Education, Inclusive

Inclusion is a model of education that advocates that all students benefit from learning environments that take into consideration a range of abilities and differences. Unlike mainstreaming, and segregated special education, inclusive education emphasizes that children with disabilities have a right to full participation in their educational environments and that disabled students should be placed with their nondisabled peers to the greatest extent possible. Inclusive education movements gained momentum in the late 1980s, but debates about the usefulness of this model continue to dominate contemporary discourses and discussions in fields such as education, children’s rights, and disability studies. This entry offers an expanded definition of inclusive education and explains the differences between inclusive education, mainstreaming, and segregated special education. The section that follows presents an ...