Mixed feelings: towards a continuum of inclusive pedagogies

Abstract

This paper presents approaches to inclusion taken by primary teachers and discusses the institutional contexts in which these are located. Focusing on the development of enabling practices for the inclusion of children accredited with ‘special educational needs’ (SEN), a continuum of approaches is identified, ranging from inclusive to integrationist and exclusionary orientated stances. Here we draw on data gathered through interviews with teachers in seven primary schools in the North of England. The implications of schools' and teachers' understanding of inclusion and attitudes towards its implementation are explored with reference to wider Local Education Authority policies. A range of strategies towards inclusive school cultures are highlighted. A number of barriers are identified and we explore the potential impacts of more restricted practices and circumstances. The paper concludes by highlighting the need for schools to establish cultures which minimise assumptions of difference and which give rise to genuinely inclusive teacher practices.

Keywords:

• inclusion
• inclusive education
• inclusive pedagogies

Acknowledgements

The research on which this article was based (The social impacts of inclusion on pupils with SEN and their mainstream peers, 2006–2009 – Award Reference: RES-061-23-0069-A) was funded by the Economic and Social Research Council, whose support is gratefully acknowledged. We would also like to thank Dr Phil Bayliss, of the University of Exeter, and Dr Maria Paraskevopoulou, of Roehampton University, for their helpful comments and suggestions on an earlier version of this manuscript.

Notes

1. Many children in this study spoke of dissatisfaction with school toilets. It was apparent from school visits (preceding interviews with children and observations) that disagreements were commonly addressed within toilet areas.

2. Only 5% of these schools expressed any interest in involvement. Pseudonyms are used here to protect the anonymity of the participating schools and individual pupils, wherever mentioned.

3. For Bourdieu, ‘habitus’ is the set of durable dispositions that people carry with them that shapes their attitudes, behaviours and responses to given situations. Habitus can therefore be understood as, on the one hand, the historical and cultural production of individual practices and, on the other hand, the ways in which those individuals engage in practices. ‘Doxa’ is used by Bourdieu to refer to a set of core values and discourses which a field articulates as its fundamental principles and which tend to be viewed as inherently true and necessary (see Webb, Shirato, and Danaher (2002) for an introduction).

4. To avoid potential ethical problems inherent in sociometric research, our assessment of the pupils' social status formed a small part of a much broader interview addressing a wide range of issues.

5. In their review of relevant literature Lewis and Norwich concluded that there is insufficient evidence to substantiate the existence of distinctive special pedagogies for particular groups of pupils with SEN. Rather, the notion of ‘continua of teaching approaches’ is useful, as it implies that children with SEN simply require more intensive and explicit teaching.

6. The concept of ‘institutional habitus’ suggests that an individual's behaviour is mediated through the organisation. It should be understood as more than the culture of the educational institution; it refers to relational issues and priorities, which are deeply embedded and informing practice.