inclusive education is

Q&A: How inclusion in education has evolved

What is the Salamanca Statement on Inclusion in Education?

The  Salamanca Statement on Inclusion in Education was adopted at the joint UNESCO and Ministry of Education of Spain World Conference on Special Needs Education held in Salamanca, Spain, in 1994. The Statement and its accompanying framework for action represent a worldwide consensus on future directions for the education of children with special needs. It is considered as having provided the impetus for inclusive education worldwide. 

The Salamanca Statement emphasized the principle of inclusive education, which advocates for the education of all children, regardless of their physical, intellectual, social, emotional, linguistic, or other conditions, in schools. It called on governments to adopt inclusive policies and stressed the importance of adapting teaching methods, curricula and environments to accommodate the needs of all students. It highlighted the need for adequate training and support for teachers to enable them to address the diverse needs of students effectively and emphasized the importance of collaboration among governments, non-governmental organizations, communities and families to promote inclusive education.

What has happened since the adoption of this Statement?

Since the Salamanca Statement, efforts for inclusive education have continued. The Sustainable Development Goals adopted in 2015 and specifically Goal 4 recognizes the urgent need to provide equitable and inclusive quality education for all learners from the early years through compulsory schooling, technical and vocational education and training, higher education and lifelong learning. It calls on governments to step up efforts to achieve inclusion in education with special emphasis on the role of civil society and the involvement of marginalized groups. It was further highlighted at the United Nations  Transforming Education Summit (TES) in 2022, which recalled the baseline of the Sustainable Development Goal – leave no one behind.

Many countries have enacted laws and policies to promote inclusive education. Of the 133 national commitments to transform education made by countries at the TES, 87% recognized the importance of ensuring more inclusive education systems that cater for the needs of the most vulnerable learners and communities. 

Despite progress since the Salamanca Statement, deep disparities remain. Millions of children and youth are still denied their right to education . Over 7 million refugee children are not enrolled in school. Poverty, geographical location, gender, language, disability, ethnicity, migration or displacement status continue to dictate and limit education opportunities. 

There has been a gradual shift in attitudes towards inclusion in education. More stakeholders, including educators, policymakers, parents and communities are recognizing the value of inclusive education in promoting diversity, equity and social cohesion.  Data shows that when children have at least one sensory difficulty, they are less likely to complete primary school than children who have no sensory difficulties. 

What are the positive trends to ensure inclusion in education?

There is growing emphasis on providing teachers with training and professional development opportunities to effectively support inclusive practices in the classroom. Educators are learning strategies for differentiating instruction, fostering inclusive classroom environments and collaborating with special education professionals and support staff. However, around 40% of countries still do not provide teacher training on inclusion . 

The development and integration of assistive technologies have expanded opportunities for students with disabilities to access educational materials and participate in learning activities alongside their peers. Yet,  laws in 25% of countries make provisions for educating children with disabilities in separate settings, rising to over 40% in Asia and in Latin America and the Caribbean .

There is increasing recognition of the intersectionality of identities and experiences among students. Inclusive education efforts are evolving to address the unique needs and challenges faced by students who belong to multiple marginalized groups, such as students with disabilities who are also from minority ethnic or linguistic backgrounds.  In at least 20 countries, hardly any poor, rural young woman complete upper secondary school.

Overall, the evolution of inclusion in education since the Salamanca Statement and the adoption of the Sustainable Development Goals in 2015 reflect a growing commitment to creating equitable, diverse and inclusive learning environments where every learner matters, and matters equally. Barriers to inclusion include poor attitudes, inaccessible and unsafe learning environments, rigid curriculum, ineffective teacher training, lack of knowledge of the language of instruction, socio-economic barriers to education, and lack of political will and funding. 

How is UNESCO supporting inclusion in education?

UNESCO plays a significant role in promoting inclusive education around the world through various initiatives, programmes and advocacy efforts. UNESCO supports governments to adopt inclusive education frameworks, provides technical assistance and builds capacity among governments, education stakeholders and institutions to develop inclusive education systems. The Global Education Monitoring Report’s  SCOPE and VIEW databases track indicators related to access, participation, quality and equity in education, including the inclusion of marginalized and vulnerable populations.  

More work remains to be done. UNESCO calls on governments and partners to support inclusive education by:

• Targeting financial support to disadvantaged groups and eliminate direct and indirect schools fees in basic education; 
• providing programmes and avenues for re-entry into the education system, equivalency programmes, programmes for continuous learning and lifelong learning, both in formal and non-formal education systems; 
• forging a holistic approach to education from early childhood onwards to incorporate the concerns of marginalized and excluded groups in all levels of education and in all areas of education;
• developing capacities for policy-making and system management to support strategies towards inclusive quality education; and 
• undertaking research on inclusive policies and quality learning enhancement to build good practice based on the evidence of what works.

More information

• UNESCO inclusion in education  
• Celebrating inclusion in education: 30th Anniversary of Salamanca Statement
• Celebrating inclusion in education: Global Inclusive Schools' Forum  
• SDG4 mid-term progress review: progress since 2015 has been far too slow  
• 2020 GEM Report on inclusion in education : All means All
• Regional Report on inclusion in education: 2020 Latin America and the Caribbean report
• Regional Report on inclusion in education: 2021 Central and Eastern Europe, Caucasus and Central Asia
• PEER country profiles on inclusion in education
• Right from the start: build inclusive societies through inclusive early childhood education
• How committed? Unlocking financing for equity in education
• Inclusive teaching: preparing all teachers to teach all students
• Access the  SCOPE website  
• Explore the  VIEW website  

Related items

• Inclusive education
• Topics: Display

More on this subject

Other recent news

ChatGPT for Teachers

Trauma-informed practices in schools, teacher well-being, cultivating diversity, equity, & inclusion, integrating technology in the classroom, social-emotional development, covid-19 resources, invest in resilience: summer toolkit, civics & resilience, all toolkits, degree programs, trauma-informed professional development, teacher licensure & certification, how to become - career information, classroom management, instructional design, lifestyle & self-care, online higher ed teaching, current events, inclusive education: what it means, proven strategies, and a case study.

Considering the potential of inclusive education at your school? Perhaps you are currently working in an inclusive classroom and looking for effective strategies. Lean into this deep-dive article on inclusive education to gather a solid understanding of what it means, what the research shows, and proven strategies that bring out the benefits for everyone.

What is inclusive education? What does it mean?

Inclusive education is when all students, regardless of any challenges they may have, are placed in age-appropriate general education classes that are in their own neighborhood schools to receive high-quality instruction, interventions, and supports that enable them to meet success in the core curriculum (Bui, Quirk, Almazan, & Valenti, 2010; Alquraini & Gut, 2012).

The school and classroom operate on the premise that students with disabilities are as fundamentally competent as students without disabilities. Therefore, all students can be full participants in their classrooms and in the local school community. Much of the movement is related to legislation that students receive their education in the least restrictive environment (LRE). This means they are with their peers without disabilities to the maximum degree possible, with general education the placement of first choice for all students (Alquraini & Gut, 2012).

Successful inclusive education happens primarily through accepting, understanding, and attending to student differences and diversity, which can include physical, cognitive, academic, social, and emotional. This is not to say that students never need to spend time out of regular education classes, because sometimes they do for a very particular purpose — for instance, for speech or occupational therapy. But the goal is this should be the exception.

The driving principle is to make all students feel welcomed, appropriately challenged, and supported in their efforts. It’s also critically important that the adults are supported, too. This includes the regular education teacher and the special education teacher , as well as all other staff and faculty who are key stakeholders — and that also includes parents.

The research basis for inclusive education

Inclusive education and inclusive classrooms are gaining steam because there is so much research-based evidence around the benefits. Take a look.

Benefits for students

Simply put, both students with and without disabilities learn more . Many studies over the past three decades have found that students with disabilities have higher achievement and improved skills through inclusive education, and their peers without challenges benefit, too (Bui, et al., 2010; Dupuis, Barclay, Holms, Platt, Shaha, & Lewis, 2006; Newman, 2006; Alquraini & Gut, 2012).

For students with disabilities ( SWD ), this includes academic gains in literacy (reading and writing), math, and social studies — both in grades and on standardized tests — better communication skills, and improved social skills and more friendships. More time in the general classroom for SWD is also associated with fewer absences and referrals for disruptive behavior. This could be related to findings about attitude — they have a higher self-concept, they like school and their teachers more, and are more motivated around working and learning.

Their peers without disabilities also show more positive attitudes in these same areas when in inclusive classrooms. They make greater academic gains in reading and math. Research shows the presence of SWD gives non-SWD new kinds of learning opportunities. One of these is when they serve as peer-coaches. By learning how to help another student, their own performance improves. Another is that as teachers take into greater consideration their diverse SWD learners, they provide instruction in a wider range of learning modalities (visual, auditory, and kinesthetic), which benefits their regular ed students as well.

Researchers often explore concerns and potential pitfalls that might make instruction less effective in inclusion classrooms (Bui et al., 2010; Dupois et al., 2006). But findings show this is not the case. Neither instructional time nor how much time students are engaged differs between inclusive and non-inclusive classrooms. In fact, in many instances, regular ed students report little to no awareness that there even are students with disabilities in their classes. When they are aware, they demonstrate more acceptance and tolerance for SWD when they all experience an inclusive education together.

Parent’s feelings and attitudes

Parents, of course, have a big part to play. A comprehensive review of the literature (de Boer, Pijl, & Minnaert, 2010) found that on average, parents are somewhat uncertain if inclusion is a good option for their SWD . On the upside, the more experience with inclusive education they had, the more positive parents of SWD were about it. Additionally, parents of regular ed students held a decidedly positive attitude toward inclusive education.

Now that we’ve seen the research highlights on outcomes, let’s take a look at strategies to put inclusive education in practice.

Inclusive classroom strategies

There is a definite need for teachers to be supported in implementing an inclusive classroom. A rigorous literature review of studies found most teachers had either neutral or negative attitudes about inclusive education (de Boer, Pijl, & Minnaert, 2011). It turns out that much of this is because they do not feel they are very knowledgeable, competent, or confident about how to educate SWD .

However, similar to parents, teachers with more experience — and, in the case of teachers, more training with inclusive education — were significantly more positive about it. Evidence supports that to be effective, teachers need an understanding of best practices in teaching and of adapted instruction for SWD ; but positive attitudes toward inclusion are also among the most important for creating an inclusive classroom that works (Savage & Erten, 2015).

Of course, a modest blog article like this is only going to give the highlights of what have been found to be effective inclusive strategies. For there to be true long-term success necessitates formal training. To give you an idea though, here are strategies recommended by several research studies and applied experience (Morningstar, Shogren, Lee, & Born, 2015; Alquraini, & Gut, 2012).

Use a variety of instructional formats

Start with whole-group instruction and transition to flexible groupings which could be small groups, stations/centers, and paired learning. With regard to the whole group, using technology such as interactive whiteboards is related to high student engagement. Regarding flexible groupings: for younger students, these are often teacher-led but for older students, they can be student-led with teacher monitoring. Peer-supported learning can be very effective and engaging and take the form of pair-work, cooperative grouping, peer tutoring, and student-led demonstrations.

Ensure access to academic curricular content

All students need the opportunity to have learning experiences in line with the same learning goals. This will necessitate thinking about what supports individual SWDs need, but overall strategies are making sure all students hear instructions, that they do indeed start activities, that all students participate in large group instruction, and that students transition in and out of the classroom at the same time. For this latter point, not only will it keep students on track with the lessons, their non-SWD peers do not see them leaving or entering in the middle of lessons, which can really highlight their differences.

Apply universal design for learning

These are methods that are varied and that support many learners’ needs. They include multiple ways of representing content to students and for students to represent learning back, such as modeling, images, objectives and manipulatives, graphic organizers, oral and written responses, and technology. These can also be adapted as modifications for SWDs where they have large print, use headphones, are allowed to have a peer write their dictated response, draw a picture instead, use calculators, or just have extra time. Think too about the power of project-based and inquiry learning where students individually or collectively investigate an experience.

Now let’s put it all together by looking at how a regular education teacher addresses the challenge and succeeds in using inclusive education in her classroom.

A case study of inclusive practices in schools and classes

Mrs. Brown has been teaching for several years now and is both excited and a little nervous about her school’s decision to implement inclusive education. Over the years she has had several special education students in her class but they either got pulled out for time with specialists or just joined for activities like art, music, P.E., lunch, and sometimes for selected academics.

She has always found this method a bit disjointed and has wanted to be much more involved in educating these students and finding ways they can take part more fully in her classroom. She knows she needs guidance in designing and implementing her inclusive classroom, but she’s ready for the challenge and looking forward to seeing the many benefits she’s been reading and hearing about for the children, their families, their peers, herself, and the school as a whole.

During the month before school starts, Mrs. Brown meets with the special education teacher, Mr. Lopez — and other teachers and staff who work with her students — to coordinate the instructional plan that is based on the IEPs (Individual Educational Plan) of the three students with disabilities who will be in her class the upcoming year.

About two weeks before school starts, she invites each of the three children and their families to come into the classroom for individual tours and get-to-know-you sessions with both herself and the special education teacher. She makes sure to provide information about back-to-school night and extends a personal invitation to them to attend so they can meet the other families and children. She feels very good about how this is coming together and how excited and happy the children and their families are feeling. One student really summed it up when he told her, “You and I are going to have a great year!”

The school district and the principal have sent out communications to all the parents about the move to inclusion education at Mrs. Brown’s school. Now she wants to make sure she really communicates effectively with the parents, especially as some of the parents of both SWD and regular ed students have expressed hesitation that having their child in an inclusive classroom would work.

She talks to the administration and other teachers and, with their okay, sends out a joint communication after about two months into the school year with some questions provided by the book Creating Inclusive Classrooms (Salend, 2001 referenced in Salend & Garrick-Duhaney, 2001) such as, “How has being in an inclusion classroom affected your child academically, socially, and behaviorally? Please describe any benefits or negative consequences you have observed in your child. What factors led to these changes?” and “How has your child’s placement in an inclusion classroom affected you? Please describe any benefits or any negative consequences for you.” and “What additional information would you like to have about inclusion and your child’s class?” She plans to look for trends and prepare a communication that she will share with parents. She also plans to send out a questionnaire with different questions every couple of months throughout the school year.

Since she found out about the move to an inclusive education approach at her school, Mrs. Brown has been working closely with the special education teacher, Mr. Lopez, and reading a great deal about the benefits and the challenges. Determined to be successful, she is especially focused on effective inclusive classroom strategies.

Her hard work is paying off. Her mid-year and end-of-year results are very positive. The SWDs are meeting their IEP goals. Her regular ed students are excelling. A spirit of collaboration and positive energy pervades her classroom and she feels this in the whole school as they practice inclusive education. The children are happy and proud of their accomplishments. The principal regularly compliments her. The parents are positive, relaxed, and supportive.

Mrs. Brown knows she has more to learn and do, but her confidence and satisfaction are high. She is especially delighted that she has been selected to be a part of her district’s team to train other regular education teachers about inclusive education and classrooms.

The future is very bright indeed for this approach. The evidence is mounting that inclusive education and classrooms are able to not only meet the requirements of LRE for students with disabilities, but to benefit regular education students as well. We see that with exposure both parents and teachers become more positive. Training and support allow regular education teachers to implement inclusive education with ease and success. All around it’s a win-win!

Lilla Dale McManis, MEd, PhD has a BS in child development, an MEd in special education, and a PhD in educational psychology. She was a K-12 public school special education teacher for many years and has worked at universities, state agencies, and in industry teaching prospective teachers, conducting research and evaluation with at-risk populations, and designing educational technology. Currently, she is President of Parent in the Know where she works with families in need and also does business consulting.

You may also like to read

• Inclusive Education for Special Needs Students
• Teaching Strategies in Early Childhood Education and Pre-K
• Mainstreaming Special Education in the Classroom
• Five Reasons to Study Early Childhood Education
• Effective Teaching Strategies for Special Education
• 6 Strategies for Teaching Special Education Classes

Categorized as: Tips for Teachers and Classroom Resources

Tagged as: Curriculum and Instruction ,  High School (Grades: 9-12) ,  Middle School (Grades: 6-8) ,  Pros and Cons ,  Teacher-Parent Relationships ,  The Inclusive Classroom

• Online Education Specialist Degree for Teache...
• Online Associate's Degree Programs in Educati...
• Master's in Math and Science Education

Search the United Nations

• Independent side events
• FAQs - General
• FAQs - Logistics
• Vision Statement
• Consultations
• International Finance Facility for Education
• Gateways to Public Digital Learning
• Youth Engagement
• Youth Declaration
• Education in Crisis Situations
• Addressing the Learning Crisis
• Transform the World
• Digital Learning for All
• Advancing Gender Equality
• Financing Education

Why inclusive education is important for all students

Truly transformative education must be inclusive. The education we need in the 21st century should enable people of all genders, abilities, ethnicities, socioeconomic backgrounds and ages to develop the knowledge, skills and attitudes required for resilient and caring communities. In light of pandemics, climate crises, armed conflict and all challenges we face right now, transformative education that realizes every individual’s potential as part of society is critical to our health, sustainability, peace and happiness. 

To achieve that vision, we need to take action at a systemic level. If we are to get to the heart of tackling inequity, we need change to our education systems as a whole, including formal, non-formal and informal education spaces .

I grew up in the UK in the 1990s under a piece of legislation called Section 28 . This law sought to “ prohibit the promotion of homosexuality ” and those behind it spoke a lot about the wellbeing of children. However, this law did an immense amount of harm, as bullying based on narrow stereotypes of what it meant to be a girl or a boy became commonplace and teachers were disempowered from intervening. Education materials lacked a diversity of gender representation for fear of censure, and as a result, children weren’t given opportunities to develop understanding or empathy for people of diverse genders and sexualities. 

I have since found resonance with the term non-binary to describe my gender, but as an adolescent, what my peers saw was a disabled girl who did not fit the boxes of what was considered acceptable. Because of Section 28, any teacher’s attempts to intervene in the bullying were ineffective and, lacking any representation of others like me, I struggled to envisage my own future. Section 28 was repealed in late 2003; however, change in practice was slow, and I dropped out of formal education months later, struggling with my mental health. 

For cisgender (somebody whose gender identity matches their gender assigned at birth) and heterosexual girls and boys, the lack of representation was limiting to their imaginations and created pressure to follow certain paths. For LGBTQ+ young people, Section 28 was systemic violence leading to psychological, emotional and physical harm. Nobody is able to really learn to thrive whilst being forced to learn to survive. Psychological, emotional and physical safety are essential components of transformative education. 

After dropping out of secondary school, I found non-formal and informal education spaces that gave me the safety I needed to recover and the different kind of learning I needed to thrive. Through Guiding and Scouting activities, I found structured ways to develop not only knowledge, but also important skills in teamwork, leadership, cross-cultural understanding, advocacy and more. Through volunteering, I met adults who became my possibility models and enabled me to imagine not just one future but multiple possibilities of growing up and being part of a community. 

While I found those things through non-formal and informal education spaces (and we need to ensure those forms of education are invested in), we also need to create a formal education system that gives everyone the opportunity to aspire and thrive. 

My work now, with the Kite Trust , has two strands. The first is a youth work programme giving LGBTQ+ youth spaces to develop the confidence, self-esteem and peer connections that are still often lacking elsewhere. The second strand works with schools (as well as other service providers) to help them create those spaces themselves. We deliver the Rainbow Flag Award which takes a whole-school approach to inclusion. The underlying principle is that, if you want to ensure LGBTQ+ students are not being harmed by bullying, it goes far beyond responding to incidents as they occur. We work with schools to ensure that teachers are skilled in this area, that there is representation in the curriculum, that pastoral support in available to young people, that the school has adequate policies in place to ensure inclusion, that the wider community around the school are involved, and that (most importantly) students are given a meaningful voice. 

This initiative takes the school as the system we are working to change and focuses on LGBTQ+ inclusion, but the principles are transferable to thinking about how we create intersectional, inclusive education spaces in any community or across society as a whole. Those working in the system need to be knowledgeable in inclusive practices, the materials used and content covered needs to represent diverse and intersectional experiences and care needs to be a central ethos. All of these are enabled by inclusive policy making, and inclusive policy making is facilitated by the involvement of the full range of stakeholders, especially students themselves. 

If our communities and societies are to thrive in the face of tremendous challenges, we need to use these principles to ensure our education systems are fully inclusive. 

Pip Gardner (pronouns: They/them) is Chief Executive of the Kite Trust, and is a queer and trans activist with a focus on youth empowerment. They are based in the UK and were a member of the Generation Equality Youth Task Force from 2019-21. 

A Journey to the Stars

Isabel’s journey to pursue education in Indigenous Guatemala

School was a safe place: How education helped Nhial realize a dream 

• IIEP Buenos Aires

• A global institute
• Governing Board
• Expert directory
• 60th anniversary
• Monitoring and evaluation
• Latest news
• Upcoming events
• PlanED: The IIEP podcast
• Partnering with IIEP
• Career opportunities
• 11th Medium-Term Strategy
• Planning and management to improve learning

Inclusion in education

• Using digital tools to promote transparency and accountability
• Ethics and corruption in education
• Digital technology to transform education
• Crisis-sensitive educational planning
• Rethinking national school calendars for climate-resilient learning
• Skills for the future
• Interactive map
• Foundations of education sector planning programmes
• Online specialized courses
• Customized, on-demand training
• Training in Buenos Aires
• Training in Dakar
• Preparation of strategic plans
• Sector diagnosis
• Costs and financing of education
• Tools for planning
• Crisis-sensitive education planning
• Supporting training centres
• Support for basic education quality management
• Gender at the Centre
• Teacher careers
• Geospatial data
• Cities and Education 2030
• Learning assessment data
• Governance and quality assurance
• School grants
• Early childhood education
• Flexible learning pathways in higher education
• Instructional leaders
• Planning for teachers in times of crisis and displacement
• Planning to fulfil the right to education
• Thematic resource portals
• Policy Fora
• Network of Education Policy Specialists in Latin America
• Publications
• Briefs, Papers, Tools
• Search the collection
• Visitors information
• Planipolis (Education plans and policies)
• IIEP Learning Portal
• Ethics and corruption ETICO Platform
• PEFOP (Vocational Training in Africa)
• SITEAL (Latin America)
• Policy toolbox
• Education for safety, resilience and social cohesion
• Health and Education Resource Centre
• Interactive Map
• Search deploy
• Our mission
• Thematic priorities
• Gender and equity in education

In an inclusive approach to education, all children can learn together, in the same classroom. In schools, disability is one of the main causes of exclusion. In addition, there are other obstacles to inclusive education, relating to social, material, and behavioural issues. Discover all of IIEP-UNESCO’s actions, activities, and resources to strengthen the capacity of countries to plan for inclusive education, which takes everyone’s needs into account.

While millions of children across the world do not have the opportunity to learn, people with sensory, physical, or learning disabilities are two and a half times more likely than their peers to never go to school. Making inclusive education a reality means reaching out to all learners, by eliminating all forms of discrimination. This challenge lies at the heart of the fourth United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal (SDG4) and the Education 2030 Agenda. Nevertheless, inclusive education is a complex process. It depends not only on supportive policies but more broadly on the cultural transformation of educational systems.

Since 2018, IIEP-UNESCO has been working to strengthen States’ strategies for inclusive educational planning and management, through actions to raise awareness and promote political dialogue on these issues, as well as training and research.

Raising awareness of issues in disability-inclusive planning

More than one out of every seven people in the world has a disability , according to the World Health Organization. Among the tens of millions of children affected, many do not have the opportunity to go to school, especially in low-income countries. Faced with a lack of data and knowledge on the identity and individual needs of these children, many countries do not know how to ensure their inclusion in their national education system. Persistent stigmatization, the often inadequate adaptation of schools, and the lack of training of teachers and materials to encourage inclusive education make access to school and learning even more difficult.

source_iiep-unicef_report_on_the_road_to_inclusion.png

While the transition towards inclusion has begun in several countries, so-called ‘segregated’ educational systems continue to prevail globally, according to UNESCO’s Global Education Monitoring Report 2020 .

For the education of pupils with disabilities, national policies provide for a separate system in 25% of countries, an integrated system in 10 per cent of countries and an inclusive system in only 17% of countries. The remaining States apply a mixed system of segregated and integrated teaching.

Our round tables on inclusive education To help governments develop educational planning that is able to address the needs of all learners, IIEP organized two technical round tables , with the support and collaboration of the United Nations Children’s Fund ( UNICEF ). Representatives of 16 national ministries of education and disability organizations met to discuss the difficulties and progress in planning for fairer and more inclusive educational systems, particularly for children with disabilities.

• Round table ‘ Inclusion and disability in sectoral planning in education in Asia and Anglophone Africa ’, in Paris in 2018. Watch daily highlights .
• Round table ‘ Inclusion and disability in sectoral planning in education in Francophone Africa ’, in Paris in 2019

The conclusions and learning from these round tables led to a report, accessible online.

Read our report

Listen to Radio France Internationale’s report during the second round table

“Inclusive education can improve children’s success at school, strengthen their social and emotional development, encourage acceptance of others... and therefore also contribute to more inclusive societies. To take up this challenge, governments should engage in a process of holistic and systemic reflection, based on rigorous planning.”  Jennifer Pye, IIEP inclusive education specialist

Inclusive education: Our training courses

The conceptual framework for disability-inclusive education, developed by IIEP and UNICEF, contributed to and helped structure an online course focused on the Foundations for disability-inclusive education planning.

This nine-week course, intended for officials in ministries of education working on issues of fairness and inclusion, has been delivered three times since 2020, with each session adapted to a regional context (Southern and East Africa; Asia; Southeast Asia and the Pacific). Overall, IIEP has trained more than 400 ministry of education officials worldwide. Read a participant’s testimony

The impact of this online course on the professional practices of participants is the subject of an evaluation , based on the outcome harvesting method and the Kirkpatrick model.

Find out about IIEP’s training courses

Inclusive education and technology: Our research

Information and communication technology plays a major role in filling the learning gap between pupils with disabilities and those without. Open and distance teaching has long been considered a useful tool to provide access to courses and educational materials that might be out of reach of some pupils. With the pandemic, these distance learning systems have suddenly become essential to maintain an educational link with as many pupils as possible. Yet these tools are still too rarely inclusive or accessible.  IIEP conducts case studies on emerging practices in inclusive digital learning, in collaboration with the UNESCO Institute for Information Technologies in Education ( IITE-UNESCO ). In parallel, rapid assessments are conducted, in different national contexts, to measure the impact of COVID-19 on access to distance learning for pupils with disabilities. This work targets four countries:

• Colombia (case study in English , in Spanish ),
• Bangladesh ( case study ),
• The Republic of Mauritius ( case study | rapid assessment ),
• Rwanda ( rapid assessment ).

Webinars and reports:

• Webinar "Technology-enabled inclusive education: Emerging practices from COVID-19 for learners with disabilities" from Bangladesh, Mauritius, Rwanda (15 June 2021)

Webinar report

• Webinar "COVID 19, educación basada en la tecnología: Prácticas emergentes en el aprendizaje digital inclusivo para estudiantes con discapacidad" (in Spanish with Colombian sign language interpretation) (29 July 2021)

Webinar info note (in Spanish)

Webinar report (available soon)

This project follows directly from UNESCO’s action on disability inclusion through open and distance teaching, particularly during the pandemic. More broadly, it is part of a global programme of the United Nations Partnership On the Rights of Persons with Disabilities ( UNPRPD ).

Gender-sensitive and crisis-sensitive educational planning

Whether in terms of schools or learning, there are many obstacles to inclusive and fair education. These obstacles often mount up. Beyond the central question of disability, other forms of exclusion are therefore also taken into account in IIEP’s research, training, and technical support activities. 

• IIEP strives to integrate gender equality at the heart of strategies and practices in the education sector. In particular, the Institute is responsible for the technical leadership of the Gender at the Center (GCI) initiative, through its office in Dakar. Launched in 2019 during the G7 summit, GCI aims to reduce gender inequalities in the education systems of eight sub-Saharan African countries.
• Similarly, as many countries face conflicts, epidemics, or natural disasters that are likely to exclude children from education, a crisis-sensitive planning approach is integrated into technical support services.
• In Eswatini, inclusive education turns a page
• Inclusive education: Overcoming barriers to technology
• Learning together: Inclusive education for refugees in Kenya
• All children in school together: the quest for disability-inclusive education
• Ghana: making inclusive education a reality
• Technical roundtable on inclusive education
• Technical Round Table: inclusive education for children with disabilities
• Technical Round Table: Inclusion of children with disabilities in education sector planning in French-speaking Africa
• National policies for inclusive education - Planipolis
• Blog post: ‘A school for all: what does it look like and where do we stand?’
• Data Dive Webinar: ‘Making schools inclusive for children with disabilities’
• Blog post: ‘Inclusive education starts with planning.’
• Read our opinion piece published by Devex: The urgent need to plan for disability-inclusive education
• Issue brief, ‘Disability inclusive education and learning’ – Learning Portal

• Privacy Notice

This site belongs to UNESCO's International Institute for Educational Planning

IIEP Learning Portal

Search form

• issue briefs
• Improve learning

Disability inclusive education and learning

Inscribed in the Universal Declaration on Human Rights (1948) , education is a basic right. A range of declarations and conventions highlight the importance of education for people with disabilities: the Salamanca Statement on education and special needs in 1994, as well as article 24 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) adopted in 2006. The importance of education for all is also included in the Convention against Discrimination in Education 1960. In 2015, the Incheon Declaration recalled the importance of inclusive education for all. Targets 4.5 and 4.a call for access to education and the construction of adapted facilities for children with disabilities (Education 2030, 2016).

WHAT WE KNOW

There are few data on school enrolment figures for children with disabilities. However, we do know that there are between 93 and 150 million children living with a disability and, according to the Learning Generation report, in low- and middle-income countries as many as 33 million children with disabilities are out of school (Grant Lewis, 2019). Moreover, children with disabilities are less likely to complete primary, secondary and further education compared to children without disabilities.

In all countries of the world, people with disabilities have lower literacy rates than people without disabilities (Singal, 2015; UIS, 2018; United Nations, 2018). There is also a difference based on the nature of the disability i.e. illiteracy is higher in children with visual impairments, multiple or mental disorders compared to children with motor disabilities (Singal, 2015).

When they do attend school, children with disabilities score lower in mathematics and reading tests, as shown in the PASEC learning assessments (World Bank, 2019; Wodon et al, 2018). Girls with disabilities are penalized even further due to their gender (UIS, 2018). Generally, disability tends to compound social inequalities (e.g. poverty or place of residence). That said, in Pakistan, the learning gap between children with disabilities and children without disabilities enrolled in school was lower than the gap between these two out-of-school groups (Rose et al., 2018: 9). Moreover, studies in the United States of America have shown that students with disabilities achieve better academic outcomes and social integration when studying in a mainstream environment than students studying in segregated or specialized classes (Alquraini and Gut, 2012).

TOWARD A MAINSTREAM SCHOOL ENVIRONMENT

Inclusive education means including students with disabilities in a mainstream school environment. In many countries today, children with disabilities attend ordinary schools but follow a specific curriculum. Moving toward a more inclusive model (i.e. students with disabilities follow an inclusive curriculum along with able-bodied students) is a long-term process.

As countries move toward more inclusive education, special schools and their staff can play a key role by acting as specialized experts and helping mainstream schools achieve greater inclusion (UNESCO, 2017). The Global Partnership for Education (GPE) studied the inclusion of students with disabilities in education sector plans in 51 countries. Seventeen of them are considering a two-pronged approach: to integrate disability in education and to invest in actions and services aimed specifically at meeting the needs of children with disabilities (GPE, 2018).

Many obstacles prevent children and young people with disabilities from attending a mainstream school.

• Identifying pupils with disabilities . Prejudices and social attitudes lead to under-declaring the number of children with disabilities (GPE, 2018). Certain families, fearing stigmatisation, do not send their children to school (Singal, 2015; EDT and UNICEF, 2016). Due to the hidden nature of certain learning difficulties, the total population of these children is largely unknown (World Bank, 2019). Identifying these children at school is rare (Wodon et al, 2018). Recognizing disabilities may be limited to observable disabilities and not necessarily those that affect the child's ability to learn (EDT and UNICEF, 2016). Obsolete and inadequate data complicate effective educational planning and hinder decision-making and resource allocation (GPE, 2018). In addition, countries use different measurements, methods and definitions to classify disabilities thus affecting their ability to compare data (GPE, 2018; Price, 2018).
• Lack of trained teachers. In many countries, teachers do not have the confidence or the necessary skills to deliver inclusive education (Singal, 2015; Wodon et al, 2018). Inclusive education is only a small component of the training received by teachers and is not always assessed (EDT and UNICEF, 2016).
• Poorly adapted school facilities and learning materials. Poorly adapted infrastructures and a lack of accessible learning materials are significant obstacles. This is particularly true in rural areas where increased levels of poverty, poor services, and recurrent infrastructure failings exacerbate these existing problems for children with disabilities (SADPD, 2012). School curricula that solely rely on passive learning methods, such as drilling, dictation, and copying from the blackboard, further limit access to quality education for children with disabilities (Humanity & Inclusion, 2015).
• Lack of resources. Whether it concerns building adapted schools, reducing class sizes or teacher training, financial and human resources are required (Grimes, Stevens and Kumar, 2015). Funds earmarked for special needs are often insufficient. Where funding is available, it is primarily intended for schools and special units, rather than being used for the needs of students enrolled in mainstream schools and removing existing barriers (Mariga, McConkey and Myezwa, 2014).
• Assessing learning. There are few data on the learning outcomes of students with disabilities. Examinations and tests rarely make accommodations for these students putting them at a disadvantage. Most international performance tests exclude students with disabilities, which, in turn, reinforces low expectations (Schuelka, 2013 cited in Price, 2018; World Bank, 2019).

POLICY AND PLANNING

• Defining a policy for inclusive education. Inclusive education requires a systemic examination of education systems and school cultures. Promoting social justice and inclusive education requires drawing up, implementing and assessing plans and policies that favour inclusive education for all. Every country needs to formulate its own set of solutions that reach down to the level of individual schools (Grant Lewis, 2019).
• Facilitating access to learning. The first step to including children with disabilities in mainstream schools is the provision of adapted school facilities e.g. ramps, toilets, special equipment, and apparatus, as well as making appropriate teaching and learning materials available (SADPD, 2012; Malik et al., 2018). To encourage the enrolment of girls with disabilities, special measures could comprise grants or allowances (GPE, 2018).
• Strengthening partnerships. Inclusive education requires creating partnerships with local stakeholders i.e. parents, schools, communities, countries, ministries, and development partners (Grant Lewis, 2019). Partnerships which capitalize on local knowledge and resources have proven to be effective (SADPD, 2012; EDT and UNICEF, 2016; GPE, 2018). One recommendation is to give particular support to parents to raise their awareness of the importance of inclusive education and to integrate them into the educational community, for example by participating in school activities (GPE, 2018).
• Ensuring adequate teacher training. The ability of teachers to provide quality education to students with disabilities depends on their training and qualifications (European Agency for Special Needs and Inclusive Education, 2015). However, teachers often struggle due to already overcrowded classes. Offering upstream pre-service training for future teachers, investing in in-service teacher training comprising practical stages and a mentoring system are approaches that have proved their effectiveness (Ackers, 2018). However, it is important to train specialized teachers as it is not possible to train all mainstream teachers to be sufficiently fluent in Braille, national sign language, and augmentative and alternative communication modes (EDT and UNICEF, 2016). The Global Partnership for Education has also highlighted the importance of training teachers to identify disabilities (GPE, 2018).
• Statistics to reinforce human support. Although data are rare, there are tools which can be used to monitor the participation and learning of students with disabilities. Data from household surveys are used to monitor school attendance and success rates for children, as well as to examine factors linked to non-attendance; Education Management Information Systems (EMIS) collect administrative data about school attendance, student behaviour, and progress. However, qualitative data are also needed to shed light on the ‘how’ and ‘why’ of the lives of students, teachers, and parents (Mont, 2018). Equally important is the collection of data on the school environment, such as the physical accessibility of schools, information on policies and legislation, teaching materials, teacher training and the availability of support specialists in schools (Grant Lewis, 2018).
• Assessing students. The Salamanca Statement advocates formative assessment to identify difficulties and help students overcome them (Salamanca Statement, 1994). Sæbønes et al. (2015) recommend classroom assessments for individual learning. They recommend that regional and national examinations and international learning assessments systematically include all students and provide reasonable accommodations for learners with disabilities. A study conducted in Kenya shows that it is possible to carry out large-scale learning assessments of deaf and blind children. However, in order to design these adapted tools, human, material and financial resources are necessary (Piper et al., 2019). For an overview of the issue of learning assessments and students with disabilities see World Bank, 2019.
• Investing in technology. According to UNESCO “ICTs can be a valuable tool for learners with disabilities who are vulnerable to the digital divide and exclusion from educational opportunities” (UNESCO, 2014: 10). To reduce barriers, their model policy recommends the use of inclusive ICTs, commercially available products that are, as far as possible, accessible to all, as well as assistive technology to enable access when this is not possible using products available on the market. (UNESCO, 2014: 11).
• Cost. It is important to find ways to meet the needs of the most marginalized without additional funding (UNESCO, 2017). Approaches, such as analysing data from household surveys, suggest that the returns on investing in education for children with disabilities are high and similar to those for people without disabilities. Therefore, investing in the education of children with disabilities is both smart and profitable (Wodon et al., 2018). UNESCO recommends setting up or strengthening financial monitoring systems, as well as creating partnerships between governments and donors (UNESCO, 2017). Finally, the comparison between the cost of specialized institutions and inclusive institutions reveals that the inclusive system is more efficient (Open Society Foundations, n.d.; Inclusion International. n.d.).
• Proposing inclusive pedagogy. The type of disability (autism spectrum disorders, learning disabilities, language, hearing, etc.) influences the learning method. Inclusive pedagogy requires a shift in the educational culture within teaching and support practices i.e. moving away from ‘one-size-fits-all’ education towards a tailored approach to increase the capacity of the system to meet the diverse needs of learners without the need to categorize or label them (European Agency for Special Needs and Inclusive Education, 2017). We move away from the idea of inclusion as a specialized response to certain learners, to allow them to access or participate in what is offered to most students (Florian, 2015). Inclusive pedagogy implies having resources and services that can be used by all students without the need for adaptation or specialized planning (UNESCO, 2017: 19).

Plans and policies

• Fiji: Policy on special and inclusive education (2016)
•  Kenya: Sector policy for learners and trainees with disabilities (2018)
• South Africa: Policy on screening, identification, assessment, and support (2014)
• Fiji. Ministry of Education; Australian Agency for International Development. 2017. Fiji Education Management Information System (FEMIS): Disability disaggregation package. Guidelines and forms.
•  Bulat, J.; Macon, W.; Ticha, R.; Abery, B. 2017. School and classroom disabilities inclusion guide for low- and middle-income countries. Research Triangle Park, NC: RTI Press.
•  Ethiopia. Ministry of Education. 2015. Guideline for establishing and managing inclusive education resource/support centers (RCs). Addis Ababa: Federal Ministry of Education.
• Hayes, A. M.; Bulat, J. 2017. Disabilities inclusive education systems and policies guide for low- and middle-income countries . Research Triangle Park, NC: RTI Press.
• UNESCO. 2017. A Guide for ensuring inclusion and equity in education. Paris: UNESCO.

Ackers, J. 2018. “Teacher education and inclusive education”. The IIEP Letter 34 (2)

Alquraini, T.; Gut, D. 2012. Critical components of successful inclusion of students with severe disabilities: International Journal of Special Education 27 (1): 42 59.

Convention against discrimination in education.

Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

Education 2030: Incheon Declaration and Framework for Action for the implementation of Sustainable Development Goal 4: To ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning . 2016.

Education Development Trust; UNICEF. 2016. Eastern and Southern Africa regional study on the fulfilment of the right to education of children with disabilities. Reading: EDT.

European Agency for Special Needs and Inclusive Education. 2015. Empowering teachers to promote inclusive education: A case study of approaches to training and support for inclusive teacher practice. Odense: European Agency for Special Needs and Inclusive Education.

European Agency for Special Needs and Inclusive Education. 2017. Inclusive education for learners with disabilities. Study for the Peti committee. Brussels: European Union.

Florian, L. 2015. Inclusive Pedagogy: A transformative approach to individual differences but can it help reduce educational inequalities? Scottish Educational Review 47 (1): 5 14.

Grant Lewis, S. 2019. ' Opinion: The urgent need to plan for disability-inclusive education'. Devex. 6 February 2019.

Grimes, P.; Stevens, M.; Kumar, K. 2015. 'An examination of the evolution of policies and strategies to improve access to education for children with disabilities with a focus on inclusive education approaches, the success and challenges'. Background paper prepared for the Education for All Global Monitoring Report 2015, Education for All 2000-2015: Achievements and challenges.

Humanity & Inclusion. 2015. Education for all? This is still not a reality for most children with disabilities.

Inclusion International. n.d. FAQs - Inclusion International .

Male, C.; Wodon, Q. 2018. Disability gaps in educational attainment and literacy. The price of exclusion: disability and education. Washington, DC: World Bank; GPE.

Mariga, L.; McConkey, R.; Myezwa, H. 2014. Inclusive education in low-income countries: A resource for teacher educators, parent trainers and community development workers . Cape Town: Atlas Alliance and Disability Innovations Africa.

Mont, D. 2018. Collecting data for inclusive education . IIEP Learning Portal (blog).

Open Society Foundations. n. d. ' The power of letting children learn together'.

Global Partnership for Education (GPE). 2018. Disability and inclusive education - a stocktake of education sector plans and GPE-funded grants. Washington, DC: GPE.

Piper, B.; Bulat, J.; Kwayumba, D.; Oketch, J.; Gangla, L. 2019. Measuring literacy outcomes for the blind and for the deaf: Nationally representative results from Kenya. International Journal of Educational Development 69 (September)

Price, R. 2018. Inclusive and special education approaches in developing countries. K4D Helpdesk Report.

Rose, P.; Singal, N.; Bari, F.; Malik, R.; Kamran, S. 2018. Identifying disability in household surveys: evidence on education access and learning for children with disabilities in Pakistan. Policy Paper, 18/1. Cambridge: REAL Centre. University of Cambridge.

Sæbønes, A.-M.; Berman Bieler, R.; Baboo, N.; Banham, L.; Singal, N.; Howgego, C.; Vuyiswa McClain-Nhlapo, C.; Riis-Hansen, T. C.; Dansie, G. A. ' Towards a disability inclusive education '. Background paper for the Oslo Summit on Education for Development, 6-7 July 2015.

Salamanca Statement and the Framework for Action on Special Needs Education. 1994.

Secretariat of the African Decade of Persons with Disabilities. 2012. Study on education for children with disabilities in Southern Africa. Pretoria: SADPD.

Singal, N. 2015. Education of children with disabilities in India and Pakistan: an analysis of developments since 2000. Background paper prepared for the Education for All Global Monitoring Report 2015, Education for All 2000-2015: Achievements and challenges.

UIS. 2018. Education and disability: analysis of data from 49 countries. Information Paper 49. Montreal: UIS.

UNESCO. 2014. Model policy for inclusive ICTs in education for persons with disabilities. Paris: UNESCO.

UNESCO. 2017. A Guide for ensuring inclusion and equity in education . Paris: UNESCO.

United Nations. Department of Economic and Social Affairs. 2018. ' Realization of the Sustainable Development Goals by, for and with persons with disabilities'. UN Flagship Report on Disability and Development 2018. Advanced unedited version. New York: United Nations.

Universal Declaration on Human Rights . 1948

Wodon, Q.; Male, C.; Montenegro, C.; Nayihouba, A. 2018. The challenge of inclusive education in Sub-Saharan Africa. Washington, DC: World Bank.

World Bank. 2019. Every learner matters: Unpacking the learning crisis for children with disabilities . Washington, DC: World Bank.

Related information

• Global education monitoring report, 2020: Inclusion and education: all means all
• IIEP, planning for inclusive education
• UNESCO: Inclusion in education
• Inclusive education

Inclusive and Exclusive Education for Diverse Learning Needs

• Reference work entry
• First Online: 01 January 2020
• Cite this reference work entry

• Satine Winter 6  

Part of the book series: Encyclopedia of the UN Sustainable Development Goals ((ENUNSDG))

1194 Accesses

2 Citations

1 Altmetric

Diverse learning ; Diversity ; Elite ; Exceptionality ; Exclusion ; Exclusive ; Inclusion ; Inclusive ; Integration ; Least restrictive environment ; Segregated ; Selective ; Special needs

Definitions

Inclusive education refers to the education of all students, regardless of ability, in mainstream classrooms and involves the use of appropriate supports, adjustments, and resource delivery to ensure the successful inclusion of students at a whole-school level, which is supported by inclusive education policy and/or legislation. A key aspect of inclusive education is the philosophical approach underpinning the inclusion of all students in the education environment based on inclusive attitudes, beliefs, and values of all stakeholders and founded on principles of social justice and human rights.

Exclusive education refers to the education of students by selective merit or exclusion and may or may not involve discrimination by educational authorities, representatives, or other stakeholders....

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

• Available as PDF
• Read on any device
• Instant download
• Own it forever
• Available as EPUB and PDF
• Durable hardcover edition
• Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
• Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Ainscow M, Sandill A (2010) Developing inclusive education systems: the role of organisational cultures and leadership. Int J Incl Educ 14(4):401–416. https://doi.org/10.1080/13603110802504903

Article   Google Scholar  

Alchin G (2014) Is reasonable adjustment a deficit ideology? Spec Educ Perspect 23(1):3–6. http://aase.edu.au/wp-content/uploads/documents/SEP-Contents-Vol-23-No-13.pdf . Accessed 13 Mar 2019

Google Scholar  

Al-Shabatat A (2014) Gifted teachers’ stages of concerns for integrating e-learning in the gifted schools in Jordan. Turk Online J Educ Technol 13(2):80–87. https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1022908.pdf . Accessed 30 Mar 2019

Armstrong A, Armstrong D, Spandagou I (2010) Inclusive education: international policy and practice. SAGE, London

Ashman A (2019) Education for inclusion and diversity, 6th edn. Pearson Australia, Melbourne

Booth T, Ainscow M (2002) Index for inclusion: developing learning and participation in schools. Centre for Studies on Inclusive Education, Bristol

Brownell MT, Smith SJ, Crockett JB, Griffin CC (2012) Inclusive instruction: evidence-based practices for teaching students with disabilities. The Guilford Press, New York

Chitiyo J, Brinda W (2018) Teacher preparedness in the use of teaching in inclusive classrooms. Support Learn 33(1):38–51. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-9604.12190

Christian LG (2006) Understanding families: applying family systems theory to early childhood practice. Young Child 61(1):12–20

D’Alessio S, Watkins A (2009) International comparison of inclusive policy and practice: are we talking about the same thing? Res Comp Int Educ 4(3):233–249. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.2304/rcie.2009.4.3.233 . Accessed 15 July 2018

Degener T (2016) Disability in a human rights context. Laws 5(3):35–59. https://doi.org/10.3390/laws5030035

Edyburn D (2010) Would you recognize universal design for learning if you saw it? Ten propositions for new directions for the second decade of UDL. Learn Disabil Q 33:33–41

Farrell P (2000) The impact of research on developments in inclusive education. Int J Incl Educ 4(2):153–162. https://doi.org/10.1080/136031100284867

Fitzgerald P (2016) Differentiation for all literacy levels in mainstream classrooms. Lit Learn Middle Years 24(2):17–25. https://search.informit.com.au/documentSummary;dn=041587236073899;res=IELHSS . Accessed 2 Feb 2019

Florian L (2008) Special or inclusive education: future trends. Br J Spec Educ 35(4):202–208. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8578.2008.00402.x

Francis GL, Fuchs E, Johnson AD, Gordon S, Grant A (2016) Developing parent-professional partnerships in a postsecondary education program for students with disability. Psychol Sch 53(10):1045–1056. https://doi.org/10.1002/pits.21974

Francis GL, Blue-Banning M, Haines SJ, Turnbull AP, Gorss J (2018) Building “our school”: parental perspectives for building trusting family-professional partnerships. Prev Sch Fail 60(4):329–336. https://doi.org/10.1080/1045988X.2016.1164115

Giangreco M (2013) Teacher assistant supports in inclusive schools: research, practices and alternatives. Australas J Spec Educ 37(2):93–106. https://doi.org/10.1017/jse.2013.1

Gilliam WS, Reyes CR (2018) Teacher decision factors that lead to preschool expulsion. Infants Young Child 31(2):93–108. https://doi.org/10.1097/IYC.0000000000000113

Greenwood J, Kelly C (2017) Implementing cycles of assess, plan, do, review: a literature review of practitioner perspectives. Br J Spec Educ 44(4):394–410. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-8578.12184

Hardy I, Woodcock S (2015) Inclusive education policies: discourses of differences, diversity and deficit. Int J Incl Educ 19(2):141–164. https://doi.org/10.1080/13603116/2014.908965

Ho C (2017) Angry Anglos and aspirational Asians: everyday multiculturalism in the selective school system in Sydney. Discourse. https://doi.org/10.1080/01596306.2017.1396961

Horner R, Sugai G, Anderson C (2010) Examining the evidence base for school-wide positive behaviour support. Focus Except Child 42(8):1–14

Hyde M (2015) Creating inclusive schools. In: Hyde M, Carpenter L, Conway R (eds) Diversity, inclusion and engagement, 2nd edn. Oxford University Press, South Melbourne, pp 353–364

Ingólfsdóttir JG, Egilson ST, Traustadóttir R (2018) Family-centred services for young children with intellectual disabilities and their families: theory, policy and practice. J Intellect Disabil 22(4):361–377. https://doi.org/10.1177/1744629517714644

Jahnukainen M (2011) Different strategies, different outcomes? The history and trends of the inclusive and special education in Alberta (Canada) and in Finland. Scand J Educ Res 55(5):489–502. https://doi.org/10.1080/00313831.2010537689

Keen D (2007) Parents, families, and partnerships: issues and considerations. Int J Disabil Dev Educ 54(3): 339–349. https://doi.org/10.1080/10349120701488855

Kieran L, Anderson C (2018) Connecting universal design for learning with culturally responsive teaching. Educ Urban Soc 1–15. https://doi.org/10.1177/0013124518785012

Kuhn M, Marvin CA, Knoche L (2016) In it for the long haul: parent-teacher partnerships for addressing preschool childrens challenging behaviors. Top Early Child Spec Educ 37(2):81–93. https://doi.org/10.1177/0271121416659053

Kyriazopoulou M, Weber H (eds) (2009) Development of a set of indicators – for inclusive education in Europe. European Agency for Development in Special Needs Education, Odense

Lilley R (2013) It’s an absolute nightmare: maternal experiences of enrolling children diagnosed with autism in primary school in Sydney, Australia. Disabil Soc 28(4):514–526. https://doi.org/10.1080/09687599.2012.717882

Loreman T, Forlin C, Chambers D, Sharma U, Deppeler J (2014) Conceptualising and measuring inclusive education. Int Perspect Incl Educ 3:3–17. https://doi.org/10.1108/s1479-363620140000003015

Mackenzie M, Cologon K, Fenech M (2016) ‘Embracing everybody’: approaching the inclusive early childhood education of a child labelled with autism from a social relational understanding of disability. Australas J Early Childhood 41(2):4–12. https://doi.org/10.1177/183693911604100202

Matavire M, Mpofu V, Maveneka A (2013) Streaming practices and implications in the education system: a survey of Mazowe district, Zimbabwe. J Soc Sci Policy Implic 1(1):60–70. http://ir.buse.ac.zw/xmlui/bitstream/handle/11196/613/streaming%20practice.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y . Accessed 30 Mar 2019

Meo G (2008) Curriculum planning for all learners: applying universal design for learning (UDL) to a high school reading comprehension program. Prev Sch Fail 52(2):21–30. https://doi.org/10.3200/PSFL.52.2.21-30

Meyer A, Rose DH, Gordon D (2016) Universal design for learning: theory and practice. Cast Professional Publishing, Wakefield

Miles S, Singal N (2010) The Education for All and inclusive education debate: conflict, contradiction or opportunity? Int J Incl Educ 14(1):1–15. https://doi.org/10.1080/13603110802265125

Mukherjee M (2017) Global design and local histories: culturally embedded meaning-making for inclusive education. Int Educ J Comp Perspect 16(3):32–48. https://openjournals.library.sydney.edu.au/index.php/IEJ/article/view/12169/11454 . Accessed 15 Nov 2018

Nelson L (2017) Out of the institution, into the classroom: legal challenges to the use of restraint and seclusion in school settings in the United States. Int J Law Psychiatry 53:97–101. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijlp.2017.05.013

Peter SJ (2007) Education for All?: A historical analysis of international inclusive education policy and individuals with disabilities. J Disabil Policy Stud 18(2):98–108

Pope C (2002) Plato makes the team: the arrival of secondary school sport academies. Waikato J Educ 8:89–100. https://doi.org/10.15663/wje.v8il.448

Razer M, Friedman VJ (2017) From exclusion to excellence: building restorative relationships to create inclusive schools. UNESCO International Bureau of Education/Sense Publishers

Richardson T, Jindal-Snape D, Hannah E (2017) Impact of legislation on post-school transition practice for young people with additional support needs in Scotland. Br J Spec Educ 44(3):239–256. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-8578.12178

Sands DJ, Kozleski EB, French NK (2000) Inclusive education for the 21st century. Wadsworth Thomson Learning, Belmont

Selvaraj JA (2015) Inclusive education in New Zealand: rhetoric and reality. Hist Educ Rev 45(1):54–68. https://doi.org/10.1108/HER-04-2014-0029

Shyman E (2015) Toward a globally sensitive definition of inclusive education based in social justice. Int J Disabil Dev Educ 62(4):351–362. https://doi.org/10.1080/1034912X.2015.1025715

Skipper Y, Douglas KM (2016) The impact of a selective entry examination on children’s feelings as they approach the transition to secondary school. Br Educ Res J 42(6):945–961. https://doi.org/10.1002/berj.3242

Slee R (2011) The irregular school: exclusion, schooling and inclusive education. Routledge, London

Book   Google Scholar  

Slee R (2018) Defining the scope of inclusive education. Paper commissioned for the 2020 Global Education Monitoring Report, inclusion and education. http://repositorio.minedu.gob.pe/bitstream/handle/MINEDU/5977/Defining%20the%20scope%20of%20inclusive%20education.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y . Accessed 15 Sept 2018

Smith DD, Tyler NC (2011) Effective inclusive education: equipping education professionals with necessary skills and knowledge. Prospects 41:323–339. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11125-011-9207-5

Stanford B, Reeves S (2009) Making it happen: using differentiated instruction, retrofit framework, and universal design for learning. Teach Except Child Plus. https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ967757.pdf . Accessed 12 Feb 2019

Stiefel L, Shiferaw M, Schwartz AE, Gottfried M (2017) Who feels included in school? Examining feelings of inclusion among students with disabilities. Educ Res 47(2):105–120. https://doi.org/10.3102/0013189X17738761

Tomlinson C (2014) The differentiated classroom: responding to the needs of all learners, 2nd edn. ASCD, Alexandria

U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights (2014) Civil rights data collection. Data snapshot: early childhood education. Author, Washington, DC. https://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/docs/crdc-early-learning-snapshot.pdf . Accessed 25 Mar 2019

United Nations (2006) Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. https://www.un.org/development/desa/disabilities/convention-on-the-rights-of-persons-with-disabilities.html . Accessed 17 Nov 2018

United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) (1994) The Salamanca Statement and Framework for Action on Special Needs Education. http://www.unesco.org/education/pdf/SALAMA_E.PDF . Accessed 17 Nov 2018

United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) (2000) Education for All: meeting our collective commitments. Notes on the Dakar Framework for Action. Retrieved from http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0012/001202/120240e.pdf . Accessed 17 Nov 2018

United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) (2017) A guide for ensuring inclusion and equity in education. Retrieved from http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0024/002482/248254e.pdf . Accessed 17 Nov 2018

VanderDussen Toukan E (2017) Expressions of liberal justice? Examining the aims of the UN’s sustainable development goals for education. Interchange 48(3): 293–309. https://eric.ed.gov/?redir=http%3a%2f%2fdx.doi.org%2f10.1007%2fs10780-017-9304-3 . Accessed 18 Nov 2018

Woodcock S, Woolfson L (2019) Are leaders leading the way with inclusion? Teachers’ perceptions of systemic support and barriers towards inclusion. Int J Educ Res 93:232–242. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijer.2018.11.004

United Nations Human Rights Office of the High Commissioner (2016) General comment No. 4. Article 24: Inclusive education. Retrieved from https://tbinternet.ohchr.org/_layouts/15/treatybodyexternal/Download.aspx?symbolno=CRPD/C/GC/4&Lang=en . Accessed 10 Aug 2019

Download references

Author information

Authors and affiliations.

College of Arts, Society and Education, James Cook University, Cairns, QLD, Australia

Satine Winter

You can also search for this author in PubMed   Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Satine Winter .

Editor information

Editors and affiliations.

European School of Sustainability Science and Research, Hamburg University of Applied Sciences, Hamburg, Germany

Walter Leal Filho

Center for Neuroscience and Cell Biology, Institute for Interdisciplinary Research, University of Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal

Anabela Marisa Azul

Faculty of Engineering and Architecture, Passo Fundo University, Passo Fundo, Brazil

Luciana Brandli

Istinye University, Istanbul, Turkey

Pinar Gökçin Özuyar

University of Chester, Chester, UK

Section Editor information

Journal of Advanced Cognitive Engineers, Society of Cognitive Engineers, MELBOURNE, USA

Olivia A. M. Freeman

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2020 Springer Nature Switzerland AG

About this entry

Cite this entry.

Winter, S. (2020). Inclusive and Exclusive Education for Diverse Learning Needs. In: Leal Filho, W., Azul, A.M., Brandli, L., Özuyar, P.G., Wall, T. (eds) Quality Education. Encyclopedia of the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-95870-5_24

Download citation

DOI : https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-95870-5_24

Published : 04 April 2020

Publisher Name : Springer, Cham

Print ISBN : 978-3-319-95869-9

Online ISBN : 978-3-319-95870-5

eBook Packages : Earth and Environmental Science Reference Module Physical and Materials Science Reference Module Earth and Environmental Sciences

Share this entry

Anyone you share the following link with will be able to read this content:

Sorry, a shareable link is not currently available for this article.

Provided by the Springer Nature SharedIt content-sharing initiative

• Publish with us

Policies and ethics

• Find a journal
• Track your research

How 9 Leaders Think About Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in Their Schools

• Share article

The role of diversity, equity, and inclusion in K-12 education remains under national debate as DEI more broadly faces political attacks that have focused largely on higher education and the business world.

Some district and school leaders have taken to a rebranding of DEI to focus less on explicit references to racial disparities and more on the general concepts of inclusion and belonging for all students. Experts have pointed to the continued need for specific policies and practices addressing the needs of underserved students. For instance, this frame of mind acknowledges that disparities can exist even within racially homogenous school districts.

To better understand where school and district leaders stand on what DEI offers K-12 education and what belonging and inclusion for all means, Education Week reached out to school and district leaders who are members of AASA, The School Superintendents Association.

Responses have been lightly edited for length and clarity.

What DEI looks like in K-12 schools

In my opinion, DEI, in a K-12 setting, means ensuring that there are no opportunity gaps for any one subgroup of students. This could be things like computer access (device as well as connectivity), having a diverse staff of certified teachers to deliver instruction, making sure that all communication is in families’ home languages, offering multiple times of day for parents to meet with teachers for conferences, providing rich books for families to have in their homes, and paying for school fees of the students who have a free and reduced lunch status.

We are the only Unified Champion school district in Tennessee [a program through Special Olympics Tennessee]. This means that we include our students with the most severe disabilities in all of our activities as well.

— Cathy Beck, director of schools in Ashland City, Tenn.

When I think of DEI efforts (we don’t use that term anymore due to the unfortunate politicization of it) in our school district, it is about paying attention to—and promoting—the participation and representation of diverse individuals and groups. We also make purposeful efforts in hiring to more closely mirror our student demographic so they can see themselves in the various positions.

Our goal should always be to have our classes, teams, clubs, etc. look similar to our student demographics.

— Theron Schutte, superintendent in Marshalltown, Iowa

For us, the work of diversity, equity, and inclusion is far more than a school board-approved policy or a priority in our strategic plan. It is, quite simply, about helping students and communities to understand that there is a place in the world for them—no matter how they show up—and that place has value. What that looks like may differ from student to student, from school to school, and from community to community. But the inclusiveness that comes with diverse and equitable work must first be centered around building a sense of belonging in every single student we serve. Only through belonging can we help our students grow and, ultimately, succeed.

I offer you a phenomenal example from a graduation ceremony at one of our developmental centers, which educates students with significant disabilities. One of the school’s graduates has a propensity to sit down on the floor frequently, and he got up from his seat and did so several times during the ceremony. When it was his turn to receive his diploma, the student stood briefly with the principal before sitting down on the stage. Without missing a beat, the principal sat down next to the student, handed the student his diploma, turned them both to face the photographer, and moved seamlessly on with the ceremony. That is the epitome of meeting students where they are, of helping them understand they belong, of celebrating milestones no matter the location, and of recognizing the value and worth that every human in our schools and communities brings to the table.

— Mark Bedell, superintendent of schools, Anne Arundel County, Md.

Successful public schools are educational communities where all students thrive. Diversity is our stance that recognizes the gifts, strengths, and assets that each student brings. Equity is making sure that the district is providing what each student needs so that there are no longer opportunity gaps in our system. And inclusion is the act of creating belonging and success for every student.

— Jennifer Spencer-liams, assistant superintendent in Tualatin, Ore .

What inclusion and belonging entails

Unfortunately, DEI has been politicized and weaponized as a nefarious concept. As educators, we must ensure that students are accepted, valued, and feel a sense of belonging so that they can learn. Emotional and physical safety are integral for achievement to occur.

At Birmingham Public Schools, we distribute a culture and climate survey to understand the needs of our students. We use that data, as well as focus groups with students, to drive initiatives that improve the experience for our students.

Our strategic plan specifically includes equity and inclusion as core values, and a strategic aim of creating a culture of unity and well-being. I am proud that our stakeholders have named that every single person in our community should be celebrated for who they are because it makes us stronger.

— Embekka Roberson, superintendent in Birmingham, Mich.

Schools must focus on educational equity to ensure every student has access to exemplary learning opportunities with the support they need. Schools must commit to creating a climate and culture that ensures all people consistently feel valued, respected, included, safe, and a strong sense of belonging.

In addition to setting intentional and deliberate goals that can be measured, the best way for schools to know if students feel they belong is by asking them. Schools must commit to a process that amplifies student voice and we must commit to ensuring students know their voice was heard and valued through meaningful action. Engaging students through advisory and action councils, as well as frequent perception surveys help us measure our students’ sense of belonging. As part of their school improvement process, Naperville schools are required to set, measure, and report on sense of belonging to the school board.

— Dan Bridges, superintendent in Naperville, Ill.

Why invest in DEI and belonging

The purpose of focusing on diversity, equity, and inclusion in the PK-12 environment is to ensure that ALL students receive access, opportunity, and success along their learning journey. School leaders can ensure that all students feel a sense of inclusion and belonging by first modeling leadership that puts the needs of ALL children first as well as being willing to confront historic barriers that may exclude some children from success. When we treat ALL kids like OUR kids, our classrooms, schools, districts, states, and nation thrive.

— Nathan Quesnel, head of school, Norwich Free Academy, Conn.

At Battle Creek Public Schools, we approach everything through an equity lens to ensure that every student feels seen by name, need, and strength. Over the past seven years, we have been intentionally transforming the student and family experience in our district to ensure we are being inclusive to our diverse community—for example, by communicating with our families in their preferred languages as much as we can, including in Spanish, Burmese, and Swahili, and by offering International Baccalaureate curriculum.

Our ultimate goal is 100 percent success for every Bearcat, and that is only possible if our students feel welcome and valued. That is the environment we strive to provide every day.

— Kimberly Carter, superintendent in Battle Creek, Mich.

With mental health issues on the rise and the rapid growth of artificial intelligence, DEI awareness and a sense of belonging are more critical than ever in our schools. It is essential that our students know that they are seen, heard, valued, and respected, or we will lose them. They need to know their identity to be successful in life.

— Alena Zachery-Ross, superintendent in Ypsilanti, Mich.

Sign Up for The Savvy Principal

Edweek top school jobs.

Sign Up & Sign In

How to Raise Inclusive Kids

Practical tips for building inclusivity in kids..

Posted May 23, 2024 | Reviewed by Lybi Ma

• Why Education Is Important
• Find a Child Therapist
• Inclusive behaviors can be role modeled, and can start at home.
• Story-telling can improve inclusive behaviors and mindsets.
• Creating safe environments for dialogue encourages acceptance and inclusion.

Inclusion is a fundamental aspect of human psychology and social development. It goes beyond simply being present in a group; it's about feeling valued, respected, and understood for who you are. When individuals experience inclusion, they develop a profound sense of belonging; this enhances their motivation and fulfillment.

I often stress that inclusion begins at home. If we can build a sense of belonging, safety, trust, and understanding in our families, we’ll have the building blocks to build inclusivity in our workplaces and communities.

As a parent or someone with kids in your life, you play a critical role in shaping children's understanding of inclusion from an early age. Children learn social norms implicitly through observation and imitation. You can influence inclusive behaviors and values in their daily interactions.

1. Role Model Inclusion. One of the primary ways you can instill inclusive values in your children is by being mindful of the language you use around them. Language shapes perceptions and attitudes; examine the language you’re using. Does it respect the diversity of identities and experiences? Instead of reinforcing gender stereotypes by saying "boys and girls," opt for inclusive terms like "everyone" or "friends," for example.

It's also important to expose children to diverse experiences and perspectives. This includes diversifying your and their social circles, media consumption, and dinnertime conversations. By surrounding yourselves with different people and ideas, you can broaden your children's understanding of the world and cultivate empathy and respect for differences. Enthusiastically share your curiosity about the world with your kids. Tell your children why building a diverse group of friends is important: “We learn more from each other and build a richer life when we have a range of friends in our lives.”

2. Be prepared to educate your children about topics and identities they might find strange, new, or confusing. Point out that people are different, but that we have many similarities. Children encounter various people, cultures, and experiences as they grow and interact with the world around them. As parents, recognize that not all these experiences will be familiar or easily understood by your children. Encouraging open dialogue and curiosity about different cultures, languages, and abilities helps children develop empathy and understanding towards others. Talk openly about race, gender identity , sexual orientation , disabilities, and more. Provide an honest answer, ask them what they’d like to know, and if you don’t know the answer, say so. “Let me think about your question. I don’t have an answer right now, but I’d like to explore this.” Follow up afterward.

3. Discuss experiences of exclusion. One of the most powerful things you can do to build inclusive kids is to create a safe environment for children to discuss experiences of exclusion or marginalization. When you share your own experiences of being left out, from when you were a child or more recently, you make it safe to discuss the feelings of isolation and hurt, which accompany exclusion. Validating their feelings and providing support empowers children to navigate these challenges with resilience and compassion. To encourage ongoing dialogue, tell them, “I can understand why you’d feel that way.” “That was brave of you to share that with me.” With this, your children have compassionate language they can use with their friends, too. Through our own experiences of exclusion, we can better empathize with others who might feel excluded, and therefore be more aware of actively including others.

4. Don’t be too quick to rescue. While it's natural for parents like yourself to want to shield children from discomfort, it's important not to be too quick to rescue them from adversity. Allowing children to face challenges and learn from their mistakes fosters independence and self-confidence is important for inclusivity. My daughter struggled when people routinely mispronounced her name. I gently advised her that correcting and teaching people the correct pronunciation is okay. I was delighted when I overheard her telling her third-grade teacher, "You've been saying my name wrong. It's An-jah-LEE, not Aun-JA-lee. Can you try saying it the right way?"

Leading by example is perhaps the most powerful tool in promoting inclusion. Demonstrating inclusive behaviors and addressing conflicts respectfully and constructively, teaches children invaluable lessons in empathy, communication, and conflict resolution. Inclusion is an ongoing journey, not a destination. As children navigate social dynamics and encounter exclusion or discrimination , parents can equip them with the tools to challenge injustice and advocate for inclusivity. Whether witnessing a friend being excluded or experiencing discrimination themselves, parents can empower children to become agents of change by teaching them how to call people in and out on their behaviors and checking that their own behaviors are inclusive.

Bennet, T., Deluca, D., Bruns. (2019). "Putting Inclusion into Practice: Perspectives of Teachers and Parents." Exceptional Children (64): 1.

https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/001440299706400108

Hawthorne, B. & Yglesias, N. (2022). Raising Antiracist Children: A Practical Parenting Guide. Simon and Schuster, Inc. New York, NY.

Timken, G., & Watson, D. "Teaching All Kids: Valuing Students Through Culturally Responsive and Inclusive Practice." Chapter 7, Standards Based Physical Education Curriculum Development , by Jacalyn Lund and Deborah Tannehill. 3rd Edition, Jones & Bartlett Learning.

Selman, R. L. (2003). Promotion of Social Awareness: Powerful Lessons for the Partnership of Developmental Theory and. United States: Russell Sage Foundation.

Priya Nalkur, Ed.D. , earned her degrees at Harvard and Yale; she is the author of Stumbling Towards Inclusion. She researches dialogue and motivation.

• Find a Therapist
• Find a Treatment Center
• Find a Psychiatrist
• Find a Support Group
• Find Online Therapy
• United States
• Brooklyn, NY
• Chicago, IL
• Houston, TX
• Los Angeles, CA
• New York, NY
• Portland, OR
• San Diego, CA
• San Francisco, CA
• Seattle, WA
• Washington, DC
• Asperger's
• Bipolar Disorder
• Chronic Pain
• Eating Disorders
• Passive Aggression
• Personality
• Goal Setting
• Positive Psychology
• Stopping Smoking
• Low Sexual Desire
• Relationships
• Child Development
• Self Tests NEW
• Therapy Center
• Diagnosis Dictionary
• Types of Therapy

At any moment, someone’s aggravating behavior or our own bad luck can set us off on an emotional spiral that threatens to derail our entire day. Here’s how we can face our triggers with less reactivity so that we can get on with our lives.

• Emotional Intelligence
• Gaslighting
• Affective Forecasting
• Neuroscience

Education Secretary Calls Diversity Program Cuts Latest 'Boogeyman' To Divide Schools

Senior Front Page Editor, HuffPost

WASHINGTON ― U.S. Education Secretary Miguel Cardona said Tuesday that he believes attacks on diversity programs in public schools are part of a larger campaign to “decrease the confidence in our public schools.”

In a roundtable discussion with Black journalists at the Department of Education building in Washington, Cardona referred to the rollback as a “boogeyman” that opponents of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives have created to sow division in America’s schools — not unlike the debates over COVID masks and the teaching of critical race theory.

“There are very deliberate attempts to seek division in our schools so that a private option sounds better for parents. So we created a boogeyman,” Cardona said. “Four years ago were the masks. [Critical race theory] was a year after that. [Now,] DEI, banning books. Every year, there’s something to stoke division in an attempt to disrupt our public schools and decrease the confidence in our public schools.”

Since the beginning of 2023, more than 70 pieces of legislation targeting diversity programs at colleges and universities have been introduced, according to The Chronicle of Higher Education . Public schools in Texas, Florida and other Republican-controlled states have been forced to limit student access to certain books by Black authors. Cardona said he sees the rollback of diversity efforts across public education as a “deliberate” attempt to prevent schools from being inclusive places for all students.

“The attack on DEI, to me, is a deliberate attack on efforts to try to make sure schools are inclusive, welcoming places for all students — in particular, students from different backgrounds,” the education secretary said. “No different than what I think happened when the Supreme Court struck down affirmative action.”

Cardona’s belief that the goal is to undermine confidence in public education has been underlined by remarks from conservative activists such as Christopher Rufo, who is behind many of the attacks on DEI. Rufo has been blunt about his desire to create “universal public school distrust” as a way to promote funding for school choice.

In September, the Department of Education released recommendations to help colleges and universities improve diversity on campuses following the high court’s June gutting of affirmative action in admissions. Emboldened by the court’s decision to end most college affirmative action programs, anti-DEI activists are waging legal wars on diversity initiatives at private businesses and foundations as well.

“Every year, there’s something to stoke division in an attempt to disrupt our public schools and decrease the confidence in our public schools.” - Education Secretary Miguel Cardona

Cardona said he believes these DEI programs are critical to help students of color feel supported by their institutions. “My rationale around these programs is they make students feel seen, welcome and [can] unapologetically be themselves. The dismantling of those programs, in my opinion, reduces schools’ abilities to provide an inclusive environment for students to learn.”

The battle over diversity, equity and inclusion programs is largely fought at the state level, with Republican politicians, such as Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, leading the charge. Cardona acknowledged that states and localities take the lead on how state-funded schools are run.

“I cannot tell schools you have to have a DEI program, but I could, through data, demonstrate if there’s a decrease in students who have access based on race. And I can attribute that to some of the lack of inclusivity or attacks that maybe students feel there,” he said.

The education secretary said that his department and the Department of Justice are actively investigating school districts that are systematically ignoring the civil rights of their students.

“We see deliberate attempts to go after LGBTQ students in our country. We see leaders saying that slavery was a skilled program that people left with skills to do better. We see the majority of banned books having protagonists of color. We see AP Black History under attack,” Cardona said. “It’s very deliberate, very intentional.”

“It’s getting worse because what people used to do in the shade, they’re now doing in the sunlight,” he said.

Our 2024 Coverage Needs You

It's another trump-biden showdown — and we need your help, the future of democracy is at stake, your loyalty means the world to us.

As Americans head to the polls in 2024, the very future of our country is at stake. At HuffPost, we believe that a free press is critical to creating well-informed voters. That's why our journalism is free for everyone, even though other newsrooms retreat behind expensive paywalls.

Our journalists will continue to cover the twists and turns during this historic presidential election. With your help, we'll bring you hard-hitting investigations, well-researched analysis and timely takes you can't find elsewhere. Reporting in this current political climate is a responsibility we do not take lightly, and we thank you for your support.

Contribute as little as $2 to keep our news free for all.

Can't afford to donate? Support HuffPost by creating a free account and log in while you read.

The 2024 election is heating up, and women's rights, health care, voting rights, and the very future of democracy are all at stake. Donald Trump will face Joe Biden in the most consequential vote of our time. And HuffPost will be there, covering every twist and turn. America's future hangs in the balance. Would you consider contributing to support our journalism and keep it free for all during this critical season?

HuffPost believes news should be accessible to everyone, regardless of their ability to pay for it. We rely on readers like you to help fund our work. Any contribution you can make — even as little as $2 — goes directly toward supporting the impactful journalism that we will continue to produce this year. Thank you for being part of our story.

It's official: Donald Trump will face Joe Biden this fall in the presidential election. As we face the most consequential presidential election of our time, HuffPost is committed to bringing you up-to-date, accurate news about the 2024 race. While other outlets have retreated behind paywalls, you can trust our news will stay free.

But we can't do it without your help. Reader funding is one of the key ways we support our newsroom. Would you consider making a donation to help fund our news during this critical time? Your contributions are vital to supporting a free press.

Contribute as little as $2 to keep our journalism free and accessible to all.

Dear HuffPost Reader

Thank you for your past contribution to HuffPost. We are sincerely grateful for readers like you who help us ensure that we can keep our journalism free for everyone.

The stakes are high this year, and our 2024 coverage could use continued support. Would you consider becoming a regular HuffPost contributor?

The stakes are high this year, and our 2024 coverage could use continued support. If circumstances have changed since you last contributed, we hope you'll consider contributing to HuffPost once more.

Already contributed? Log in to hide these messages.

Popular in the Community

From our partner, more in politics.

• High contrast

Search UNICEF

Inclusive education, inclusive education is part of a comprehensive response in an emergency.

• Available in:

Inclusive education is part of a comprehensive response in an emergency and aims to ensure that all children and adolescents have continuous and equal access to learning in all contexts.

Please find below the publications, materials and examples of good practices in this area:

A house with many windows (Available also in Spanish )

Intercultural Bilingual Education in Latin America (Available also in Spanish )

Nuestra opinión vale (Only available in Spanish)

COVID-19 response: Considerations for Children and Adults with Disabilities     (Also available in Spanish )

UNICEF Call to Action: Indigenous communities and the right to education in times of COVID-19   (Also available in  Spanish )

Learning together at home  (web page) (Also available in Spanish )

Web, publications and materials by UNICEF Country Offices

Covid-19: education preparedness and response, unicef call to action.

Indigenous communities and the right to education in times of COVID-19

Programmatic Guidance Notes on Children and Adolescents wit

Latin American and the Caribbean Regional Office

Inclusive Education Booklet Collection

• Education & Engagement
• Learning Hub

Women's History Month Syllabus

Feminist solidarity in times of crisis: exploring mutual aid, gender, and social justice  .

This course delves into the relationship between mutual aid, gender, and culture, exploring some of the ways that solidarity can move beyond the abstract to become a tangible mechanism of connection and support. The curriculum examines how moments of crises reveal and exacerbate inequalities, with a specific lens on how gender and power dynamics manifest in cultural responses and representations.

Learners will engage with a variety of cultural artifacts to understand how feminist perspectives on equality and shared goals can inform and inspire collective action and mutual support. The aim is to equip learners with a nuanced understanding of how gender and mutual aid intersect within cultural contexts, fostering critical reflections on how to cultivate equitable and supportive communities. We invite you to work through the syllabus with a friend or two, and ask that you report back on your experience!  

Unit 1 | Mutual Aid as Global Solidarity

READ:  

In Gloria Anzaldúa’s letter “Speaking In Tongues: A Letter To 3rd World Women Writers,” Anzaldúa discusses the realities of navigating multiple identities, languages, and cultural contexts, specifically as a “Third World woman, who has, at best, one foot in the feminist literacy world.” This piece calls for solidarity among women writers across borders and cultures, advocating for the recognition and celebration of diverse voices in literature.  

What are some particular challenges that Anzaldúa discusses Third World Women face? Why does she specifically call for solidarity among women writers across nations?  

Anzaldúa Speaking in Tongues.pdf  

ENGAGE:  

INCITE! Women of Color Against Violence is a network of radical feminists of color organizing to end state violence and violence in our homes and communities. Look through their resources for “Community Accountability” and have a conversation about how you might begin to develop some

Unit 2 | Mutual Aid and the Carceral State

“Activist Mariame Kaba calls mutual aid key to ending prison industrial complex at BARS event ,” Sarah Alkhafaji

“Kaba said mutual aid, transformative justice, and universal accountability in activist movements are crucial to her goal of replacing imprisonment and policing with lasting alternatives. She added that it is important to maintain reciprocal relationships for activists and abolitionists — which includes sustaining relationships with people who are incarcerated, their families, and their communities through mutual aid”

Review the list Kaba shared of nine solidarity commitments that support people who are incarcerated. Incorporate as many commitments as you are able, to sustain a balanced mutual aid practice.

COMMUNITY ACTION:

There are many ways for us to show up for people who are incarcerated. The Chicago Community Jail Support is a great local way to show up for folks being released from prison. Check out their website and their Instagram for ways to get involved with mutual aid.

Unit 3 | Mutual Aid and Trans Health Care

Brave Space Alliance , the first black-led, trans-led lgbtq+ center located on the South Side of Chicago, and designed to create and provide affirming and culturally competent services for the entire lgbtq+ community of Chicago.

There are many resources that Brave Space Alliance provides for the community. Check out or share one of their programs with a friend or colleague. Another great idea is to see how you might be able to model one of their mutual aid programs. Try to create a dignity suite among your friends by doing a clothing swap this month.

Unit 4 | Mutual Aid and Food Sovereignty

There’s no universal definition for food sovereignty , but it can be described as the ability of communities to determine the quantity and quality of the food that they consume by controlling how their food is produced and distributed. Food sovereignty is central to mutual aid because it centers community members’ power to define the food they procure and the ways in which food is procured in accordance with the needs of their community.

Indigenous philosopher and environmental justice scholar Kyle Powys Whyte’s article “Indigenous Food Systems, Environmental Justice, and Settler-Industrial States” will help you think through mutual aid as a means of practicing and realizing transformative environmental justice that allows activists to build environmentally resilient and just communities beyond the state.

Kyle Powys Whyte, “Indigenous Food Systems, Environmental Justice, and Settler-Industrial States”.pdf

Consider getting involved in local food sovereignty movements. There are many places and ways to engage in the area, but here are a few suggestions:

Chicagoland Food Sovereignty Coalition

Greater Chicago Food Depository

Chicago Food Policy Action Council

Unit 5 | Art as an Expression of Mutual Care

The A.I.R. Gallery in Brooklyn (AIR standing for Artist in Residence) has been in continuous operation since 1972. Its mandate is to show and support work by self-identified women and nonbinary artists, and has always been run as a cooperative.

One of the current exhibitions is ACRYLICS: Hidden Sculptural Art , curated by ICECOLD. It includes nail art by Stephanie Aoko, Lesly Arrañaga, Alexis Auer, Jalen Dominique, Parvee Perry, Melissa Samuel, Sky Somalia, Momoka Takahashi, Marbles Valdez, and Aja Walton. You can view more images from the exhibition here: https://vcg.media/products/acrylics-by-icecold

Nail art is a kind of vernacular or folk art that is usually neglected by mainstream art institutions, like many other forms of art that are mostly made by women, especially women of color. Get together with a group of friends and give each other manicures. Think about hands. Think about labor. Think about who does the labor of giving manicures. Think about immigration, about femininity, about art made by women and queer folx for each other.

Consider what it means to make something beautiful that is intentionally ephemeral, that will get marred though the work of everyday life, and that you will have to make anew. In giving your friends or yourself a manicure, set the intention of making this art as an act of care.

Building a More Inclusive Campus: Strategies for Higher Education Leaders

Sign up to join us.

Creating inclusive campuses in higher education is more important than ever.

Join us for a thought-provoking panel discussion where leading higher education professionals will share stories from their experiences and discuss strategies for creating more inclusive campus environments. 

During this session you will…

• Discover how inclusion initiatives can help improve student learning outcomes
• Identify strategies to support neurodivergent learners and increase student success and retention
• Explore collaborations across departments that have assisted in advancing inclusion goals
• Gain actionable steps leaders and faculty can take during the summer break to plan and revise their approach for a more inclusive learning environment next academic year
• Leave with concrete examples of UDL implementation to enhance inclusivity on campus

Our panel of experts include:

Lillian Nave is a Faculty and Educational Development Specialist at Appalachian State University in Hickory, NC, where she supports the teaching needs of the faculty. She has taught at the State University of New York at Oneonta, and Assumption University in Massachusetts and North Carolina. She is also the creator and host of the Think UDL podcast where she speaks with faculty and innovators around the world who reduce barriers in learning. Most importantly, Lillian is the mother of three college aged students at public and private universities who provide her with valuable inside information on the student experience that continuously informs her teaching.

Dr. Liz Norell serves as Associate Director of Instructional Support in the Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning (CETL) at the University of Mississippi. She has spent more than 20 years teaching in higher education, including stints in composition, journalism, new media, and political science. She completed a PhD in political science at the University of Texas Dallas, along with master’s degrees in journalism from the University of Arkansas and library science from Texas Woman’s University. Liz’s first book, The Present Professor , will be published in December 2024 in the University of Oklahoma Press’s brand-new series, Teaching, Engaging, and Thriving in Higher Ed , co-edited by James Lang and Michelle Miller. The book is aimed at educators who know they want to create meaningful relationships with students but aren’t quite sure how to do that in authentic ways. Liz is passionate about equitable, inclusive teaching, constructive conversations across differences, and fostering meaningful learning. In addition to her work with faculty in CETL, she is also passionate about boosting awareness of disability in higher education. You can find Liz on social media (@liznorell) and at her website, liznorell.com .

Dr. Jennifer Pusateri is the author of Transform Your Teaching with Universal Design for Learning: Six Steps to Jumpstart Your Practice and serves as the Universal Design Consultant for the University of Kentucky’s Center for the Enhancement of Learning and Teaching (CELT) where she fosters the advancement of accessibility and inclusive teaching practices across campus. Jennifer formerly served as the co-chair of the international UDLHE (UDL in Higher Ed.) Network, and continues to present workshops at international UDL conferences across the U.S. Dr. Pusateri has also been featured as a guest UDL specialist in podcasts such as Think UDL and Teaching in Higher Ed. Jennifer serves as owner and lead presenter for Jennifer Pusateri Educational Consulting ( www.JenniferPusateri.com ).

Before arriving at the University of Kentucky, Jennifer worked for the Kentucky Department of Education (KDE) where she served as an education consultant and specialist in differentiated learning and Universal Design for Learning (UDL). Jennifer taught Arts & Humanities for grades K-8 at a nationally recognized school for students with specific learning disabilities (SLD) in Louisville, Kentucky. 

Pusateri received her undergraduate degree from Indiana University’s Jacobs School of Music, Master of Arts in Teaching from the University of the Cumberlands, and her PhD in Education Sciences (focus on Curriculum and Instruction) at the University of Kentucky.

Our Moderator:

Rachel Kruzel , ATP, is the Higher Education Specialist for Texthelp where she supports higher education institutions across the United States and Canada as they explore, adopt, and implement technology based literacy, STEM, and accessibility solutions to help create more inclusive, equitable, and accessible campuses and learning spaces for all students and campus members. She is a RESNA Certified Assistive Technology Professional and spent over ten years working as an Assistive Technology and Accommodations Specialist in Disability Resource Offices prior to coming to Texthelp. During her time in higher ed, she built and developed assistive technology programs at both schools she worked at, as well as coordinated the provision of accommodations. Rachel is a national expert in the areas of assistive technology, digital accessibility, accessible course materials, and accommodation provision around testing and notetaking. Rachel presents both regionally and nationally on these topics and others.

Register to receive the recording. Watch on demand when it suits.

You'll also receive the webinar slides, guides & more!

• Universal Design for Learning
• Math and STEM
• Inclusive Education
• Special Education
• Read&Write
• SpeechStream
• Inclusive Workplaces
• Neurodiverse Employees
• Creating Accessible Content

Resource center

• Impact Studies
• Customer Stories

Learn & Support

• Tech Support
• Certification Program
• Toolmatcher
• Accessibility Roadmap

• My UCalgary
• Class Schedule
• UCalgary Directory
• Continuing Education
• Active Living
• Academic Calendar
• UCalgary Maps
• Close Faculty Websites List Viewing: Faculty Websites
• Cumming School of Medicine
• Faculty of Arts
• Faculty of Graduate Studies
• Faculty of Kinesiology
• Faculty of Law
• Faculty of Nursing
• Faculty of Nursing (Qatar)
• Faculty of Science
• Faculty of Social Work
• Faculty of Veterinary Medicine
• Haskayne School of Business
• School of Architecture, Planning and Landscape
• School of Public Policy
• Schulich School of Engineering
• Werklund School of Education
• University of Calgary
• UCALGARY NEWS
• News categories
• Arts and Culture
• Business and Economy
• Health and Wellness
• In Memoriam
• Opinion and Analysis
• UCalgary Research
• Arch magazine
• Video series: Got a Minute?
• Video series: In the Know
• Video series: Meet the Energizers
• All podcasts
• Photo series: Behind the Arch
• Special coverage
• Class of 2024
• Class of 2023
• Class of 2022
• Class of 2021
• Class of 2020
• Most-read news of the year
• Campus Events
• Open to the Public
• For Current Students
• For Future Students
• For Faculty and Staff
• Connect with us

June 3, 2024

Class of 2024: UCalgary celebrates Inclusive Post-Secondary Education grads

Casey Blais, Office of the Registrar

Share this article

This year, graduates of the Inclusive Post-Secondary Education (IPSE) program at the University of Calgary will walk the stage in recognition of their achievements and the completion of their program.

Patrick Weaver and Jeremy Yeboah are two graduates who will each receive their Certificate of Completion during the university’s convocation ceremonies on June 3. They will proudly wear an IPSE red hood at the ceremony. Congratulations to both Patrick and Jeremy!

Patrick Weaver

Patrick Weaver’s excitement was obvious when he was asked how he felt about graduating. He did a little happy dance in his seat, accompanied by a smile as wide as the UCalgary arch.

“I’m so excited to graduate,” said Weaver. “I [feel] so confident and I’m ready to move on with my life.” 

Weaver has been at the university for the last five years. He described the incredible amount of work it took to complete his studies, two classes per semester. When he faced academic challenges, he said he kept a positive attitude knowing he would always try his best. 

A key to learning and getting the most out of his studies was to try things on his own as much as possible, without the help of his facilitator. This made learning more effective for him and gave him more confidence.

“I felt like I belong here,” said Weaver. “I really liked my university experience with nice students and professors. I’ve learned so much within my classes and just got to explore campus life.”

In addition to his studies, Weaver held a part-time position in his home community and volunteered and competed nationally at the Special Olympics.

Jeremy Yeboah

With his high school graduation interrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic, and the many years of schooling at university between then and now, Jeremy Yeboah is eagerly looking forward to a proper graduation ceremony.

“I’m relieved and excited to walk the stage,” said Yeboah, who will receive his IPSE Certificate of Completion. “I had fun on campus, talking, hanging out with friends, buying food and working here. [I have] so many memorable experiences.”

Yeboah completed the IPSE program in four years after taking up to two classes per semester. He reflected on his early days at the university and how he found it so challenging. According to Yeboah, it was all a question mark at the beginning, and his shyness was a barrier.

As he slowly began to get involved in campus life, everything from prayer and volunteerism to workshops on many topics, he grew both personally and academically becoming more independent and confident.

At the end of his university life, a new optimistic individual has emerged, one who is determined to make the most of any opportunity.

“Whatever opportunity is presented, give it your all, and be glad you participated,” said Yeboah, when asked what advice he’d give to new students.

Yeboah’s education has helped him get his first job. He started working for the Dinos part-time in his last semester. This experience has helped him focus in on customer service as a possible career choice.

The  IPSE program  provides individuals with developmental disabilities a university experience and support as they transition to employment. Students take two university courses each fall and winter semester for up to five years. An IPSE facilitator supports each student through their studies, but the students are empowered to work as much as they can on their own. The program has been working with the University of Calgary since 1992 to create positive inclusive spaces in the community.

Read more inspiring stories about the accomplishments and journeys of the  Class of 2024.

Graduates, as you prepare to transition away from student life, we'd like to also welcome you into the UCalgary alumni community.  Learn about  the programs, benefits and services available exclusively to UCalgary grads, and be sure to keep in touch.

Related content

Class of 2022: Perseverance pays off for Inclusive Post-Secondary Education grads

Class of 2023: Skills learned through Inclusive Post-Secondary Education program springboard to taking credit classes

• inclusive campus
• convocation
• students in profile

Sign up for UToday

Delivered to your inbox — a daily roundup of news and events from across the University of Calgary's 14 faculties and dozens of units

Thank you for your submission.

Collection of personal information Your personal information is collected under the authority of section 33(c) of the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, and is required for updating your email subscription preferences. If you have any questions about the collection or use of this information, please visit our Access to Information page.

Catholic school says it will remain 'safe, respectful and inclusive' in retort to Hobart Archbishop Julian Porteous's letter

A catholic primary school has condemned a letter sent earlier this month by the archbishop of Hobart, in which he railed against the "radicalised transgender lobby", same-sex marriage and the "woke movement".

The letter from Archbishop Julian Porteous, dated May 2, was widely distributed among Tasmania's Catholic schools . Politicians and LGBTQIA+ advocates criticised it at the time as being transphobic, homophobic and draconian.

On Wednesday, in a message to school parents, the advisory board of St Cuthbert's Catholic School, on Hobart's eastern shore, said it had sent a letter in response to the archbishop.

The school also told parents it was "committed to developing an inclusive and accepting culture that is in harmony with the Catholic tradition".

"The board felt it important to note that, as a school, St Cuthbert's meets students and members of our diverse school community both where they are at and as they are in their life journey, without judgement," the statement read. 

"As a board, we are confident St Cuthbert's will continue to foster a safe, respectful and inclusive environment for our students and school community."

The Independent Education Union applauded the school for pushing back against the archbishop. 

"Taking a stand like this on behalf of students, staff and the whole community is in the best tradition of Catholic social justice," the union's general secretary, David Brear, said.

The Archdiocese of Hobart declined to comment on the school's response.

By Wednesday evening, the school's message to parents, via an internal communication app, had been deleted.

School's now-deleted message to parents

Advisory Board Response to Archbishop's Pastoral Letter Dear Families, Earlier this week, the St Cuthbert's Catholic School Advisory Board wrote to the Archbishop in response to the 'We are Salt of the Earth' Pastoral Letter circulated on 13 May 2024. In particular, the Board noted that St Cuthbert's is committed to developing an inclusive and accepting culture that is in harmony with the Catholic tradition. The Board felt it important to note that, as a school, St Cuthbert's meets students and members of our diverse school community both where they are at and as they are in their life journey, without judgement. As a Board, we are confident St Cuthbert's will continue to foster a safe, respectful and inclusive environment for our students and school community. Warm regards St Cuthbert's Catholic School Advisory Board

What was in the Archbishop's letter

Archbishop Porteous, in his pastoral letter titled 'We are Salt of the Earth', tackled a long list of groups and issues. 

Among those included in the letter's crosshairs were the "radicalised transgender lobby" groups, legal abortion access, voluntary assisted dying and euthanasia, same-sex marriage, and the "woke" movement.

"What we are now witnessing in our Australian society is the imposition of certain ideological positions on social and moral questions by means of legislation," the archbishop wrote.

"We are challenged as to why we do not accept what is now viewed as the reasonable and acceptable behaviour.

"But we cannot. We are different. We are God's own people."

Archbishop Porteous wrote that since the same-sex marriage plebiscite "we have seen the growth in what has been referred to as the 'woke' movement, seeking to overturn other traditional values and beliefs".

"This has included the push for 'diversity and inclusivity' training in the corporate sector and the attack on the biological reality of being male or female through a radicalised transgender lobby."

Under a subheading "Enough is enough", Archbishop Porteous wrote: "As the church we cannot stand by as we experience our freedoms being taken from us."

Archbishop's letter was 'arrogant and exclusory', Catholic group says 

The letter was met with condemnation over its contents and potential breach of the state's anti-discrimination laws.

Concerned Catholics Tasmania (CCT) — a group "committed to renewal and reform in our church" — offered a sharp rebuke to what it said was the letter's "heartless" and "alarmist" tone.

"His reference to 'God’s own people' is both arrogant and exclusory," CCT chair Susan Chen said in a statement provided to media earlier this month.

"His words may well be construed by many inside and outside the Catholic Church as a form of aggression and violence against those who struggle to find recognition for their full human dignity." 

Ms Chen said most disconcerting was the archbishop's statement that the Catholic school system was accused of wanting to fire staff or discriminate against students who disagreed with Catholic teaching.

In the letter, Archibishop Porteous suggested "no one is being forced to teach in or be a student in a Catholic school if they disagree with the teaching of the Catholic Church". 

"If they initially can accept the catholicity of the school but later find that their personal views are at variance with those of the Catholic faith, then it would only make sense they should seek an alternative educational institution more aligned with their views."

Anti-discrimination laws raised

Independent Tasmanian MP Kristie Johnston criticised the letter earlier this month as "nothing short of hateful speech".

"Where the Catholic system education system receives government funding, then I'm very concerned that we have government funding going to a school or to a system which condones this kind of breach of anti-discrimination laws," Ms Johnston said at the time. 

It also drew the ire of the Tasmanian Greens, with party leader Rosalie Woodruff raising concern that it was "clearly in breach of ... anti-discrimination laws". 

Tasmania's peak body for LGBTQIA+ advocacy, Equality Tasmania, said the letter contained "a number of misinformation and disinformation, and also some homophobic and transphobic beliefs".

Equality Tasmania president Rowan Richardson, a transgender man and school teacher, said he had written to all Catholic schools that distributed the archbishop's letter asking for a right of reply.

• X (formerly Twitter)

Related Stories

'nothing short of hateful': letter by catholic archbishop to student parents criticised.

• Discrimination
• Gender Equality
• Religious Leaders
• Spiritual Beliefs