Inclusive Learning and Educational Equity

Inclusive Learning and Educational Equity Volume 3 Series Editor Lani Florian School of Education, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK Advisory Board Mel Ainscow Emeritus Professor, School of Education, University of Manchester, UK Petra Engelbrecht Senior Research Fellow, North-West University, South Africa Emeritus Professor, Canterbury Christ Church University, England Humberto J. Rodríguez Principal, Escuela Normal Especialización, Monterrey, México Roger Slee Professor, School of Education, University of South Australia, Adelaide, Australia This book series reflects on the challenges of inclusive education as a strategy for improving educational equity, and includes in-depth analyses of disparities in education and the mechanisms by which they operate. It studies the development of educational processes and pedagogical interventions that respond to the tensions between education policies that promote competition and those designed to promote inclusion at individual, classroom, school, district, national, and international levels. Finally, it presents research and development activities in teacher education that respond to the challenges of preparing teachers for the changing demographic of schooling. Increasingly throughout the world, a broad concept of inclusive education has begun to emerge as a strategy for achieving basic education for all learners regardless of cultural, developmental or linguistic differences. Although considered an important aspect of a global human rights agenda supported by the multilateral Global Partnership for Education, basic education is a complex endeavour that is subject to the forces of globalization, and the exclusionary pressures associated with migration, mobility, language, ethnicity, disability, and intergenerational poverty. The reciprocal links between these factors and educational underachievement has led to an increasing interest in the development of inclusive education as a strategy for improving educational equity. By addressing these and related issues, this series contributes important advances in knowledge about the enactment of inclusive education. This series: Offers a critical perspective on current practice Stimulates and challenges further developments for the field Explores global disparities in educational provision and compares developments Provides a welcome addition to the literature on inclusive education. More information about this series at http://www.springer.com/series/13450 Santoshi Halder • Lori Czop Assaf Editors Inclusion, Disability and Culture An Ethnographic Perspective Traversing Abilities and Challenges Editors Santoshi Halder Lori Czop Assaf Department of Education Department of Curriculum and Instruction University of Calcutta Texas State University Kolkata, West Bengal, India San Marcos, TX, USA Inclusive Learning and Educational Equity ISBN 978-3-319-55223-1 ISBN 978-3-319-55224-8 (eBook) DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-55224-8 Library of Congress Control Number: 2017940487 © Springer International Publishing AG 2017 This work is subject to copyright. All rights are reserved by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, express or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made. The publisher remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. Printed on acid-free paper This Springer imprint is published by Springer Nature The registered company is Springer International Publishing AG The registered company address is: Gewerbestrasse 11, 6330 Cham, Switzerland Dedicated to all children, parents and families of the world for inclusion, access and equity. –S.H For all those willing to reconceptualize and deconstruct what it means to be abled human beings in a global world –L.C.A Foreword: Nihil De Nobis, Sine Nobis Despite over a century of activism by advocates for equal access to society regardless of sociocultural factors, these irrelevant factors still result in the marginalization of billions worldwide. For example, although the number of people who work to facilitate racial equality has increased tremendously over the last century, subtle prejudices that limit opportunity remain common everywhere, and even egregious discrimination can still be found. Given the longstanding struggle for equality expe- rienced by people who differ only in terms of sociocultural or racial factors, it is not surprising that the relatively recent struggle for equal access to society’s benefits (inclusion) by people with physical, intellectual and developmental differences is understudied, daunting and sometimes controversial. Additionally, the obvious fact that ability and developmental diversity exists in tandem with sociocultural and racial differences adds further complexity. The title of this foreword, ‘Nihil De Nobis, Sine Nobis’ or ‘nothing about us without us’, expresses a sentiment that often arises when marginalized populations self-advocate for improved societal access and opportunity. I believe it is suitable in this foreword as an acknowledgement to the seminal book by James Charlton (1998). Charlton eloquently argued against the not uncommon conceptualization of individuals with diverse abilities as dependent and powerless while also providing a cross-cultural perspective through his interviews with disability activists from ten countries. Charlton’s landmark contribution was necessarily polemic and accessible and thus intentionally omitted descriptions of interview methodology and other similar details (Lazar, 1999). The book, Inclusion, Disability and Culture: An Ethnographic Perspective Traversing Abilities and Challenges, is similar to Charlton’s in that empowerment and participation of people with a range of abilities are central themes and cross- cultural discussion is interwoven throughout. However, the current text adds the voices of researchers representing many fields (e.g. education, public policy, psy- chology and sociology) alongside those of individuals with diverse abilities and their families to create a transdisciplinary and culturally anchored perspective for the reader while maintaining an academic tone. The result is an edited text that vii viii Foreword: Nihil De Nobis, Sine Nobis inspires advocacy as well as practical translation to directions for future research and current practice. Families, clinicians, teachers, scientists and others who work to improve the quality of life of people with disability must operate from paradigms constructed from our own learning histories and experiences. This book aims, I believe success- fully, to expand paradigms regardless of one’s role in the field and adds meaning- fully to the vital and ongoing conversation on disability and inclusion taking place worldwide. Russell Lang References Charlton, J. I. (1998). Nothing about us without us: Disability oppression and empowerment. Los Angeles: University of California Press. doi:10.1525/9780520207950 Lazar, S. (1999). Nothing about us without us: Disability oppression and empowerment: Book review. Disability and Rehabilitation, 21(8), 400. doi:10.1080/096382899297558 Series Editor’s Preface The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) adopted by the UN in September 2015 set the global education agenda for 2030 in SDG 4: Ensure inclusive and quality education for all and promote lifelong learning. Inclusive education is a rights-based approach to education intended to reduce exclusion and marginalization in education that gained prominence in the 1990s as a strategy to achieve ‘education for all’, the global commitment to ensure that everyone has access to quality basic education. In May 2015, the World Forum on Education reaffirmed its commitment to this approach with the Incheon Declaration and the Education 2030 Framework for Action. The Incheon Declaration notes that ‘inclusion and equity in and through education is the cornerstone of a transformative education agenda’ and that ‘no education target should be considered met unless met by all’.1 Issues of inclusion in education are of relevance for people with disabilities who remain among the most excluded of all marginalized groups in educational systems throughout the world. The World Report on Disability2 found that children with disabilities are less likely to start school, do well in school and complete school than children without disabilities (p. 206). This inequality of opportunity has long-term consequences not only for educational outcomes but for quality of life after school. In a world where 10% of the estimated one billion people living with disabilities are children,3 it is more essential than ever

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