ERIC Number: EJ1142402
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2017
Pages: 20
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1360-3116
EISSN: N/A
Available Date: N/A
Beyond the Binary: Rethinking Teachers' Understandings of and Engagement with Inclusion
Woodcock, Stuart; Hardy, Ian
International Journal of Inclusive Education, v21 n6 p667-686 2017
This article presents research into Canadian elementary and secondary teachers' understandings of inclusion. The research investigates how a sample of 120 teachers in the southern part of Ontario defined inclusion, and the extent to which they believed an inclusive classroom is an effective way to teach all students. The article draws upon literature into how inclusion is currently defined followed by research into the politics of diversity in inclusive education; the latter signals the socio-political aporia which attends many understandings of inclusion. The study employs Nancy Fraser's conception of justice as requiring redistribution, recognition, and representation; Fraser's approach also demands attention to issues of recognition as intimately connected with concerns about social status. The findings reveal teachers' relative lack of attention to issues of resourcing, but considerable emphasis upon issues of representation. While issues of recognition are largely valued, there is a tendency to reify categories of student identity, rather than challenging concerns about the lack of social status attending such foci. The research reveals a push "beyond the binary" of considering teachers' practices as either inclusive or exclusive, and how teachers' engagement with resource provision, recognition of learners, and representation of student needs exists along contingent and intersecting spectra.
Descriptors: Foreign Countries, Elementary School Teachers, Secondary School Teachers, Inclusion, Mainstreaming, Social Justice, Regular and Special Education Relationship, Teacher Attitudes, Politics of Education, Student Diversity, Resource Allocation, Social Status, Student Participation, Teacher Surveys
Routledge. Available from: Taylor & Francis, Ltd. 530 Walnut Street Suite 850, Philadelphia, PA 19106. Tel: 800-354-1420; Tel: 215-625-8900; Fax: 215-207-0050; Web site: http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Elementary Education; Secondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Canada
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: N/A