Broadening the view of inclusion from a social justice perspective. A scoping review of the literature

ABSTRACT

At the present time, it is of interest to promote reflection on educational and social inclusion within a framework of social justice, in order to promote the quality of education. A scoping review approach is adopted from a critical perspective of inclusion, to deconstruct the predominant judgment of educational inclusion and reveal the processes of exclusion and duality that underlie the school environment. A review of the WOS, SCOPUS and ERIC databases was conducted. Seventy-nine articles published in international journals addressing this topic were obtained. Thematic analysis was conducted using the Nvivo software package. The emerging themes include arguments for: rethink to inclusion within the framework of diversity and social justice; arguing the possibilities of inclusion/exclusion depend on various factors and the sociocultural and professional context; calling for greater commitment, ethics and professionalism to meet the challenges of inclusion; denouncing persistent barriers to be overcome; and, finally, calling for new roles and scenarios for support services.

KEYWORDS:

• Quality of education
• social justice
• inclusive education
• critical inclusion
• special educational needs

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Note: Systematic review references are marked with *

Additional information

Funding

This article has been propared within the framework of the research project: Expanded Professional Learnig Communities and Collaborative network for Sustainable Development and Inclusion (Reference: B-SEJ-234-UGR20), funded by ERDF 2020 Operational Programme (Andalusia 2014-2020).

Notes on contributors

Lorena Domingo-Martos

Dr Lorena Domingo-Martos is Teacher of Therapeutic Pedagogy in Madrid. Psychopedagogue, Master in Special Education from the Complutense University of Madrid and Ph.D. Education Sciences from the University of Granada. Her current line of research deals with “a critical look at Inclusive Education” Author of several articles in this line of work.

Jesús Domingo-Segovia

Dr Jesús Domingo-Segovia is Full Professor at the Department of Didactics and School Organization of the Faculty of Educational Sciences, University of Granada. Member of RILME (Research Network on Leadership and School Improvement). Associate Editor of the journal “Profesorado”. His line of research deals with “Leadership and counselling in education for the improvement of quality, equity and democratisation of education”. He is currently Principal Investigator of the R+D+i project "Extended Professional Learning Communities and Collaborative Networks for Sustainable Development and Inclusion: New Governance and Social Capital.

Purificación Pérez-García

Dr María Purificación Pérez-García is Full Professor at the Department of Didactics and School Organization of the Faculty of Educational Sciences, University of Granada. She directs the research group “Training, Development and Teaching Activity”. Teaching Excellence Award granted by the University of Granada. Her lines of research focus on “Professional ethics in initial teacher training” and “neuroeducation”.