Challenging Inclusive Education Policy and Practice in Africa explores notions of inclusion and inclusive education across a range of countries in Africa, from local and international perspectives.

How do we articulate the possibilities, limitations and challenges of inclusive schooling and education in African contexts? This book insists that inclusive education cannot be taken for granted. Inclusion is neither a natural nor a given educational practice. It must be struggled for. Bringing a critical perspective to inclusive schooling and education is imperative. This book adds to current educational debates with an African lens. It engages inclusive education from multiple lenses of curriculum content, classroom pedagogy and instruction, representation, culture, environment and the socio-organization life of schools, the pursuit of equity and social justice and the search for educational relevance. It is opined that Africa cannot be left behind in rethinking educational inclusion in ways that evoke critical questions of power, equity and social difference. The question of leaner’s identity in terms of class, gender, sexuality, (dis)ability, language, ethnicity and race are equally consequential for African schooling and education. When inclusion is understood as wholeness of education, then how schooling and education engage the complete learner – her/his body, mind, soul and spirit, as well as the use of local community and Indigenous knowledges in teaching and learning become relevant. Inclusion stands the risk of liberal educational agendas that simply tinker or toy with schooling and education and hardly embrace the challenge of educational change. What we need is a fundamental structural change that ensures schooling and education embraces difference while grappling with the teaching of Indigeneity, decolonization and resistance.

This important collection presents a radical reconception of the place of knowledge in contemporary policymaking in Europe, based not on assumptions about evidence, expertise or experience but on the different forms that knowledge takes. Knowledge is embodied in people, inscribed in documents and instruments, and enacted in specific circumstances. Empirical case studies of health and education policy in different national and international contexts demonstrate the essential interdependence of different forms and phases of knowledge. They illustrate the ways in which knowledge is mobilised and resisted, and draw attention to key problems in the processing and transformation of knowledge in policy work. This novel theoretical framework offers real benefits for policymakers, academics in public policy, public administration, management studies, sociology, education, public health and social work, and those with a practical interest in education and health and related fields of public policy.

This book reflects on more than two decades of adoption practices of inclusive education policy in Southern Africa. It is aimed at taking stock of the successes, challenges and achievements during this journey of making education inclusive and equitable. It responds to the educational needs of learners at all levels, regardless of their diverse needs, such as disability, gender, socio-economic status, race, ethnicity and language background. This book furthers the understanding and conceptualization of the notion of inclusion in education, and explores the challenges experienced during the operationalization and implementation of the process. It extends debates spawned by international and national policy mandates that sought to transcend exclusionary educational practices in order to realize inclusive societies and, by implication, inclusive classrooms. It offers a comprehensive conceptual framework for inclusive education in the Southern African context while drawing parallels from the regional and international experience. This book can be used as a reference or critical reading for scholars and researchers in the field of inclusive education. It will empower practitioners, administrators, teachers and school leaders, curriculum developers and planners, as well as policy makers with knowledge about theory and practice regarding inclusive education in the Southern African schooling system.

What does inclusion really mean and what impact have inclusive approaches to education had on practice? Bringing together issues of theory, research, policy and practice from both the countries of the South and the North, this ground-breaking book provides a critical discussion of recent developments in the field of inclusive education. The authors consider developments, both in current thinking about the meaning of inclusion and in terms of policies and practices, in the context of education systems across the world and their differences and inter-relatedness. Topics covered include the increasing pressure on educators to develop a global policy agenda for inclusive education, the individual needs of children, the illusion of inclusivity and the importance of local contexts in determining policy. The book′s international perspective illuminates common successes, failures and concerns. With case studies from Europe, the Caribbean and Australasia, the book also features chapter summaries, questions to facilitate critical thinking and discussion, case studies and suggestions for further reading. An essential read for anyone studying inclusive education, special educational needs, disability studies, social policy and international and comparative education, this book will ignite debate and enable the reader to develop a deep understanding of the issues. Ann Cheryl Armstrong is the Director of the Division of Professional Learning, Derrick Armstrong is Acting Deputy Vice Chancellor (Education) and Professor of Education and Ilektra Spandagou is a Lecturer in Inclusive Education. They are all based at the University of Sydney, Australia.