Contextualizing Inclusive Education : Evaluating Old and New International Paradigms

Inclusive education is a complex and problematic concept that raises many questions. A team of prominent academics present fresh and critical perspectives on these issues, drawing upon their global resources and knowledge.

The over-arching theme of this book is that social, political, economic and cultural contexts play a central role in determining whether or not inclusive education is implemented in a range of regions and countries around the world. A series of original and provocative conclusions is presented, such as:

• inclusive education means creating a single system of education, which serves all children
• inclusive education is a site of conflicting paradigms of children with special needs, centering on a psycho-medical model and a socio-political model
• while many countries seem committed to inclusive education in their rhetoric, legislation and policies, in practice this often falls short.

This major landmark resource is suitable for educational policy makers, researchers, teacher educators, students and international agencies with interests in education.

Dr David Mitchell is an inclusive education consultant based in New Zealand. He is a former Professor of Education at the University of Waikato and an Honarary Resarch Fellow at Manchester University. He has been a UNESCO consultant on inclusive education since 1993, and he recently published What Really Works in Special and Inclusive Education, also with Routledge.