Tributación

1.8.1 The meaning

Inclusive education may mean different things to different individuals or groups. It means that a school/community welcomes children with special needs as full members of the community and values them for the contribution that they can make (Farrell, 2004). Hence, inclusive education is about having active participation and achievement of all learners (Unesco, 2005). Inclusive education is a practice that is based on the social premise of justice that advocates for equal access to educational opportunity for all children regardless of their personal characteristics (Loreman et al, 2005; Farrell, 2004).

According to Unesco (2005), “Inclusion is seen as a process of addressing and responding to the diversity of needs of all learners through increasing participation in learning, cultures and communities, and reducing exclusion within and from education. Inclusive education is the process of systematically bringing together all children with or without disabilities regardless of the nature and severity of disability in natural environment where children learn and play”. “Inclusive also means including all children who are left out or excluded from school” (Unesco, 2003).

The above definitions reveal the extent to which the integration of CwDs ranges from physical to social union should be like. Inclusion entails the practice of educating students with special needs in regular classes with needed accommodations and services instead of special

education classes. According to Mitchell (2008), inclusive education means educating learners with SEN in regular settings. However, it is not a mere placement; rather it means “putting in place a whole suite of provisions” such as modified curriculum, adapted teaching methods, modified assessment techniques, accessibility arrangements and support systematically. The underlying philosophy embedded in the above definitions implies that inclusion is the social union of people with no differences (Unesco, 2009; Stubbs, 2008; Save the Children Finland, 2010).

As Mitchell (2008) posits, the philosophy of inclusiveness is entirely built on the philosophy of humanism. Therefore, inclusive education is understood as a developmental approach aiming to meet the educational needs of all children, youth and adults, and emphasising those who are subjected to marginalisation and exclusion. As a result, the most cost effective approach in reaching larger number of children with and without disabilities would be the systematic expansion of the inclusive programme where students are enrolled into mainstream classes (Hooker, 2007).

As it is widely understood, inclusive education means the inclusion of all children in all classroom and out-of-classroom school activities, and means that all children should have equal opportunities to reach their maximum potential and achievement regardless of their origin and abilities or disabilities, and regardless of their physical, intellectual, social, emotional, or linguistic differences (Unesco, 2009). Regular schools with the orientation of inclusivity are assumed as the best means of combating negative attitude, creating welcoming social environment, building inclusive society, and making education accessible for all. Furthermore, these schools can provide effective education to the majority of children with and without disability (Unesco, 1994).

Hence, inclusive education is a philosophy that ensures that schools, centres of learning and educational systems are open to all children. This again enables the learners to be included in all aspects of school-life.

1.8.2 Inclusion is a process

According to the diversity framework of MoE of British Colombia of Canada (2008), inclusive education is a process that involves the transformation of schools and other centres of learning to cater for all children. These include boys and girls, students from ethnic and linguistic minorities, rural populations, and those affected by HIV and AIDS. Even the problem includes those with disabilities and difficulties in learning and to provide learning opportunities for all youth and adults as well. Despite the diversity among them, all these young people have similar educational needs. All of them need to learn how to be economically self-sufficient, how to participate in improving the lives of people in their communities, how to understand the world in which they live, how to enjoy the benefits of their right, and how to rise, in turn, the next generation. In the broadest sense, schools are expected to serve as agencies for civic and democratic development and as places where culture and values can be sustained and transmitted to the youth. Today the world turned to schools to help us enshrine language rights, to preserve diverse cultural heritages, to promote social equality and justice through recognition of individual differences (BC MoE Diversity Framework, 2008).

Hence, the aim of inclusive education is to eliminate exclusion that is a consequence of negative attitudes and a lack of response to diversity in race, economic status, social class, ethnicity, language, religion, gender, and so on (Unesco, 2009).

It is also important to note that inclusion is a long process that requires an on-going educational reform on the learning environment, and accommodate needs of all learners. According to Stubbs (2008), inclusion involves not only restructuring cultures, policies and practices to respond to the diversity of students. It also involves locality in learning and participation of all students to exclusionary pressures that are not just for students with disabilities and improving schools for staff as well as students overcoming barriers to access and participation (BC Diversity Framework, 2008). Therefore, both Diversity Framework of BC of Canada (2008) and Stubbs (2008) respectively acknowledge that real sustainable

development cannot happen without the participation and inclusion of all members of society. The results of exclusive development are apparent today, namely, widening gaps between rich and poor, increased conflict, unrest, intolerance, and resource-drain.

1.8.3 The historical development of inclusive education

There are various international underpinnings about the history of inclusive education. Even if there is no similar opinion among scholars regarding the historical development of inclusive education, most of them agreed with some common events.

Inclusive education takes the EFA agenda forward. This is by finding ways of enabling all children to attend school as part of an inclusive educational system. Previously, inclusive education had meant or assumed as it is the process of including CwDs into regular classrooms and schools (Unesco, 2009).

As noted in the guidelines on inclusion of Save the Children of Finland, (2010), the root of inclusive education dates back to the 1948, with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Subsequently, international forums have emphasised the rights of all persons to education. For instance, the convention on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women of 1979, Jomtien World Conference (1990), The UN Standard Rules on Equalization of Opportunities for Persons with Disabilities (1993), the 1994 Salamanca Statement, Dakar Framework of Action on EFA (2000), and UN Convention on the Rights of PwDs (2006) have propelled the development of inclusive education.

Other researchers like Michelle (2008) as cited in Tirusew (2005) point out several significant events that led to the historical development of the idea of inclusive education. Among the first incidences there can be associated with the principle of “normalization” of Scandinavian countries. According to these countries, normalization was conceptualised as the process of making available to PwDs patterns of life and conditions of everyday life, which are as close as possible to regular circumstances and ways of life of society.

The other important event that gave drive to the development of inclusive approach occurred in North America in the 1960s and 1970s. During that time, the passage of the Education of All Handicapped Children Act gave momentum to the idea of equality and inclusion. This Act postulates that children with special needs to be educated in the “least restrictive environment”.

The other significant event was the international conference, which took place in June 1994 in Salamanca, Spain, where 92 governments and 25 international organisations made historical agreements. The resulting agreement is known as the Salamanca Statement, which demonstrated an international commitment to inclusive education (Stubbs 2008; Unesco 1994).