Landscapes of Inclusion

Starting from the observation that there is hardly any work to date that examines European discourses on inclusive education using an international comparative approach, an attempt was made to approximate discourses on inclusive education using the metaphor of the landscape (Alrø, Skovsmose, and Valero 2010). In our research, an international comparative design was developed, focusing on four European nations: Great Britain, Luxembourg, Sweden, and Germany. Furthermore, interviews with five experts were conducted focusing on three areas: (1) inclusionary and exclusionary elements in the national school systems, (2) professionals being trained for and involved in inclusive education, and (3) terms and theories of inclusion being employed in national discourses. The results show the importance of standardised performance measures as exclusive elements in all four countries. Throughout all countries, the significance of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities could be shown both as an impulse generator and as a normative element in educational legislation. Segregative elements in school systems (e.g. in Germany) constitute barriers to facilitating inclusive education. The potential role of teacher education in the implementation of inclusive goals, was demonstrated.