Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-xtgtn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-18T19:35:52.042Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Social Justice Principles, the Law and Research, as Bases for Inclusion

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 February 2016

Phil Foreman  and
Michael Arthur‐Kelly
Phil Foreman*
Affiliation:
Centre for Special Education and Disability Studies, University of Newcastle, Callaghan, Australia
Michael Arthur‐Kelly
Affiliation:
Centre for Special Education and Disability Studies, University of Newcastle, Callaghan, Australia
*
*Corresponding author. School of Education, University of Newcastle, Callaghan, NSW 2308, Australia E-mail: phil.foreman@newcastle.edu.au
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Educational policies for students with a disability in Australia, the USA, the UK and in most western countries stipulate that inclusive placement should be an option available to parents. This article examines three principal drivers of inclusion: social justice principles, legislation, and research findings, and considers the extent to which each of these has impacted on inclusive policy and practice. The article considers the research base for inclusion, and examines the extent to which the policy and practice of inclusion is supported by evidence. It concludes with some suggestions for a research agenda that focuses on the particular contextual challenges and complexities faced in Australasian school settings, whilst recognising international directions in the identification of evidence‐based practices.

Type
Research Article
Information
Australasian Journal of Special Education , Volume 32 , Issue 1: A Scientific Approach to Special Education , April 2008 , pp. 109 - 124
Copyright
Copyright © The Australian Association of Special Education 2008

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Agran, M., Alper, S., & Wehmeyer, M. (2002). Access to the general curriculum for students with significant disabilities: What it means to teachers. Education and Training in Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities, 37, 123–133.Google Scholar
Agran, M., Cavin, M., Wehmeyer, M., & Palmer, S. (2006). Participation of students with moderate to severe disabilities in the general curriculum: The effects of the Self-Determined Model of Instruction. Research & Practice for Persons with Severe Disabilities, 31(3), 230–241.Google Scholar
Bailey, J., & du Plessis, D. (1998). An investigation of school principals’ attitudes towards inclusion. Australasian Journal of Special Education, 22, 12–29.Google Scholar
Baker, J. M., & Zigmond, N. (1995). The meaning and practice of inclusion for students with learning disabilities: Themes and implications from the five cases. Journal of Special Education, 29, 163–180.Google Scholar
Bank-Mikkelsen, N. E. (1969). Normalization: Letting the mentally retarded obtain an existence as close to normal as possible. Washington, DC: President’s Committee on Mental Retardation.Google Scholar
Boardman, A. G., Arguelles, M. E., Vaughn, S., Hughes, M. T., & Klingner, J. (2005). Special education teachers’ views of research-based practices. Journal of Special Education, 39, 168–180.Google Scholar
Broderick, A., Mehta-Parekh, H., & Reid, D. K. (2005). Differentiating instruction for disabled students in inclusive classrooms. Theory into Practice, 44(3), 194–203.Google Scholar
Campbell, J., Gilmore, L., & Cuskelly, M. (2003). Changing students’ attitudes towards disability and inclusion. Journal of Intellectual & Developmental Disability, 28, 369–379.Google Scholar
Center, Y., & Ward, J. (1989). Attitudes of school psychologists towards the integration of children with disabilities. International Journal of Disability, Development and Education, 36, 117–131.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Center, Y., Ward, J., Parmenter, T., & Nash, R. (1985). Principals’ attitudes towards the integration of disabled children into regular schools. The Exceptional Child, 32, 149–161.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cole, P. G. (1999). The structure of arguments used to support or oppose policies for students with disabilities. Journal of Intellectual & Developmental Disability, 24, 215–225.Google Scholar
Commonwealth Government of Australia. (1992). Disability Discrimination Act. Canberra, Australia: Author.Google Scholar
Cooney, G., Jahoda, A., Gumley, A., & Knott, F. (2006). Young people with intellectual disabilities attending mainstream and segregated schooling: Perceived stigma, social comparison and future aspirations. Journal of Intellectual Disability Research, 50, 432–444.Google Scholar
Curtin, M., & Clarke, G. (2005). Listening to young people with physical disabilities’ experiences of education. International Journal of Disability, Development and Education, 52, 195–214.Google Scholar
Cutts, S., & Sigafoos, J. (2001). Social competence and peer interactions of students with intellectual disability in an inclusive high school. Journal of Intellectual & Developmental Disability, 26, 127–141.Google Scholar
Dempsey, I. (2008). Legislation, policies and inclusive practices. In Foreman, P. (Ed.), Inclusion in action (2nd ed.). Melbourne, Australia: Thomson.Google Scholar
Dempsey, I., & Arthur-Kelly, M. (2007). Maximising learning outcomes in diverse classrooms. Melbourne, Australia: Thomson.Google Scholar
Department for Education and Skills, UK. (2004). Removing barriers to achievement. Nottingham, UK: Author.Google Scholar
Department of Science, Education and Training. (2007, September). Improve the learning outcomes of students with disabilities in the early, middle and post compulsory years of schooling. Canberra, Australia: Commonwealth Government. http://www.dest.gov.au/sectors/school_education/publications_resources/profiles/learning_outcomes_students_disabilities.htm#abstract.Google Scholar
Dunn, L. M. (1968). Special education for the mentally retarded: Is much of it justifiable? Exceptional Children, 35, 5–22.Google Scholar
Elkins, J., Van Kraayenoord, C. E., & Jobling, A. (2003). Parents’ attitudes to inclusion of their children with special needs. Journal of Research in Special Educational Needs, 3, 122–129.Google Scholar
Foreman, P., Arthur-Kelly, M., Pascoe, S., & Smyth King, B. (2004). Evaluating the educational experiences of students with profound and multiple disabilities in inclusive and segregated classroom settings: An Australian perspective. Research and Practice for Persons with Severe Disabilities, 29(3), 183–193.Google Scholar
Forlin, C. (Ed.) (2005). Inclusion in the secondary school. Australasian Journal of Special Education. [Special Issue], 29(2).Google Scholar
Fox, N. E., & Ysseldyke, J. E. (1997). Implementing inclusion at the middle school level: Lessons from a negative example. Exceptional Children, 64, 81–98.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gilmore, L., Campbell, J., & Cuskelly, M. (2003). Developmental expectations, personality stereotypes, and attitudes towards inclusive education: Community and teacher views of Down syndrome. International Journal of Disability, Development and Education, 50, 65–76.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hay, I., & Winn, S. (2005). Students with Asperger’s Syndrome in an inclusive secondary school environment: Teachers’, parents’ and students’ perspectives. Australasian Journal of Special Education, 29, 140–154.Google Scholar
Her Majesty’s Stationery Office. (2001). Special Educational Needs and Disability Act. London: Author.Google Scholar
Jenkinson, J. (2001). Special education:Amatter of choice. Melbourne, Australia: ACER Press.Google Scholar
Kavale, K. A. (2002). Mainstreaming to full inclusion: From orthogenesis to pathogenesis of an idea. International Journal of Disability, Development and Education, 49, 201–214.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kavale, K. A., & Mostert, M. P. (2003). River of ideology, islands of evidence. Exceptionality, 11, 191–208.Google Scholar
Kyle, C., & Davies, D. (1991). Attitudes of mainstreamed pupils towards mental retardation: Pilot study at a Leeds secondary school. British Journal of Special Education, 18, 103–106.Google Scholar
Lambe, J., & Bones, R. (2006). Student teachers’ perceptions about inclusive classroom teaching in Northern Ireland prior to teaching practice experience. European Journal of Special Needs Education, 21, 167–186.Google Scholar
Laws, G., & Kelly, E. (2005). The attitudes and friendship intentions of children in United Kingdom mainstream schools towards peers with physical or intellectual disabilities. International Journal of Disability, Development and Education, 52, 79–99.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Leyser, Y., & Kirk, R. (2004). Evaluating inclusion: An examination of parent views and factors influencing their perspectives. International Journal of Disability, Development and Education, 51, 271–285.Google Scholar
Lloyd, J. W., Forness, S. R., & Kavale, K. A. (1998). Some methods are more effective than others. Intervention in School and Clinic, 33, 195–200.Google Scholar
Macintosh, K., & Dissanayake, C. (2006). A comparative study of the spontaneous social interactions of children with high-functioning autism and children with Asperger’s syndrome. Autism, 10, 199–220.Google Scholar
MacMillan, D. L. (1971). Special education for the mildly retarded: Servant or savant? Focus on Exceptional Children, 2, 1–11.Google Scholar
McDougall, J., DeWit, D. J., King, G., Miller, L. T., & Killip, S. (2004). High school aged youths’ attitudes towards their peers with disabilities: The role of school and student interpersonal factors. International Journal of Disability, Development and Education, 51, 287–313.Google Scholar
McNally, R., Cole, P., & Waugh, R. (2001). Regular teachers’ attitudes to the need for additional classroom support for the inclusion of students with intellectual disability. Journal of Intellectual & Developmental Disability, 26, 257–273.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Meyer, L. (2001). The impact of inclusion on children’s lives: Multiple outcomes, and friendship in particular. International Journal of Disability, Development and Education, 48, 9–31.Google Scholar
Ministerial Council on Education, Employment, Training and Youth Affairs. (2006). The Adelaide Declaration on National Goals for Schooling in the Twenty-First Century. Canberra, Australia: Author.Google Scholar
Mulvihill, B., Shearer, D., & Van Horn, M. L. (2002). Training, experience and child care providers’ perceptions of inclusion. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 17, 197–215.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nirje, B. (1970). The normalization principle: Implications and comments. British Journal of Mental Subnormality, 16, 62–70.Google Scholar
Nirje, B. (1985). The basis and logic of the normalization principle. Australia and New Zealand Journal of Developmental Disabilities, 11, 65–68.Google Scholar
Nowicki, E., & Sandieson, R. (2002). A meta-analysis of school-age children’s attitudes towards persons with physical or intellectual disabilities. International Journal of Disability, Development and Education, 49, 243–265.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
NSW Department of Education. (1988). Curriculum statement for the education of students with severe intellectual disability. Sydney: Author.Google Scholar
Palmer, D., Fuller, K., Arora, T., & Nelson, M. (2001). Taking sides: Parent views on inclusion for their children with severe disabilities. Exceptional Children, 67, 467–484.Google Scholar
Pearce, M., & Forlin, C. (2005). Challenges and potential solutions for enabling inclusion in secondary schools. Australasian Journal of Special Education, 29, 93–105.Google Scholar
Peetsma, T., Vergeer, M., Roeleveld, J., & Karsten, S. (2001). Inclusion in education: Comparing pupils’ development in special and regular education. Educational Review, 53, 125–135.Google Scholar
Rietveld, C. M. (2005). Classroom learning experiences of mathematics by new entrant children with Down Syndrome. Journal of Intellectual & Developmental Disability, 30, 127–138.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rillotta, F., & Nettlebeck, T. (2007). Effects of an awareness program on attitudes of students without an intellectual disability towards persons with an intellectual disability. Journal of Intellectual & Developmental Disability, 32, 19–27.Google Scholar
Scruggs, T. E., & Mastropieri, M. A. (1996). Teacher perceptions of mainstreaming/inclusion 1958–1995: a research synthesis. Exceptional Children, 63, 59–74.Google Scholar
Skeels, H., & Dye, H. (1939). A study of the effects of differential stimulation on mentally retarded children. Proceedings of the American Association on Mental Deficiency, 44, 114–136.Google Scholar
Smith, S. R. (2006). The relationship between student literacy diversity, instructional differentiation and academic engagement in inclusive primary classrooms. Unpublished doctoral thesis, The University of Newcastle, Australia.Google Scholar
Tindal, G. (1985). Investigating the effectiveness of special education: An analysis of methodology. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 18, 101–112.Google Scholar
Tomlinson, C. A. (2004). Sharing responsibility for differentiating instruction. Roeper Review, 26, 188–189.Google Scholar
UNESCO. (1990). World Declaration on Education for All (Jomtien, Thailand). Paris: United Nations.Google Scholar
UNESCO. (1994). Salamanca Statement and Framework for Action on Special Educational Needs. Paris: United Nations.Google Scholar
United Nations General Assembly. (2006). Convention on the rights of persons with disabilities. Retrieved June 19, 2007 from http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/enable/rights/convtexte.htm.Google Scholar
Webster, A., & Carter, M. (2007). Social relationships and friendships of children with developmental disabilities: Implications for inclusive settings. A systematic review. Journal of Intellectual & Developmental Disability, 32, 200–213.Google Scholar
Wehmeyer, M., Lattin, D., Lapp-Rincker, G., & Agran, M. (2003). Access to the general curriculum of middle school students with mental retardation: An observational study. Remedial and Special Education, 24, 262–272.Google Scholar
Wolfensberger, W. (1972). The principle of normalization in human services. Toronto: National Institute on Mental Retardation.Google Scholar
Wolfensberger, W. (1980). A brief overview of the principle of normalization. In Flynn, R. J., & Nitsch, K. E. (Eds.), Normalization, social integration, and community services (pp. 7–30). Baltimore, MD: University Park Press.Google Scholar