From Integration to Inclusive Education in England: Illuminating the Issues Through A Life History Account

This paper provides a life history account of one teacher’s determination to make inclusion work. The account reflects on the policy discourses of integration and inclusion and demonstrates ways in which these were translated into practice within the remit of the informant’s experience. The account illustrates how inclusion can result in exclusive practices which categorise and marginalise learners on account of their impairments. The account also demonstrates how inclusion operates within a medical model of disability rather than a social model. Insights into the policy discourse of integration demonstrate how the informant was better able to meet pupils’ holistic needs at that time.