Leadership for Inclusive Education : Values, Vision and Voices

Inclusion is increasingly becoming one of the policy drivers shaping educational discourse and practice. What constitutes the term "i nclusion" itself and how ideas derived from the different perspectives on inclusion impact school leadership practice point to a highly contested field of enquiry. Originally embedded in discourse relating to special education, ideas relating to inclusion are attracting much broader appeal within system reforms in many jurisdictions. This book seeks to keep the consideration of inclusion firmly in its broader context and to decouple it from the discourse relating to students with special educational/additional needs. This allows the authors to position their contributions more explicitly within discourses that draw on difference and diversity as unavoidable features of schools. Within this collection we address the current political dogmas in many countries that take a purely rational, managerial approach to leadership, arguing that this is not contributing to inclusion in schools. In doing this, the book seeks to shape current discourses on leadership by exploring perspectives which are likely to enhance our understanding of inclusion. Tolerance, respect, listening, clarifying language, being comfortable with differences and ambiguity and articulating and challenging the rationale behind "t he way we do things around here" are key aspects of inclusive leadership, and also fundamental imperatives for writing this book. It will be useful to those in education who are engaged in further academic study in education or in reflective practice and to anyone taking advanced programmes in educational leadership and management. The international perspectives on the issue of inclusion informing this book ensure that this book will be essential for those engaged in a comparative analysis of leadership practice in different contexts or those concerned with the complexity of ensuring inclusive models of education Front Matter....Pages i-xii Leadership for Inclusive Education....Pages 1-5 Front Matter....Pages 7-8 Including Who? Deconstructing the Discourse....Pages 9-18 Special Education within the Context of an Inclusive School....Pages 19-33 Identity, Inclusion and Leadership....Pages 35-45 Inclusion Through the Lens of School Culture....Pages 47-57 Front Matter....Pages 59-60 Pulling together, not Pulling Apart....Pages 61-70 Leading Inclusive Schools....Pages 71-80 Inclusion....Pages 81-90 Teaching for Democratic Agency....Pages 91-101 Front Matter....Pages 103-103 Leadership for Inclusion....Pages 105-119 Leadership and Inclusion....Pages 121-129 Leadership for Inclusion....Pages 131-148 Staff Development for Inclusion....Pages 149-161 Students and Leadership for Inclusion....Pages 163-173 Developing Participation for Inclusion through International Critical Friendship....Pages 175-183 Coda....Pages 185-187