How do we make inclusive education happen when exclusion is a political predisposition?

Abstract

Convening a conference under the banner: Making Inclusion Happen, reminds us that the struggle for disabled people's rights to the minimum expectations of citizenship; access to education, work, housing, health care, civic connection remains urgent. Notwithstanding the hard fought for United Nations, human rights charters and national legislation around the world, declaring legal commitment to rid ourselves of discrimination on the grounds of disability, these landmark civil rights achievements will not in and of themselves rid us of exclusion. We can test this proposition simply by considering the caveats, conditions and exemptions in legislation such as Disability Discrimination Acts and international charters such as the recent United Nations Convention on the Rights of Disabled Persons and its Optional Protocol.

Keywords:

• social exclusion
• inclusive education
• special education
• disability studies

Notes

^†This paper is a revised version of a keynote address to the conference in New Zealand, Making Inclusion Happen, which was convened by the Inclusive Education Action Group in September 2009.