Looking in the mirror: reflecting on 25 years of inclusive education in Australia

ABSTRACT

Australia was an early signatory to the Salamanca Statement, and it espouses inclusive education (IE) as the overarching philosophy of education for all. A 2015 critique of IE in Australia [Anderson and Boyle 2015. “Inclusive Education in Australia: Rhetoric, Reality and the Road Ahead.” Support for Learning 30 (1): 4–22. doi:10.1111/1467-9604.12074] found that while some gains had been made, particularly in the recognition of the needs of some of the nation's minority groups, the lack of a nationally accepted understanding of IE meant that it was transpiring in fundamentally distinctive ways across the eight education jurisdictions, with different outcomes for different groups of students. This paper reflects upon why Australia has struggled to enact the recommendations outlined in the Salamanca Statement a quarter of a century ago. The impacts of current education reforms, including the current model of educational provision, the understanding of disability and educational need, and the neo-liberal concepts of standardisation, measurement, and choice are explored. It challenges the idea that IE is the work of schools, and instead argues the need for a national approach to IE. Governments must acknowledge the barriers that their current policies and structures erect and shift towards a more inclusive model of educational delivery – for the benefit of all children and young people in Australia.

KEYWORDS:

• Inclusive education
• the Salamanca Statement
• Australia
• neo-liberalism
• education reform

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes on contributors

Joanna Anderson is a PhD research student in the Graduate School of Education at the University of Exeter in the UK. Her main research interests are inclusive education and the contexts within which it exists, and school leadership and inclusive education. Jo works as a Lecturer in Inclusive Education at the University of New England in Australia.

Christopher Boyle Ph.D., is based in the Graduate School of Education, University of Exeter. He is currently Associate Professor of Educational Psychology and Inclusive Education. He has been an education and psychology practitioner for over 20 years.

ORCID

Christopher Boyle http://orcid.org/0000-0001-6196-7619