Learning in inclusive classrooms

Abstract

In this chapter, the pragmatic starting position for discussing learning and teaching in inclusive classrooms is ‘where we are now’ in England, a context in which a concept of inclusion is broadly supported in national policy documents (DfES, 2004) but where a role is retained for special schools and local policies and procedures vary widely. In a situation where educational resources are limited and educational aims and values differ, the development of a more consistently inclusive education system with children learning together in mainstream schools becomes a matter of balancing certain opposing demands and goals – at least in the short-term future. It depends on identifying the cluster of values, beliefs and activities that succeeds in maximising children’s engagement in learning while minimising the marginalisation or exclusion of certain groups or individuals in the school system. This cluster includes what we understand and want learning to be. At the very least, inclusive education involves schools in welcoming children to participate as pupils, without setting arbitrary boundaries based on previous attainment, social characteristics, behaviour, linguistic proficiency, sensory and physical skills, or assumptions about intellectual potential. However, inclusive education also implies that the children are not just present in classrooms, but that they learn and succeed in this context.