Chapter 2: Concept of

Inclusion
 Learning Objectives
 After the students have studied this
chapter, they will be able to:
 Define inclusion,
 Discuss the concept of inclusion in
education,
 Identify reason regarding shift from special
education and integrated education
inclusion,
 Differentiate the major rationales for
inclusion,
 conʼt
 List factors that influenced development of
inclusion,
 Identify benefits of inclusion to students,
teachers‘ parents and society,
 Name major characteristics of inclusive
school and inclusive classroom environments,
 Point out strategies to implement inclusion
in teaching and learning processes
 Differentiate the major barriers to inclusion.
2.1. Definition of Inclusion
 Inclusionin education/service refers to ― ”an
ongoing process aimed at offering quality
education/services for all while respecting
diversity and the different needs and abilities,
characteristics and learning expectations of the
students and communities and eliminating all
forms of discrimination “(UNESCO, 2008, P.3, as
cited in EADSNE, 2010, p.11).
 Inclusive
services at any level are quality
provisions without discrimination or partiality and
meeting the diverse needs of people.
 conʼt
 Inclusionis seen as a process of addressing
and responding to the diversity of needs of all
persons through increasing participation in
learning, employment, services, cultures and
communities, and reducing exclusion at all
social contexts.
 Itinvolves changes and modifications in
content, approaches, structures and
strategies, with a common vision which covers
all people, a conviction that it is the
responsibility of the social system to educate
 conʼt
 inclusion is defined as having a wide range of strategies, activities
and processes that seek to make a reality of the universal right to
quality, relevant and appropriate education and services.
 It acknowledges that learning begins at birth and continues
throughout life, and includes learning in the home, the community,
and in formal, informal and non-formal situations.
 It seeks to enable communities, systems and structures in all
cultures and contexts to combat discrimination, celebrate
diversity, promote participation and overcome barriers to learning
and participation for all people.
 It is part of a wider strategy promoting inclusive development,
with the goal of creating a world where there is peace, tolerance,
and sustainable use of resources, social justice, and where the
basic needs and rights of all are met.
This definition has the following
 1) Concepts about learners
components:
 Education is a fundamental human right for all
people
 Learning begins at birth and continues
throughout life
 All children have a right to education within
their own community
 Everyone can learn, and any child can
experience difficulties in learning
 All learners need their learning supported
2) Concepts about the education
system and schools
 It is broader than formal schooling
 it is flexible, responsive educational
systems
 It creates enabling and welcoming
educational environments
 It promotes school improvement – makes
effective schools
 It involves whole school approach and
collaboration between partners.
3) Concepts about diversity and
discrimination
 It promotes combating discrimination and
exclusionary pressures at any social sectors
 It enables responding to/embracing
diversity as a resource not as a problem
 It prepares learners for an inclusive society
that respects and values difference.
4) Concepts about processes to
promote inclusion
 It helps to identifying and overcoming
barriers to participation and exclusionary
pressures
 It increases real participation of all
collaboration, partnership between all
stakeholders
 It promotes participatory methodology,
action research, collaborative enquiry and
other related activities
5) Concepts about resources
 Promotes unlocking and fully using local
resources redistributing existing resources
 It helps to perceive people (children, parents,
teachers, members of marginalized groups,
etc) as key resources
 It helps to use appropriate resources and
support within schools and at local levels for
the needs of different children, e.g. mother
tongue tuition, Braille, assistive devices.
McLeskey and Waldron (2000) have
identified inclusion and non-inclusive
practices.
 According to them inclusion includes the
following components:
 Students with disabilities and vulnerability
attend their neighborhood schools
 Each student is in an age-appropriate general
education classroom
 Every student is accepted and regarded as a
full and valued member of the class and the
school community.
 conʼt

Special education supports are provided to each student with
a disability within the context of the general education
classroom.
 All students receive an education that addresses their
individual needs
 No student is excluded based on type or degree of disability.
 All members of the school (e.g., administration, staff,
students, and parents) promote cooperative/collaborative
teaching arrangements
 There is school-based planning, problem-solving, and
ownership of all students and programs
 Employed according to their capacities without
discriminations
On the other hand, they argue that
inclusion does not mean:
 Placing students with disabilities into general
education classrooms without careful planning
and adequate support.
 Reducing services or funding for special
education services.
 Placing all students who have disabilities or
who are at risk in one or a few designated
classrooms.
 conʼt
 Teachers spending a disproportionate amount of time
teaching or adapting the curriculum for students with
disabilities.
 Isolating students with disabilities socially, physically,
or academically within the general education school or
classroom.
 Endangering the achievement of general education
students through slower instruction or a less
challenging curriculum.
 Relegating special education teachers to the role of
assistants in the general education classroom.
 Requiring general and special education teachers to
 2. Principles of Inclusion
 The fundamental principle of inclusion is that all
persons should learn, work and live together
wherever possible, regardless of any difficulties
or differences they may have.
 Inclusive education extends beyond special
needs arising from disabilities, and includes
consideration of other sources of disadvantage
and marginalization, such as gender, poverty,
language, ethnicity, and geographic isolation.
 The complex inter-relationships that exist
among these factors and their interactions with
 conʼt
 Besides, inclusion begins with the premise that all
persons have unique characteristics, interests, abilities
and particular learning needs and, further, that all
persons have equal access education, employment and
services.
 Inclusion implies transition from separate, segregated
learning and working environments for persons with
disabilities to community based systems.
 Moreover, effective transitions from segregated services
to inclusive system requires careful planning and
structural changes to ensure that persons with disabilities
are provided with appropriate accommodation and
supports that ensure an inclusive learning and working
environment.
UNESCO (2005) has provided four
major inclusion principles that support
inclusive practice
 1. Inclusion is a process.
 It has to be seen as a never-ending search to find
better ways of responding to diversity.
 It is about learning how to live with difference and
learning how to learn from difference.
 Differences come to be seen more positively as a
stimulus for fostering learning amongst children and
adults.
 conʼt
 2. Inclusion is concerned with the identification
and removal of barriers that hinders the
development of persons with disabilities.
 It involves collecting, collating and evaluating
information from a wide variety of sources in
order to plan for improvements in policy and
practice.
 It is about using evidence of various kinds to
stimulate creativity and problem - solving.
 conʼt
 3. Inclusion is about the presence,
participation and achievement of all
persons.
 ‘Presence’ is concerned with where persons
are provided and how reliably and
punctually they attend; ‘participation’
relates to the quality of their experiences
and must incorporate the views of
learners/and or workers and ‘achievement’
is about the outcomes of learning across the
curriculum, not just test and exam results.
 conʼt
 4.Inclusion invokes a particular
emphasis on those who may be at
risk of marginalization, exclusion or
underachievement.
 This indicates the moral
responsibility to ensure that those
‘at risk’ are carefully monitored, and
that steps are taken to ensure their
presence, participation and
achievement.
 2. Rationale for Inclusion
 Implementation of inclusion has number of
rationales. The major ones include: educational,
social, legal, economic and inclusive society
building foundations
 Rationales for Inclusion and Their Respective
Descriptions
 Educational Foundations
 Children do better academically, psychologically
and socially in inclusive settings.
 A more efficient use of education resources.
 Decreases dropouts and repetitions
Social Foundation

Segregation teaches individuals to be fearful,
ignorant and breeds prejudice.

 All individuals need an education that will help

them develop relationships and prepare them
for life in the wider community.

 Only inclusion has the potential to reduce fear

and to build friendship, respect and
understanding.
 Legal Foundations
 All individuals have the right to learn
and live together.
 Human being shouldn‘t be devalued or
discriminated against by being
excluded or sent away because of their
disability.
 There are no legitimate reasons to
separate children for their education
Economic Foundation
 Inclusive education has economic benefit,
both for individual and for society.
 Inclusive education is more cost-effective
than the creation of special schools across the
country.
 Children with disabilities go to local schools
 Reduce wastage of repetition and dropout
 Children with disabilities live with their family
use community infrastructure
 Better employment and job creation
 Foundations for Building Inclusive
Society
Formation of mutual understanding and
appreciation of diversity
 Building up empathy, tolerance and
cooperation
 Promotion of sustainable development
 2.3. Factors that Influenced
Development of Inclusion
 Inclusiveness originated from three major ideas.
 These include: inclusive education is a basic human
right; quality education results from inclusion of
students with diverse needs and ability differences, and
there is no clear demarcation between the
characteristics of students with and without disabilities
and vulnerabilities.
 Therefore, separate provisions for such students cannot
be justified.
 Moreover, inclusion has got the world‘s attention
because it is supposed to solve the world‘s major
Inclusive education is facilitated by many
influencing actors. Some of the major drivers
include:
1. Communities: pre-colonial and indigenous
approaches to education and community-based
programs movement that favor inclusion of their
community members.
 2. Activists and advocates: the combined voices
of primary stakeholders – representatives of
groups of learners often excluded and
marginalized from education (e.g. disabled
activists; parents advocating for their children;
child rights advocates; and those advocating for
women/girls and minority ethnic groups).
 conʼt
 3.
The quality education and school
improvement movement: in both North and
South, the issues of quality, access and inclusion
are strongly linked, and contribute to the
understanding and practice of inclusive
education as being the responsibility of
education systems and schools.
 4.Special educational needs movement: the
‘new thinking’ of the special needs education
movement – as demonstrated in the Salamanca
Statement – has been a positive influence on
inclusive education, enabling schools and
 conʼt
 5.Involvement of International agencies: the
UN is a major influence on the development of
inclusive education policy and practice. Major
donors have formed a partnership – the Fast
Track Initiative – to speed progress towards
the EFA goals. E.g. UNESCO, etc.
 6.Involvement of NGOs movements, networks
and campaigns: a wide range of civil society
initiatives, such as the Global Campaign for
Education, seek to bring policy and practice
together and involve all stakeholders based on
different situations
 7. Other factors:
 the current world situation and practical experiences in
education.
 The current world situation presents challenges such as
the spread of HIV/AIDS, political instability, trends in
resource distribution, diversity of population, and social
inclusion.
 This necessitates implementation of inclusion to solve
the problems. On the other hand, practical experiences
in education offers lessons learned from failure and
success in mainstream, special and inclusive education.
 Moreover, practical demonstrations of successful
inclusive education in different cultures and contexts
are a strong influence on its development
 Benefits of Inclusion
 1. Benefits for Students with Special Needs Education
 In inclusive settings people will develop:
 Appropriate models of behavior.
 They can observe and imitate socially acceptable
behaviors of the students without special needs
 Improved friendships with the social environment
 Increased social initiations, interactions, relationships
and networks
 Gain peer role models for academic, social and
behavior skills
 Increased achievement of individualized educational
program (IEP) goals

Greater access to general curriculum
conʼt
 Enhanced skill acquisition and generalization
in their learning
 improved academic achievement which leads
to quality education services
 Attending inclusive schools increases the
probability that students with SEN will
continue to participate in a variety of
integrated settings throughout their lives
(increased inclusion in future environments
that contribute building of inclusive society).
 conʼt
 Improved school staff collaboration to
meet these students‘ needs and ability
differences
 Increased parental participation to meet
these students‘ needs and ability
differences
 Enhanced families integration into the
community
2. Benefits for persons without Special
Needs Education

Have a variety of opportunities for interacting with
their age peers who experience SEN in inclusive school
settings.
 serve as peer tutors during instructional activities
 Play the role of a special ‘buddy‘ during lunch, in the
bus or playground.
 Gain knowledge of a good deal about tolerance,
individual difference, and human exceptionality.
 Learn that students with SEN have many positive
characteristics and abilities.

Have chance to learn about many of the human service
profession such as special education, speech therapy, physical
therapy, recreation therapy, and vocational rehabilitation.
 For some, exposure to these areas may lead to career choices.
 Have increased appreciation, acceptance and respect of
individual differences among human beings that leads to
increased understanding and acceptance of diversity
 Get greater opportunities to master activities by practicing and
teaching others
 Have increased academic outcomes
 have opportunity to learn to communicate, and deal effectively
with a wide range of individuals; this prepares them to fully
participate in society when they are adults that make them build
an inclusive society
3. Benefits for Teachers and
Parents/Family
 Inclusive education has benefit to teachers.
 The benefit includes: developing their
knowledge and skills that meet diverse
students‘ needs and ability differences to
enhancing their skills to work with their
stakeholders; and gaining satisfaction in
their profession and other aspects.
 Similarly,parents/family benefit from
inclusive education.
 conʼt
 For example, parents benefit from
implementation of inclusive education in
developing their positive attitude towards
their children‘s education, positive feeling
toward their participation, and appreciation
to differences among humankinds and so on.
 For detailed information, see the table
below. when they participate in inclusive
education of their children
 Benefits for Teachers
 They have more opportunities to learn new ways to
teach different kinds of students.
 They gain new knowledge, such as the different ways
children learn and can be taught.
 They develop more positive attitudes and approaches
towards different people with diverse needs.
 They have greater opportunities to explore new ideas
by communicating more often with others from within
and outside their school, such as in school clusters or
teacher networks, or with parents and community
members.
 They can encourage their students to be more
 conʼt
 They can experience greater job satisfaction and a higher
sense of accomplishment when ALL children are succeeding
in school to the best of their abilities.
 They get opportunities to exchange information about
instructional activities and teaching strategies, thus
expanding the skills of both general and special educators
 They benefit from develop Developing teamwork and
collaborative problem-solving skills to creatively address
challenges regarding student learning
 Develop positive attitude that help them promoting the
recognition and appreciation that all students have strengths
and are contributing members of the school community as
well as the society
Benefits for Parents/Family
 Learn more about how their children are being
educated in schools with their peers in an
inclusive environment
 Become personally involved and feel a greater
sense of accomplishment in helping their
children to learn.
 Feel valued and consider themselves as equal
partners in providing quality learning
opportunities for children.
 Learn how to deal better with their children at
home by using techniques that the teachers
 conʼt
 Find out ways to interact with others in the
community, as well as to understand and help
solve each other‘s problems.
 Know that their children—and ALL children—
are receiving a quality education.
 Experience positive attitude about themselves
and their children by seeing their children
accepted by others, successful in the inclusive
setting, and belonging to the community where
they live
2.5. Benefits for Society
 Inclusion goes beyond education and should
involve consideration of employment,
recreation, health and living conditions.
 It should therefore involve transformations
across all government and other agencies at
all levels of society.
 When students with special needs and
without special needs are educated through
quality inclusive education, it not only
benefits students, teachers and parents it
also benefits the society
Some of the major benefits may
include:
 Introduction of students with disabilities and
vulnerabilities into mainstream schools bring
in the students into local communities and
neighborhoods and helps break down barriers
and prejudice that prevail in the society
towards persons with disability.
 Communities become more accepting of
difference, and everyone benefits from a
friendlier, open environment that values and
appreciates differences in human beings.
 conʼt
 Meaningful participation in the
economic, social, political and
cultural life of communities own
cost effective non-segregated
schooling system that services both
students with and without special
needs education.
 Ultimate Goal of Inclusion
 The goal of inclusive education is to create
schools where everyone belongs.
 By creating inclusive schools, we ensure that
there‘s a welcoming place in the community for
everyone after their school year‘s end.
 Students educated together have a greater
understanding of difference and diversity.
 Students educated together have fewer fears
about difference and disability.
 An inclusive school culture creates better long-
term outcomes for all students.
 conʼt
 Typical students who are educated alongside
peers with developmental disabilities understand
more about the ways that they‘re all alike.
 These are the students who will be our
children‘s peer group and friends. These
students hold the promise of creating inclusive
communities in the future for all our children.
 These students will be the teachers, principals,
doctors, lawyers, and parents who build
communities where everyone belongs.
 conʼt
 Inclusivesociety is a necessary precondition for
inclusive growth is a society which does not
exclude or discriminate against its citizens on
the basis of disability, caste, race, gender,
family or community, a society which ‘levels the
playing field for investment‘ and leaves no one
behind.
 Thus,Inclusive growth which is equitable that
offers equality of opportunity to all as well as
protection in market and employment
transitions results from inclusive society.
 5. Features of Inclusive
Environment
 An inclusive environment is one in which
members feel respected by and connected to
one another.
 An inclusive environment is an environment
that welcomes all people, regardless of their
disability and other vulnerabilities.
 It recognizes and uses their skills and
strengthens their abilities.
 An inclusive service environment is respectful,
supportive, and equalizing.
 An inclusive environment reaches out to and
 conʼt
 It has the following major characteristics:
 it ensures the respect and dignity of individuals
with disabilities
 it meets current accessibility standards to the
greatest extent possible to all people with
special needs
 provides accommodations willingly and
proactively
 Persons with disabilities are welcomed and are
valued for their contributions as individuals
 2.6. Inclusive Environments
 An inclusive environment is a place that is adjusted to
individuals‘ needs and not vice versa – that individuals
are adjusted to the environmental needs.
 It acknowledges that individual differences among
individuals are a source of richness and diversity, and
not a problem, and that various needs and the
individual pace of learning and development can be
met successfully with a wide range of flexible
approaches.
 Besides, the environment should involve continuous
process of changes directed towards strengthening
and encouraging different ways of participation of all
members of the community.
 conʼt
 Aninclusive environment is also
directed towards developing culture,
policy and practice which meet pupils‘
diversities, towards identifying and
removing obstacles in learning and
participating, towards developing a
suitable provisions and supporting
individuals.
successful environment has the
following characteristics:

It develops whole-school/environment processes
that promote inclusiveness and quality provisions
and practice that are responsive to the individual
needs and diversities
 It recognizes and responds to the diverse needs of
their individuals and ensuring quality provisions
for all through appropriate accommodations,
organizational arrangements, resource use and
partnerships with their community.

conʼt
It is committed to serve all individuals together
regardless of differences. It is also deeply committed
to the belief that all persons can learn, work and be
productive.
 It involves restructuring environment, culture,
policy, and practice.
 It promoting pro-social activities
 It makes provides services and facilities equally
accessible to all people
 It involves mobilizing resources within the
community
 conʼt

It is alert to and uses a range of multi-skilled
personnel to assist people in their learning and
working environment.
 It strives to create strong links with, clinicians,
caregivers, and staff in local schools, work
place, disability services providers and relevant
support agencies within the wider community.
 It develops social relationships as an equal
member of the class. It is also the classroom
responsive to the diversity of individuals‘
academic, social and personal learning needs.
 Barriers to Inclusion

Though many countries seem committed to
inclusion their rhetoric, and even in their
legislation and policies, practices often fall
short. Reasons for the policy-practice gap in
inclusion are diverse. The major barriers include:
 Problems related with societal values and
beliefs- particularly the community and policy
makers negative attitude towards students with
disability and vulnerabilities. Inclusion cannot
flourish in a society that has prejudice and
negative attitude towards persons with
disability.
 conʼt

Economic factors- this is mainly related with
poverty of family, community and society at large
 Lack of taking measures to ensure conformity of
implementation of inclusion practice with policies
 Lack of stakeholders taking responsibility in their
cooperation as well as collaboration for inclusion
 Conservative traditions among the community
members about inclusion
 Lack of knowledge and skills among teachers
regarding inclusive education
 conʼt

Rigid curricula, teaching method and examination systems that
do not consider students with dives needs and ability
differences.
 Fragile democratic institutions that could not promote inclusion
 Inadequate resources and inaccessibility of social and physical
environments
 Large class sizes that make teachers and stakeholders meet
students‘ diverse needs
 Globalization and free market policy that make students
engage in fierce completion, individualism and individuals‘
excellence rather than teaching through cooperation,
collaboration and group excellence.
 Using inclusive models that may be imported from other
countries.
Thank you