SCHOOL OF EDUCATION: Inclusive Pedagogy

Inclusive education takes many forms, raising important questions about what constitutes good practice, what counts as evidence of such practice and how it can be known. This paper responds to Göransson and Nilholm’s critical review of research on inclusive education by considering why a clear working definition of inclusion has thus far proved elusive. It agrees that new types of studies and more theoretically informed work is needed if knowledge about inclusive education is to advance.

A key assumption underpinning formative assessment strategies is that individual pupils must be fully involved in the process. While such engagement and attention on the individual is important, studies suggest that teachers do not always readily engage with formative assessment as a reciprocal process which involves pupils. Additionally, a focus on individual differences between pupils can be problematic if the work that is set for some is differentiated to such an extent that they are not able to participate in classroom activities with others. Inclusive pedagogy is an approach to teaching and learning that attends to individual differences between pupils but avoids the marginalization that can occur when pedagogical responses are designed only with individual needs in mind.

s the concept of ‘inclusive education’ has gained currency, students who would previously have been referred to specialist forms of provision, having been judged ‘less able’, are now believed to belong in mainstream classrooms. However, it is often argued that teachers lack the necessary knowledge and skills to work with such students in inclusive classrooms. This paper reports findings of a study of a new initial teacher education course that starts from the premise that the question is not whether teachers have the necessary knowledge and skills to teach in inclusive classrooms, but how to make best use of what they already know when learners experience difficulty.

Ohio University's Office of Instructional Innovation and the Division of Diversity and Inclusion are co-sponsoring the Inclusive Pedagogy Academy (IPA), a program created to empower faculty to maximize student learning and achievement by enacting inclusive teaching approaches across all disciplines. Inclusive pedagogy honors and celebrates differences within the classroom by engaging faculty in various approaches to teaching and student engagement.

In 2006, South Africans celebrated the twelfth anniversary of a democratic South
Africa. There was a paradigm shift in education as government introduced an
inclusive education system. Inclusive education is an international philosophy
that places emphasis on the provision of special education services to students
with special learning needs within regular classrooms. As a result, teachers, as
in other parts of the world are required to have knowledge, skills and positive
attitudes to engage in discussions, adapt curricula, and develop inclusive
strategies for the implementation of inclusive practices in teaching and learning.

As cultural and racial demographics continue to diversify across college campuses, the First Year Composition (FYC) classroom becomes a site wherein faculty can engage in transformative pedagogical strategies to maximize ways in which students’ culturally diverse backgrounds can influence their rhetorical strategies in meaningful ways. However, a critical analysis of FYC and factors influencing its design and impact demonstrate that, to a large degree, faculty are not implementing pedagogical strategies that incorporate cultural rhetorics in strategic ways.