Inclusion for all students, including the highly able

Inclusion is about addressing and responding to the diversity of needs of all learners and a conviction that it is the responsibility of any mainstream system to educate every child. UNESCO views inclusion as “a dynamic approach of responding positively to pupil diversity and of seeing individual differences not as problems, but as opportunities for enriching learning.” Therefore, inclusion is not merely a technical or organisational change but a movement with a clear philosophy. Education systems’ policies can create equitable and inclusive frameworks, but implementation at the school level is what determines students’ daily experiences in classrooms. It is in schools where policies take the form of specific resources, teaching practices and instructional and non-instructional support mechanisms.

The OECD’s Strength through Diversity project (2022) (and an important read on the subject of inclusion for this Guide), has identified five categories of school-level interventions that can be leveraged to foster equity among and the inclusion of all students:

• Matching resources within schools to individual student learning needs
• School climate
• Learning strategies to address diversity
• Non-instructional support and services
• Engagement with parents and communities

See Equity and Inclusion in Education: Finding Strength through Diversity | OECD Library

In order for inclusion to be implemented all countries needs to define a set of inclusive principles and practical ideas to steer towards policies addressing inclusion in education and adapted to meet context-specific needs. The principles of inclusion that are set out in various international declarations can act as a solid foundational base.

Four elements feature in the conceptualisation of inclusion according to UNESCO. These are:

1. Inclusion is a process. It is a continuous search to find better ways of responding to diversity. It is about learning how to live with differences and learning how to learn from differences.
2. Inclusion is concerned with the identification and removal of barriers. It involves collecting, collating and evaluating information from a variety of sources to plan improvements in policy and practice.
3. Inclusion is about the presence, participation and achievement of all students. Here “presence” is concerned with where children are educated, and how reliably they attend; “participation” relates to the quality of their experiences whilst they are there and incorporates the views of the learners themselves; and “achievement” is about the outcomes of learning across the curriculum.
4. Inclusion involves a particular emphasis on those groups of learners who may be at risk of marginalization, exclusion or underachievement. This indicates the moral responsibility to ensure that those groups that are most “at risk” are carefully monitored, and where necessary, steps are taken to ensure their presence, participation and achievement in the education system.

Guidelines for inclusion: ensuring access to education for all

At the core of inclusion is the human right to education, pronounced in Article 26 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948 which states,“Everyone has the right to education... Education shall be directed to the full development of human personality and to the strengthening of respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms…“ Also important are Provisions of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, articles 2 and 3. (UN, 1989). Article 29, “Aims of education,” expresses that the educational development of the individual is central and that education should allow children to reach their fullest potential in terms of cognitive, emotional and creative capacities. A logical consequence is that all children have the right to receive the kind of education that does not discriminate on any grounds such as caste, ethnicity, religion, economic status, refugee status, language, gender, disability, ability and that measures be taken to implement these rights in all learning environments.

A rights-based approach to education4 is founded upon three principles:

• Access to free and compulsory education
• Equality, inclusion and non-discrimination
• The right to quality education, content and processes

The Salamanca Statement and Framework for Action (1994) asserts that: “regular schools with inclusive orientation are the most effective means of combating discrimination, creating welcoming communities, building an inclusive society and achieving education for all.” (Salamanca Statement, Art. 2).  Expressed with even more clarity, UNESCO states that All children and young people of the world, with their individual strengths and weaknesses, with their hopes and expectations, have the right to education. It is not our education systems that have a right to certain types of children. Therefore, it is the school system of a country that must be adjusted to meet the needs of all children.” (B. Lindqvist, UN-Rapporteur, 1994). The 2005 Global Monitoring Report we read that, “education should allow children to reach their fullest potential in terms of cognitive, emotional and creative capacities.”

Inclusive education

Inclusive education is where all children and young people are engaged and achieve through being present, participating, learning and belonging (Unicef Inclusive Education).

Inclusive education provides learners with opportunities to:

• foster a learning culture of respect and belonging
• positively affect understandings and expectations about inclusion in their community and in wider society
• learn about and accept individual differences, lessening the impact of harassment and bullying
• be both teacher and learner
• experience diversity as a source of strength and a catalyst for innovation
• develop wide-ranging friendships
• develop strengths and gifts, with high expectations for each child beyond formalised assessments
• work on individual goals and pathways while participating in the life of the learning community alongside their peers (Hehir et al., 2016)

Inclusive education works to identify barriers to education and remove them. It incorporates everything from the curriculum to pedagogy and teaching. Rather than being an issue on the periphery on how some learners can be integrated in mainstream education, inclusive education is an approach that looks into how to transform education systems and other learning environments to respond to the diversity of learners. It aims to enable teachers and learners to feel comfortable with diversity and to see it as a challenge and enrichment, rather than a problem (UNESCO Inclusion in Education).

An inclusive approach to education is one that also strives to promote quality in the classroom. For highly able students, inclusive education means that these students would be adequately supported and their individual needs met. It needs to recognise that these students are not a homogeneous group. Importantly, an inclusive education can benefit all students. In many countries, education for the more able is mainly provided in mainstream schools and/or classrooms. School-level strategies such as mentoring, counselling, differentiated pedagogies, the use of digital technologies and student collaboration have proven to be particularly effective in increasing the education and well-being outcomes of high ability students and, often, the whole class.

Creating inclusive schools

An inclusive school is a school where everyone feels they belong, is accepted and is supported by peers and other members of the school community in the course of having their educational needs met. Stainback and Stainback (1990) define an inclusive school as one that educates all students in the mainstream ... providing [them with] appropriate educational programs that are challenging yet geared to their capabilities and needs as well as any support and assistance they and/or their teachers may need to be successful in the mainstream.

It goes even further. It means 1) establishing and maintaining warm, accepting classroom communities that embrace diversity and respect differences. 2) implementing a multilevel, multimodality curriculum. Teaching a purposefully heterogeneous classroom involves changes in the nature of the curriculum. Teachers consistently move away from rigid, textbook- front of classroom teaching towards cooperative learning, whole language, thematic instruction, critical thinking, problem solving, and authentic assessments. 3) preparing and supporting teachers to teach interactively. The classroom model of one teacher trying to meet the needs of an entire class of children single-handedly is being replaced by structures in which students work together, teach one another, and actively participate in their own and their peers’ learning. 4) providing ongoing support for teachers and breaking down barriers of professional isolation. Hallmarks of inclusion include team teaching, collaboration and consultation, and other ways of accessing the skills, knowledge, and support of the many individuals charged with educating a group of children. 5) involving parents in the planning process in meaningful ways. Inclusive education programs have relied heavily on the input of parents into their child's education. (Source: Maria Sapon-Shevin. Why Gifted Students Belong in Inclusive Schools )

Conclusion

Despite many examples of good practice, there remain significant gaps in the field of inclusive education. Improving the evaluation and monitoring of the inclusion of high ability students in education systems will help policy makers better understand their needs. This is an important step towards designing more inclusive education policies for all. (Read How to support gifted students to reach their full potential - OECD Education and Skills Today).

References

Hehir, T. et al., (2016) A Summary of the Evidence on Inclusive Education. Alana. abt Associates.

Jomtien World Conference on Education for All (1990). B. Lindqvist, UN-Rapporteur, 1994).

Sapon-Shevin, M. (1994) Why gifted children belong in Inclusive Schools. ASCD, Vol 52. No. 4.

Stainback, W. &  Stainback, S. (1990). Support Networks for Inclusive Schooling: Interdependent Integrated Education. Baltimore: Paul H. Brookes Publishing Co.

United Nations (1989) The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. UN.

UNESCO (2005) Guidelines for Inclusion: Ensuring Access to Education for All. UNESCO.

UNESCO (2017) A guide for ensuring inclusion and equity in education. UNESCO.

UNESCO (2020), Global Education Monitoring Report 2020: Inclusion and education: All means all. UNESCO.