"Over the past centuries research and practice has supported the use of inclusive practices as opposed to segregation. Political events relating to equality for all have spurred these changes. This book provides a valuable journey of exploration into these processes that have brought us where we are today - slow but steady progress towards inclusive practices within mainstream schools." International Journal of Disability, Development and Education"Everyone believes in inclusion - or do they? This excellent new book takes readers on a compelling historical journey which explores the beliefs, the barriers, the evidence and the practice that surrounds the pursuit of a more inclusive education system. Historically 'the time never seems to have been right' for a fully inclusive education system in Great Britain. Perhaps the climate and context of the first decade of the 21st Century has the potential to make it the 'Age of Inclusion'. If so - this book will certainly help us to achieve this elusive goal."Tony Dessent, Luton Borough Council
"Ten years after the Salamanca Statement, this book helpfully brings together a broad range of texts to stimulate all of us to reflect on the progress made towards more inclusive education. Particularly impressive is the way that Thomas and Vaughan locate discussion of inclusion in wider debates about the nature of society."Mel Ainscow, University of Manchester
This book examines the key influences behind the moves towards inclusive education and inclusion in mainstream society. The first of its kind anywhere in the world, this seminal work features more than 50 extracts from key documents and classic texts, alongside illuminating commentaries by two experts in the field.
Inclusive Education: Readings and Reflections demonstrates that moves to inclusion have come from many directions: research; the imperative for greater social justice; calls for civil rights; legislation that prohibits discrimination; original, distinctive projects started by imaginative educators; and the voices of those who have been through special education. These sources are marshalled and organised in this book. It is essential reading for students on a range of courses in inclusive education and special educational needs, and for anyone wishing to understand the development of inclusive education, including teachers, headteachers, educational psychologists, and parents.
Gary Thomas took up the post of chair in education at Birmingham in 2005. Before university teaching, he worked as a teacher and as an educational psychologist. In higher education at the University of Leeds, at Oxford Brookes University, UWE and University College London his teaching and research have focused on inclusion, special education, and research methodology in education. He has received awards from the ESRC, the Nuffield Foundation, the Leverhulme Trust, the DfES, Barnardos, the Cadmean Trust, local authorities and a range of other organisations. Most of his funded research has been on inclusive or special education, though his Leverhulme Research Fellowship was awarded to examine the role of theory in education. He currently leads an ESRC thematic seminar competition in the Teaching and Learning Research Programme on the assessment of quality in educational research. He is the founding co-editor of a Taylor & Francis Carfax journal, the International Journal of Research and Method in Education and he is an editorial board member of the British Educational Research Journal.
