Rationale
The political and social struggle of inclusion that foregrounds difference and identity is an integral part of educational settings and practitioner reform. Central to the current governmental agenda, inclusion has moved from being specifically related to Special Educational Needs (SEN) to the broader society. Indeed, educators have come to understand inclusion as both removing exclusionary barriers and increasing participation. However, the discourse of social inclusion as it is framed within policy documents, remains problematic to educationalists who compete with demands of raising achievement on the one hand and inclusion on the other. The primary focus of this module is to support those who work in educational environments to critically evaluate attitudes and practices which bring together the needs of the learners in the context of inclusive learning environments and to understand that inclusion may be seen as the drive towards maximal participation in and minimal exclusion from educational settings and wider society.