Kinds of participation: teacher and special education perceptions and practices of ‘inclusion’ in early childhood and primary school settings

摘要

This paper shares and interprets family narratives involving the exclusion oftwo disabled children within their early childhood and primary school settings.Interpretations of particular ‘kinds of participation’ that appear to be accepted asinclusive are explored. We argue that these interpretations have disabling effects on thechildren’s learning and participation. We critique participation’ as: ‘presence’, ‘fitting in’and ‘irrelevant or unimportant’. A ‘Pedagogy of Listening’, based on a critical, ethicaland political approach to learning and teaching is presented as an alternative to deficitapproaches to learning and participation (Dahlberg & Moss, 2005; Rinaldi, 2006). NewZealand curriculum documents (MOE, 1996; MOE, 2007) are briefly considered inregards to their socio-cultural views of learning, teaching and participation and theirpositioning of disabled learners. A ‘Pedagogy of Listening’ and narrative approaches toassessment are considered in relation to their implications for inclusive New Zealandpedagogy.