Inclusive education in Thailand: practices and challenges

Abstract

In 2008, Thailand passed legislation on the educational provisions for students with disabilities to mandate the implementation of inclusive education. This article provides a historical overview of special education in Thailand and the emergence of inclusive education as it moves from policy to practice. To further identify the challenges faced in the implementation of inclusive education, this article reports the findings of a qualitative research study on the perspectives of school leaders from ‘inclusive schools’ that reveal a range of issues, including cultural perceptions about disability, current policies, financing of inclusion and other salient concerns.

Keywords:

• inclusive education
• special education
• policy
• practice
• Thailand

Notes on contributors

Sermsap Vorapanya has been Principal, Naraiwittaya School, Lopburi, Thailand, since 2009. She obtained her PhD in Educational Methodology, Policy, and Leadership, from the College of Education, University of Oregon, Eugene, Oregon, USA in December 2008. She did her Master of Science (MS) in Early Intervention and Special Education, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR, USA in August 2005. Her research interests are policy in special education, linked system in inclusive education, mainstreaming school administration, and classroom management for diversity and mixed abilities students.

Diane Dunlap is Professor Emeritus, University of Oregon, Oregon, USA. Her research interests are diversity in education, women in education, educational leadership, and policy and organisation.