Inclusive education policies – objects of observance, omission, and obfuscation: ten years on …

Abstract

This article draws upon a critical policy analysis approach to examine the state of inclusive education policy in Global North settings over the past decade. Building on an earlier paper on this topic ten years ago, this updated article seeks to explore whether and how inclusion and inclusive education have been understood in varied international, national and sub-national policy settings over time. While it might be anticipated that schooling systems should be more aware and proactive in supporting inclusion within their policies, our findings reveal mixed results. At times, there appears to have been regression in some settings, stagnation in others, as well as moderate progress in other settings in relation to support and advocacy for inclusion in educational policies. In an era of increased attention to a range of issues of inclusion more broadly over the past decade (e.g. marriage equality, gender fluidity, Black Lives Matter, #StopAsianHate), our article cautions against assuming that such movements have somehow led to a more ‘inclusive’ conception of students’ identities and wellbeing in schooling policy. Whether and how teachers can be expected to be more inclusive in their practices in such a variegated policy environment is an area for continued inquiry.