The Making of the Inclusive School

Book excerpt: Inclusion is a buzzword of the 1990s. Politicians now stress their commitment to inclusion and social justice - not competition. For schools, inclusion means accepting and educating all children, irrespective of their difficulties. The new inclusive mood is about including everyone in society's institutions. It has created a growing demand for schools to find effective ways of including and teaching all children - even those who at one time would have been sent to special schools. The book combines a theoretical examination of inclusion and its rationale with the story of a group of schools in which teachers, assistants and children have striven to make inclusion happen. This new book * explores the arguments for inclusive schools * examines the international evidence about children's well-being and academic progress in inclusive schools * describes how the pioneers have developed their practice for inclusion * presents the findings of an in-depth 18 month study of a group of schools which have striven to make inclusion happen