Abstract
Whether education fosters equity and social justice, as it is said to do, is a matter of debate. Whatever the outcome of the debate, education has a better chance of succeeding in this process if it is delivered through a national system and through schools which are genuinely inclusive in nature—welcoming difference and diversity; attempting to fulfil the rights for education of good quality; and targeting both out-of-school children and children in school but not learning. But many education systems still have large numbers of children who are not achieving minimum expected levels of learning—usually because of neglect, disinterest, discriminatory policies, and/or a lack of resources and data about who are excluded, where they live, and why they are not in school. The concept of “inclusive education” now has a wider definition encompassing all obstacles to access and learning beyond a focus on children with disabilities and other special needs. It is therefore concerned with increasing enrolment, attendance, and completion; reducing repetition/drop-out/push-out rates; reducing disparities in provision and student; and celebrating diversity and promoting cohesion. This, in turn, requires an analysis of what causes exclusion; “sharing the blame” for failure; and the searching for, and targeted support to, those excluded. Exclusion can be based on many factors: e.g. migration and refugee status, conflict, natural disaster, income, linguistic/cultural status, location (e.g. remoteness), sex, and ability. A range of policies and practices, at both the school and Ministry level, can be put in place to make schools more inclusive: legislative mandates and whole-school reform; targeted responses to excluded groups; pedagogies which strengthen social-emotional learning and celebrate difference and diversity; the promotion of inclusive teaching–learning strategies and practices; and good quality, inclusive early childhood care and development (ECCD) programmes. In the best of worlds (where factors outside of education which sustain inequality are not insurmountable), and assuming that the education provided meets established standards of quality, children leaving an inclusive education system should be able not only to develop themselves to their fullest potential but also to play a useful role in local and national economic, social, and political development leading to a more just, equitable, and cohesive society.
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Notes
Sustainable Development Goal 4, one of 17 endorsed by the United Nations in 2015, demands an inclusive and equitable quality education and the promotion of “lifelong learning opportunities for all”. In particular, Target 4.1 requires that all children complete primary and secondary education of sufficient quality to ensure that they have “relevant and effective learning outcomes”. To measure progress globally towards this target, the international community has agreed to use the following indicator: Proportion of children and young people: (a) in Grades 2 or 3; (b) at the end of primary education; and (c) at the end of lower secondary education achieving at least a minimum proficiency level in reading and mathematics. (United Nations 2015). (Italics added).
Education for All (EFA) was proclaimed first at the World Conference on Education for All in Jomtien, Thailand, in 1990 and then reconfirmed and reconfigured at the World Forum on Education in Dakar, Senegal, in 2000.
The current rate of language death is estimated at 9–17 per year; calculated over the 80 years left in this century, the number of dead languages by 2100 could be considerably more than 1075.
Anecdotally, in some cases, this process of “pushing out” becomes more explicit when schools want to demonstrate high achievement (and therefore gain high status) in school-leaving examinations and so proactively encourage low achievers to leave before the examination is given.
In some countries, it is actually the majority of the population discriminated against in regard to language; e.g. where colonial languages, used largely by a small, urban elite, are used in schools dominated by much larger ethnic/indigenous groups.
See, for example, Minster of Education and Sports, Lao People’s Democratic Republic. (2011). National Strategy and Plan of Action on Inclusive Education 2011–2015. Vientiane: Minister of Education and Sports.
Abbreviations
- ECCD:
-
Early childhood care and development
- EFA:
-
Education for All
- EMIS:
-
Education Management Information System
- Lao PDR:
-
Laos People’s Democratic Republic
- LSS:
-
Lower secondary school
- NER:
-
Net enrolment rate
- OECD:
-
Organisation of economic co-operation and development
- PS:
-
Primary school
- SDG:
-
Sustainable Development Goal
- UNESCO:
-
United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization
- UNICEF:
-
United National Children’s Fund
- USS:
-
Upper secondary school
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An earlier version of this paper was presented at Special Session at the 19th International Conference on Education Research held in the Seoul National University on 17–19 October 2018.
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Shaeffer, S. Inclusive education: a prerequisite for equity and social justice. Asia Pacific Educ. Rev. 20, 181–192 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12564-019-09598-w
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12564-019-09598-w