Global perspectives and the challenge of inclusive education

Abstract

Inclusive education is a global movement that guarantees every child's right to access quality education irrespective of individual, social, economic, cultural differences and diverse learning needs. It is a complex, multidimensional and dynamic educational phenomenon. Nevertheless, the extent to which the notion of inclusion is translated into policies and practices varies significantly across the socio-political contexts. Various ideological and socio-economic conditions inform diverse discourses of inclusion based on different concepts such as difference, diversity and deficit. Consequently, inclusion issues in education are dealt with through various policy, practice and pedagogy-related considerations such as school effectiveness, quality teaching and learning, social justice, empowerment, discrimination and exclusion, learner diversity, professional development and community involvement. This chapter reviews the literature on global perspectives on and challenges to inclusive education. It describes the various ways in which the notion of inclusion is understood, conceptualised and practised across the national boundaries and examines the challenges nations and societies encounter in supporting students with Special Educational Needs (SEN) in education. The chapter features the Universal Design for Learning (UDL) as a promising teaching and learning paradigm for inclusion in education.