Inclusion Illusion: Questioning the Inclusiveness of Integrated Physical Education

ABSTRACT

Globally, integrated school placements as well as inclusion as an education philosophy have emerged as influential trends in education over the past 30 years. Although used interchangeably at times, inclusion and integration are distinct. Confusion about inclusion and integration can lead to mixed messages, which oftentimes affect the education of students with disabilities in school-based physical education. The purposes of this article are twofold. First, the author will provide a brief narrative to clarify the distinction between inclusion as a philosophy and integration as a placement. Second, the author will examine whether empirical data support integrated physical education placements as being inclusive. Existing literature examining the embodied perspectives of students with disabilities, as well as previously unpublished non-fiction reflections from one man with a visual impairment, are utilized to guide the conversation about whether integrated physical education settings are providing inclusive experiences.

KEYWORDS:

• Placement
• special education
• students with disabilities
• visual impairment; social justice

Notes

1. A person-first approach to disability language, informed by a rights-based approach to understanding disability, is deliberately used in this article to be respectful and demonstrate support for social inclusion and disability rights (Peers, Spencer-Cavaliere, & Eales, 2014; Shakespeare, 2013).