Beyond a ‘culture of silence’: inclusive education and the liberation of ‘voice’

Abstract

Contemporary research into ‘voice as discourse’ alerts one to the continuing presence of barriers in education settings. With reference to the ‘voice’ of those labelled with ‘Special Educational Needs’ and/or ‘Disability’, this article suggests these barriers are the effects of an unconscious commitment to aspects of modernism leading to distortions in understandings. The effect of these distortions is not only that the voices of the ‘disabled’ and other oppressed groups cannot find expression, but that all inhabitants of the institution, including staff and non‐disabled peers, are victims of a ‘Culture of Silence’, an alienation muffling authentic voices rendering dialogue impossible. The article concludes by arguing for these barriers to be acknowledged, creating a space where the Culture of Silence can be explored, understood and challenged. In so doing it is argued that possibilities may emerge for more inclusive ways of being and working in education.