Inclusion Dialogue

This week I talk to Sally Tomlinson, Emeritus Professor at Goldsmiths London University and an Honorary Research Fellow in the Department of Education, University of Oxford.

She has spent nearly forty years teaching, research and writing about special and inclusive education, the politics of education, and race, ethnicity and education. Her most recent books are" A Sociology of special and inclusive education" (Routledge 2017) and "Education and Race from Empire to Brexit" (Policy Press 2019). She is currently writing a book on 'Ignorance' (Agenda Press).

Umesh Sharma is a Professor in the Faculty of Education at Monash University, Australia where he is the Associate Dean (Equity and Inclusion). Umesh’s research programs in the area of disability and inclusive education span India, Pakistan, China, Bangladesh, Fiji, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu and Samoa as well as Australia, Canada, USA and New Zealand.  He is the chief co-editor of the Australasian Journal of Special Education and the Oxford Encyclopedia of Inclusive and Special Education. 

He has authored over 175 academic articles, book chapters and edited books that focus on various aspects of inclusive education. His co-authored book “A Guide to Promoting a Positive Classroom Environment” was the recipient of the International Book Prize Award from the Exceptionality Education International. He was (2019) named the top Special Education Researcher in Australia based on the impact of his work locally and internationally by the Australian Chief Scientist. More recently he was identified as the ‘most prolific author’ in the field of inclusive teacher education (ITE) and inclusive education respectively based on systematic bibliometric reviews which examined the work of highly cited inclusive education researchers in the last 25 years. 
 
His main areas of research are positive behaviour support, inclusive education for disadvantaged children and policy and practice in special and inclusive education. 

My guest this week is Professor Brahm Norwich, Professor of Educational Psychology and Special Educational Needs at the Graduate School of Education in the University of Exeter.

In this interview, we examine the developments of inclusive education in the United Kingdom over the past decades. Brahm describes the changing patterns of provision over time focussing on the role of local authorities in funding and resource allocation. We also examine the tensions in the ongoing debates around inclusive education, both in the UK and beyond, and look at where special education fits within that.

My guest this week is Dr Heidrun Demo, Associate Professor for Inclusive Education and Director of the Competence Centre for School inclusion at the Free University of Bolzano in Italy.

In this interview we talk about inclusive systems of education and Heidrun discusses her work on the historical factors that shaped the Italian education system which operates a full inclusion model where all children are educated together. She finishes the interview with some words of caution about recent changes to the categorisation of students with additional learning needs in Italy and argues for more research on the academic and social outcomes of students with disabilities in mainstream education.

 My guest this week is Dr Anke De Boer. Anke is Associate Professor at the Inclusive and Special Needs Education unit, University of Groningen, the Netherlands. She is particularly interested in optimising the educational setting to realize social inclusion and the wellbeing of students with special educational needs. 

In this interview, she focuses on the importance of using interventions which encourage social participation among students with and without special educational needs. She also emphasises the importance of listening to students with special educational needs about what they want, what can help them, and how they can be meaningfully included. She finishes by describing the system of special education in the Netherlands over time and stresses the need for greater policy focus on teacher capacity and in particular initial teacher education which can prepare teachers for inclusive settings.

My guest this week is Professor Mel Ainscow, Emeritus Professor of Education at the University of Manchester. He is internationally recognised as an authority on the promotion of inclusion and equity in education. Mel is a long-term consultant of UNESCO and has recently published a report which looks at the status, trends and challenges in inclusive education since the Salamanca Statement. 

In our interview, Mel speaks about how he began to work in inclusive education, beginning his career as a head teacher and moving into inclusive education research after that. He describes how his research always involved working with schools and communities and he emphasises the importance of taking individual school or area contexts into account when introducing inclusive systems.

My guest this week is Professor Lani Florian, Bell Chair of Education at the University of Edinburgh and Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences (FAcSS). Lani has been a key figure in international discussions around inclusive education over the past decades. 

In this interview, she clearly sets out the argument that inclusion and equity in education is not about some learners but all learners. She emphasises the importance of the classroom teacher in creating inclusive environment where everyone is part of a school community.

My guest this week is Professor Garry Hornby, Emeritus Professor at the Institute of Education, University of Plymouth.

In our interview Garry expresses concern about the ‘all means all’ or ‘full inclusion’ view, in which student rights to be educated in mainstream classrooms are the sole determinant of student placement. He explains that this disadvantages some groups of students with disabilities, in particular those with intellectual disabilities, in denying access to the specialized interventions and curricula that will enable them to make a successful transition from school into adult life. 

Garry then illustrates this concern with examples from his experience as a teacher and researcher. This interview provides an alternative perspective that in some ways challenges assumptions in current discourses on inclusive education.

My guest this week is Dr Kate de Bruin, Senior Lecturer in the field of inclusion and disability at Monash University in Melbourne. She talks about her work on inclusive education in Australia but also draws on her experience researching other inclusive systems around the world. Kate gives a great introduction to multi—tiered systems of support (MTSS) and outlines the work she has done on exploring evidence-based classroom practices and learning interventions that fit within Tiers 1 and 2 of multi-tiered systems of support. Our conversation finishes with Kate talking about the human rights in education and she describes the weight of evidence for why we must implement inclusive education in order to protect these rights.

My guest this week is Professor Michael Shevlin who is Director of the Trinity Centre for People with Intellectual Disabilities in Trinity College Dublin. Michael has been working for decades in inclusive and special education and has carried out extensive research on the system of special education in Ireland. 

In this interview he describes the process of inclusive education as he has witnessed it during his career and outlines the personal and professional factors that have shaped his views on inclusion. He highlights the issues around special class provision in Ireland and emphasises the need to have ambition for every child. He finishes our discussion on his work at the Trinity Centre for People with Intellectual Disabilities were he describes the teaching and learning methodologies used there and the impact the programmes have on students’ academic and social development.