices of preschool‐aged children with cochlear implants. Analysis of the data is based on the principles of qualitative discourse analytical methods of conversation. Results show that despite the presence of an inclusive ideal in the meetings, the realisation of the ideal cannot be fulfilled when an appeal is made to limitations in resources in general education or when referring to the lack of skills, fundamental differences or vulnerable personalities of particular children.