Inclusion, Participation and Democracy: What is the Purpose? (Inclusive Education: Cross Cultural Perspectives Book 2)

Offering a cross-cultural perspective, this book contains papers from internationally renowned scholars who provide fresh insights into the goals and ambitions for inclusion, participation and democracy and how these might be realized today. The 'insider' accounts highlight the complex political and cultural changes required to achieve success with the inclusion project. This book is for researchers studying inclusion, teacher educators and teachers. The question of inclusive education is one which many societies are attempting to address. It is a fundamentally serious and complex issue raising challenges that cover conceptual, organizational, pedagogical, curricular and socio-economic concerns and questions. In this edited collection of papers the reader is confronted with these challenges through, on the one hand, a critical informative analysis of some of the key existing ideas and, on the other, a series of alternative insights and questions requiring further exploration and debate. Adding to the overall qu- ity of the book is the much needed cross-cultural dimension in terms of insights, knowledge, understanding and difficult questions. This is an important book in which new research and interpretations are reported on and discussed. Overall, the papers provide a serious critique of such factors as: the limitations of existing definitions of inclusive education; the narrowness of the focus within which inclusive issues are too often presented; the negative impacts of marketisation, performativity and the standards agenda on the realisation of inclusive values and practice and the constraints of significant socio-economic inequalities and disadvantages within and between communities and schools. These raise serious questions concerning the extent to which schools can make a positive difference in the lives of many pupils. "In today's climate of accountability in education, there is increasing pressure to demonstrate the effectiveness of inclusion, yet there is much confusion about what inclusion actually does for individuals and their families. This book is for researchers studying inclusion, teacher educators and teachers and is suitable as a textbook for undergraduate teacher education programmes and Masters programmes in inclusive education. In addition this book is a must for people concerned with the 'bigger picture' and with identifying the important consequences of inclusion participation and democracy for young people and their families."--BOOK JACKET The book offers a cross-cultural perspective. It contains a collection of papers from internationally renowned scholars who provide fresh insights into the goals and ambitions for inclusion, participation and democracy and how these might be realized today. Several of the authors look beyond schooling and ask how far inclusion fosters or inhibits individuals' sense of identity and community. The 'insider' accounts provided by some of the authors highlight the complex political and cultural changes required to achieve success with the inclusion project Offering a cross-cultural perspective, this book contains a collection of papers from internationally renowned scholars who provide fresh insights into the goals and ambitions for inclusion, participation and democracy and how these might be realized today Julie Allan. Includes Bibliographical References And Index.