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INCLUSIVE EDUCATION IN AUSTRALIA

Inclusive education in Australia:

rhetoric, reality and the road ahead
JOANNA ANDERSON and
CHRISTOPHER BOYLE

Inclusive education (IE) is a term that has been part of the educational
discourse in Australia for almost two decades. While there is no overarching
definition under which IE operates in that country, it is accepted that the
meaning behind the term has shifted from being exclusively about students
with a disability to now encompassing the delivery of a high-quality edu-
cation to all students. The public education system is carrying the burden
of an increasingly diverse student population (Gonski et al., 2011), and as
such, each of the eight educational jurisdictions responsible for the schools
within their borders have developed policies and increased funding levels in
the name of IE (Graham, in press). Despite this, there are currently no
standards or guidelines provided at the state or federal level to measure the
success (or not) of IE practices within Australian educational sectors. This
article aims to do just that, by providing a ‘report card’ on IE in Australia.
An extensive review of the current literature and related educational policies
and reports was conducted, and Loreman’s (2014) three guides for mea-
suring IE – student participation, student achievement and post-school
options – were adopted to evaluate the performance of Australia’s public
education system. The findings indicate that, despite operating under the
same national legislative acts, the eight educational jurisdictions in
Australia are managing and enacting IE in different ways, leading to
inconsistent levels of access and educational outcomes for students. Rates

© 2015 NASEN
DOI: 10.1111/1467-9604.12074
of segregation and exclusion (through both the provision of education in
‘alternative’ settings and disciplinary action) are on the increase, with
disproportionate representation of students from minority groups. This has
been exacerbated by the inception of a national testing regime, which some
have argued is in breach of the Disability Discrimination Act as it excludes
participation by particular groups of students. On the flip side, for the first
time Australia has a consistent curriculum that has provided a set of
outcomes for all students, and the gap between Indigenous and non-
Indigenous students in the areas of literacy and numeracy is on the
decrease, albeit a slow decrease. However, there is still a long way to go,
and this paper discusses the need for a national approach to IE to enable
the continued development of effective schooling for all students across
Australia.

Key words: inclusive education, Australia, exclusion, Australian education,

education reform.

Introduction

In 1990, the World Conference on Education for All challenged the prevailing
educational paradigm that saw many children globally being excluded from
accessing an appropriate education. Their message was that flexible, tailor-made
programming and pedagogy would allow all students to successfully access
education, regardless of ethnicity, religion, gender, socio-economic standing or
ability (UNESCO, 1990). Four years later the Salamanca Statement (UNESCO,
1994) carried this concept further, promoting the idea that all students should
receive an education in regular classrooms within their local schools. Since then,
the past two decades has seen the emergence of a global movement championing
the cause of inclusive education (IE). This was, and continues to be, a response
to the understanding and acceptance that educational systems were, and still are,
excluding students on the presumption of difference – a practice that has been
shown to be highly consequential for student access and engagement in mean-
ingful education (Waitoller and Artiles, 2013).

© 2015 NASEN Support for Learning · Volume 30 · Number 1 · 2015 5

IE is a philosophy that is grounded in social justice (Dixon and Verenikina, 2007).
It works to reduce educational inequalities and exclusions, to embrace all students
in successful learning. Research over the years has shown that engagement in
learning is a predictor of success in life, with organisations such as the OECD
(2010) and the World Bank (Hoff and Pandey, 2004) promoting this idea.
Wilkinson and Pickett (2010) concur, arguing that ‘reducing (educational)
inequality leads to a very much better society’ (p. 197). IE has the potential to
break cycles of disadvantage (Snow and Powell, 2012), as well as to increase
people’s skills, leading to increased innovation and productivity and subsequently
to long-term economic viability (OECD, 2010).

The benefit to schools is also significant. IE assists children and teachers alike to
increase their tolerance, understanding and value of difference (Boyle et al.,
2011), perpetuating the continued development and improvement of the IE school
culture. Within this environment, teachers are encouraged and challenged to use
a variety of pedagogies and strategies to cater for the different learning needs, and
this can have a positive impact on all students (Boyle et al., 2011; Loreman et al.,
2011). Additionally, a study undertaken by Allan (2009) identified students advo-
cating for IE, as they saw ‘themselves as needing exposure to the diversity they
are expected to live with as adults’ (p. 246).

The majority of research has found in favour of IE over exclusion for individual
students, both in terms of academic and social outcomes (Loreman et al., 2011).
Nevertheless, very few systems or schools are enacting IE successfully, despite
many countries’ adoption of the philosophy many decades ago (Allan, 2011).
Today, schools throughout the western world are confronted with the challenge of
educating an increasingly diverse student population while facing increasing
levels of accountability and standardisation (Blackmore, 2009). In Australia, the
challenges presented to educators are no different. In a society with an increas-
ingly diverse population, and high levels of accountability and standardisation
within its schools, the espoused philosophy of IE for the schooling of all students
is at risk of disappearing.

The Australian story

IE was adopted early on in Australia for the provision of education to students with
a disability (Forlin and Bamford, 2005). In response, the Australian Government

6 Support for Learning · Volume 30 · Number 1 · 2015 © 2015 NASEN

released the Disability Standards for Education 2005 (Commonwealth
Government, 2006), an explicit interpretation of the Disability Discrimination Act
1992 (Commonwealth Government, 1992) for education systems. The Melbourne
Declaration on Educational Goals for Young Australians was published in 2008
(Ministerial Council on Education, Employment, Training andYouth Affairs). This
document outlined two goals for education: Goal 1 – Australian schooling pro-
motes equity and excellence; Goal 2 – All young Australians become successful
learners, confident and creative individuals, and active and informed citizens (p. 6).
The discourse used in this document was important: no reference was made to
disability; rather the identified goals were aimed at all school students. From this
time, IE in Australia became about the successful education of all students (Berlach
and Chambers, 2011).

IE has different meanings in different nations (Waitoller and Artiles, 2013). The
term itself has yet to be conclusively defined (Graham and Slee, 2008), so it is not
surprising that in Australia, there is no one overarching definition to guide the IE
agenda. An extensive review of the literature by Anderson et al. (2014) found
three consistent components of IE: all students, regardless of circumstance, must
be successfully participating, achieving and being valued within the regular
classroom in their local school. Slee (2011) contends that to understand IE,
exclusion and exclusionary practices need to also be identified and understood.
The focus on these two aspects – inclusive as well as exclusive practices – when
attempting to define IE is supported by Forlin et al. (2013); however, they do so
with caution:

‘Attempts to define inclusive education by what it is, however, are problematic

because such definitions can be impacted by shifts in educational practice,
context, culture, and circumstance that can quickly render these features irrel-
evant and outdated’ (p. 8).

To understand Australia’s current position with regard to IE, it is important to look

at the construct as a whole. It needs to be considered not only in terms of
outcomes for the learner or the culture of the school, but also within the broader
contexts in which it operates (Anderson et al., 2014). The Australian education
system is a complex one (Dinham, 2008). It comprises three different sectors –
public, independent and Catholic – with responsibility for funding being shared
between the Commonwealth and state/territory governments. The amount of
funding received by the independent, and to some extent the Catholic, sectors is
a contentious issue. The Commonwealth government argues the current system

© 2015 NASEN Support for Learning · Volume 30 · Number 1 · 2015 7

provides parental choice – but only those who have the financial capacity to pay
for access are afforded this ‘choice’. Interestingly, the OECD (2012) agrees,
indicating that ‘providing full parental choice can result in segregating students by
ability [and] socio-economic background and generate greater inequalities across
education systems’ (p. 92). This is reflected in the population of Australian
schools. The public sector carries a ‘heavy burden’ (Kenway, 2013, p. 287), with
responsibility for educating a disproportionately high number of students from
low socio-economic circumstances, students with diagnosed disabilities, students
from remote areas and Indigenous students (Gonski et al., 2011). Needless to say,
students who attend schools within the public sector experience poorer educa-
tional outcomes than their peers in the other two sectors (Gonski et al., 2011). In
2011, a review of the funding system for Australian schools was published. It
proposed a model of funding that would utilise and distribute resources in more
equitable manner, as ‘all Australian students should be allowed to achieve their
very best regardless of their background or circumstances’ (Gonski et al., 2011,
p. 29). Unfortunately, since a change of Commonwealth government in 2012, the
recommendations in this report are yet to be acted upon. Perhaps somewhat
pessimistically, Kenway (2013) sees this as a reflection of the broader view
towards education in Australia, where inequity is a ‘long standing, seemingly
intractable issue’ (p. 286). In response to this, the focus of this article will be on
IE within the public school sector.

Inclusive education in the Australian context

Australian schools are facing the challenge of working within a context where
there are increasing numbers of ‘disadvantaged students who are tuning out and
switching off in alarming numbers’ (Smyth, 2013, p. 119). For many reasons,
students come to school with a diverse range of experiences and learning needs
(Dinham, 2008). A longitudinal study of Australian children found that an esti-
mated 12.3% of students in Australian schools have additional educational
needs (Dempsey and Davies, 2013). It is the education of these students, along
with those from minority groups who may be considered ‘at risk’, that is the
focus of IE.

In Australia, while there are laws guiding compulsory attendance at school

between the ages of 6 and 16, there is no legislated ‘right’ to an education.
Unsurprisingly, there is no legislation that mandates the provision of IE (Carroll,

8 Support for Learning · Volume 30 · Number 1 · 2015 © 2015 NASEN

2002) or that stipulates a ‘right’ for students to receive their education within a
regular classroom (Dickson, 2008). Nonetheless, education must be delivered in
accordance with the following legislative acts:
• Australian Human Rights Commission Act 1986
• Disability Discrimination Act 1992
• Racial Discrimination Act 1975
• Sex Discrimination Act 1984

Despite the lack of any explicit laws supporting the right to an inclusive educa-
tion, it could be argued that Australia has the necessary legislation and policies in
place to ensure it is an ‘inclusive society having inclusive systems and schools’
(Pearce, 2009, p. 101). However, these legislative acts appear to have had little
impact on the provision of IE, particularly with regard to the education of students
with a disability (Dempsey et al., 2002). Many are still denied access to an
inclusive form of education (Cologon, 2013). There is much evidence to suggest
that good policy does not guarantee good practice, and there is a definite policy/
practice divide in Australia (Dixon and Verenikina, 2007). It could be argued that
this is due in part to the responsibility for the provision of education being held by
each of the eight individual educational jurisdictions. While each has some form
of policy on IE practices, there are notable differences between them (Forlin,
2001).

A state-by-state approach

Berlach and Chambers (2011) compared the policies and related documents
provided by each state or territory to support the development and implemen-
tation of inclusive practices within schools. They used five areas to make the
comparisons: definition of inclusivity, breadth of application, consideration of
diversity, implementation guidelines and strategy and evaluation guidelines.
Each educational jurisdiction met the first four criteria; however, only the
Northern Territory and Tasmania described strategy and evaluation guidelines,
albeit in an implicit manner. It is important to note that these policies and
documents are not static in nature, and a stark example of this is evident in the
state of Queensland: a change in government in 2012 saw changes made to the
IE agenda in that state, with the explicit nature of the agenda replaced by a less
detailed and direct set of guidelines (Department of Education, Training and
Employment, 2012).

© 2015 NASEN Support for Learning · Volume 30 · Number 1 · 2015 9

While there are consistencies in the type of information provided by the various
states and territories, the material contained varies greatly (Forlin, 2001). This is
not surprising, as each jurisdiction is responsible for interpreting Commonwealth
legislation to develop its own set of guiding policies and documentation for IE. As
a result, IE is not implemented in a homogenous manner by the various states or
territories across Australia (Boyle et al., 2011). Evidence of this can be seen in
two areas.

The first is the identification of students needing additional support and the
subsequent allocation of resources. Each jurisdiction relies on its own system of
categorisation to identify need and apportion resources, and each of these is
different (Angus et al., 2007). The second area is the provision of service offered
to students deemed as needing additional support. Each of the eight educational
jurisdictions offers either a fully inclusive (full-time placement in a regular
classroom setting, with full participation in the curriculum and activities of that
classroom) or completely segregated (the student is placed in a setting that is
separate to the student’s local regular school) model of education for students
with additional needs (Forlin et al., 2013). All bar Victoria and Tasmania also
offer ‘partial inclusion’, in special classes, units or centres situated on the grounds
of a regular school (Forlin et al., 2013). Each of the educational jurisdictions has
its own set of criteria and processes for enrolment in these various educational
settings.

Once students with additional needs have been identified, placement decided and
resources allocated, the impetus for the delivery of an IE is placed squarely at the
feet of schools (Wrigley et al., 2012). Schools must interpret information from
both the Commonwealth and state/territory level, and contextualise this into a
vision for IE within their school (Boyle et al., 2011). Given that the factors that
are influencing IE practices are different for each school and the contexts in which
they operate differ, it is not surprising that what schools do in the name of IE
differs from school to school (Boyle et al., 2012).

The significance of national reform

Since the Melbourne Declaration in 2008, the educational landscape in Australia

has undergone rapid change (Davies, 2012). For the first time in its history,
Australia has a national curriculum. It was developed on the premise that ‘All
students are entitled to rigorous, relevant and engaging learning programs’

10 Support for Learning · Volume 30 · Number 1 · 2015 © 2015 NASEN

(ACARA, 2013, p. 4). After initial concern that the mandated curriculum would
not contain provisions to provide access to all students (Conway, 2010), further
work was undertaken which saw the release of supporting documentation centred
on student diversity (see the ACARA website for further information). Despite
this, a recent review of the Australian Curriculum has raised concerns about its
capacity to meet the needs of all Australian learners (Donnelly and Wiltshire,
2014). The review concludes that further research into current successful curri-
cula (they cite England and Victoria, Australia as having programmes that should
be investigated) is required to ensure the national curriculum caters to needs of all
students across the nation.

Perhaps the more contentious reform has been the inception of a national testing
regime. A National Assessment Program for Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN)
has been in place since 2008, and purports to assess all Australian students in
years 3, 5, 7 and 9. The purpose of the testing regime has been to provide an
insight into student achievement in literacy and numeracy in Australia
(Cumming and Dickson, 2013). However, it has become a high-stakes test for
schools that requires strict levels of confidentiality and compliance with stan-
dardised procedures (Cumming and Dickson, 2013). These procedures offer a
very limited set of supports that students can use to access the tests, and only
with prior approval. Since 2008, participation rates in the testing process have
been falling (Adams, 2012). Unsurprisingly, it is estimated that more than a third
of students identified as having additional educational needs do not participate in
NAPLAN (Dempsey and Davies, 2013). Additionally, students with an intellec-
tual disability can be automatically excluded from sitting the test (Cumming and
Dickson, 2013). Clearly, current testing practices ‘are not inclusive and poten-
tially offend the requirement in the Disability Standards for reasonable
adjustment’ (Cumming and Dickson, 2013, p. 227). Students who have addi-
tional learning needs are not being given a ‘fair go’ (Davies, 2012, p. 62). The
resulting consequence is that their needs are not considered in the discussions
and subsequent resourcing that is allocated to schools, based on testing out-
comes (Davies and Elliott, 2012).

Increasing rates of educational exclusion

There is evidence to suggest that students are being placed into segregated settings
in increasing numbers. In both NSW and Queensland, the past few years have
seen the number of students being placed into segregated classrooms within

© 2015 NASEN Support for Learning · Volume 30 · Number 1 · 2015 11

regular schools, or placed into segregated settings, increase, and the number is
continuing to rise (see DETE, 2014; Graham and Spandagou, 2011 for more
details). While there is no readily available data for the other states and territories,
since 2000 the number of segregated settings nationwide has increased by 13%,
while the total number of schools has fallen by 1.3%. This suggests the trends
noted in NSW and Queensland are part of a national phenomenon. Interestingly,
this pattern of increasing exclusion from regular school classrooms is occurring
without any evidence to support improved educational outcomes for these stu-
dents (Graham et al., 2010), at a time when governments Australia-wide are
committing increased levels of funding to education systems in the name of IE
(Graham, in press).

As a consequence of this recent movement of students into segregated educational

settings, the issue of disproportionality in these populations once again becomes
a concern. Research out of the USA and the UK (see Ciolfi and Ryan, 2011 and
Dyson and Gallannaugh, 2008 for discussions on disproportionality in these
countries) identifies disproportionality as a very real issue in the population of
students being placed into segregated educational settings. While there is little
data collected at a national level to investigate this in depth, it cannot be assumed
that it is not happening (Sweller et al., 2012). What is known is that there is an
over-representation of Indigenous students in segregated settings. The reasons for
this are complex, but the statistics cannot be ignored. As Sweller et al. (2012,
p. 121) so succinctly put it:

‘It cannot be claimed that increases in Indigenous enrolments in special edu-

cation settings are due only to increases in the Indigenous population: If this
were the case, the enrolments of Indigenous students should increase at similar
rates for both mainstream and special settings.’

Unfortunately, this pattern of disproportionality in the representation of Indig-

enous students in segregated educational settings is also reflected in school
suspension and exclusion statistics. Students throughout Australia are being sus-
pended and excluded from schools for a myriad of reasons, at increasing rates
(Beauchamp, 2012). The reasons for this are many and varied and beyond the
scope of this article; however, a report completed into this area by Daly (2013)
found that in Australia, students who are Indigenous, from a low socio-economic
background, not achieving academically, male or have a disability are more likely
than their peers to receive a suspension. In some cases the difference is eight-fold.

12 Support for Learning · Volume 30 · Number 1 · 2015 © 2015 NASEN

Questions are being asked about the influence of both current levels of govern-
ment funding for IE (Dickson, 2008) and policy solutions being offered to address
student disengagement (Blackmore, 2009) in the increasing levels of student
exclusion, whether as a result of educational placement or disciplinary action.
Whatever its cause, Slee (2011) questions the purpose of the practice – is it for the
benefit of those being excluded, or for the perceived benefit of those from whom
they are separated?

Measuring the success (or not) of inclusive education

Measuring the success, or not, of IE is complex and challenging (Forlin et al.,

2013). The construct itself does not present an obvious set of standards to
measure against. Loreman (2014) suggests viewing the success of IE through the
lens of its outcomes: student participation, student achievement and post-school
outcomes. In light of the information discussed to this point, Australia’s achieve-
ments in these three areas are described in Table 1. The list does not profess to
be exhaustive, but it does identify the major points that need to be considered
when looking at the success of current education practices in Australia in terms
of their inclusiveness.

Australia’s report card

Governments are injecting more money than ever before into the resourcing of
programmes to support student participation and achievement at school
(Graham, in press). However, there is no evidence to support the effectiveness
of the strategies adopted; on the contrary, the evidence suggests some pro-
grammes are having the reverse effect. An example of this can be seen in the
provision of teacher aides as a form of support. Additional funding has been
allocated to fund more of these positions within schools across the country,
without any evidence to suggest that this form of intervention is in any way
effective (Boyle et al., 2011).

Rates of exclusion, through disciplinary actions and the placement of students

into various segregated environments, are increasing. In the case of disciplinary
action, the increase may be a result of the increased power provided to principals
in many educational jurisdictions to suspend and exclude students. This is starkly

© 2015 NASEN Support for Learning · Volume 30 · Number 1 · 2015 13

Table 1. Current educational practices in Australia related to IE

Outcome Current educational practices in Australia

Student • The Australian curriculum is consistent across the nation; however, concerns
participation have been raised about its capacity to meet the needs of the diverse range of
learners within Australia.
• Students receive different levels of resourcing to support their participation in
the curriculum, depending on which of the eight educational jurisdictions they
reside in.
• The number of students not participating in the national testing regime is
increasing, with those reported as having additional learning needs or
disability being overly represented in this group.
• Students with some forms of disability are not able to access the national
testing regime due to the strict and standard guidelines on support provisions.
• Increasing numbers of students are being placed into segregated programmes
and settings for their schooling.
• An increasing proportion of students are starting and ending their school
careers in segregated settings (Dempsey et al., 2002).
• There are increasing rates of exclusions and suspensions from schools, with a
disproportionally high rate of students from marginalised groups.
• Schools with lower ICESEA* rankings have lower levels of student
attendance.
Student • Students from schools with lower ICSEA* rankings achieve lower NAPLAN
achievement and secondary school completion scores.
• Indigenous students achieve lower NAPLAN and secondary school completion
scores (Maher, 2013).
• Many students with a disability cannot access the NAPLAN tests in their
current format, so they are not included in the data collection for student
achievement.
Post-school • Indigenous students, students with a disability, students that come from a low
outcomes socio-economic background or students who recently settled in Australia are
less likely to move into higher education or gain employment (Afra, 2008)
upon completion of secondary school.

* The Index of Community Socio-Educational Advantage (ICSEA) was created by ACARA.

ICSEA provides a scale that numerically represents the magnitude of influence of students’ family
backgrounds or level of educational advantage on their educational outcomes at school (ACARA,
2011).

evident in Queensland, where the Education Act was amended in 2013 to award
principals the authority to suspend and exclude students for a wider and less
well-defined set of reasons, while decreasing the circumstances in which students
and their families can appeal these decisions. However, this is not the only
explanation. Slee (2013) lays part of the blame for the increase in both forms of
exclusion on the national testing regime. He argues the result of this type of
high-stakes testing is that ‘schools exercise educational triage, where they sponsor
those with strong academic prognoses and jettison those who present risk of

14 Support for Learning · Volume 30 · Number 1 · 2015 © 2015 NASEN

failure’ (pp. 895–896). An increase in the catergorisation and labelling of students
has also been linked to increasing rates of exclusion (Graham, in press).

Much of the provision of student support is allocated through various forms of

label-attribution. The number of students receiving labels is increasing (Slee,
2013), resulting in the movement of higher numbers of students into segregated
classrooms or settings (Graham and Jahnukainen, 2011). Furthermore, this
dependent relationship between labels and the provision of support presents
difficulties for students with additional needs who do not receive a label, and
therefore cannot access additional funding (Graham and Jahnukainen, 2011).
The entire process of categorising and attaching labels to students, as discussed
previously, is fraught with inconsistencies between the various educational juris-
dictions. The result of this is that different levels of support are offered to
students with similar types of learning needs, and consequently students’ par-
ticipation and achievement at school is dependent on, at some level, the state or
territory in which they reside. This increased dependence on labelling brings
with it a set of different, and perhaps unintended, problems for the delivery of
IE. Lauchlan and Boyle (2007) identify a multitude of negative consequences
that are associated with labelling, which can ultimately result in reduced life
opportunities. These include stigmatisation, bullying, misclassification, lower
expectations and adoption of generalised intervention programmes. Not surpris-
ingly, the reliance on labels and categories to deliver support to students
suggests a shift away from the original intent of the IE movement (Boyle, 2014;
Graham and Jahnukainen, 2011).

The move to make the education system in Australia more inclusive appears to
have had limited success (Dempsey, 2007). There seems to be a ‘significant gap’
between envisioned IE and the reality of what is happening in schools (Graham
and Spandagou, 2011). If the current policies, strategies and support provisions
were working, the expectation would be that students, regardless of background
or ability, would be participating, achieving and succeeding post-school at the
same or similar rates. It is clear that this is not the case. While it does need to be
acknowledged that some gains have been made in recent years (examples can be
seen in the narrowing of the gap in academic achievement between Indigenous
and non-Indigenous students and the increase in the rates of post-school employ-
ment for people with a disability), in many areas the outcomes are actually going
backwards (such as the increase in exclusionary practices). There is still a long
way to go.

© 2015 NASEN Support for Learning · Volume 30 · Number 1 · 2015 15

Barriers to inclusive education

In 2007, the Commonwealth government released a report into the education of

students with a disability. It identified a number of barriers to the implementa-
tion of successful inclusive practices in Australia. Interestingly, and perhaps
somewhat disappointingly, many of the same barriers to the provision of IE are
still being identified in the literature today. This suggests that there is no quick
fix; no single path that can be followed to achieve the desired outcomes.
However, the identification and acknowledgement of barriers, perceived or real,
must be the first step towards the creation of an environment in which inclusive
practices can prevail. Research into this area has identified the following bar-
riers to IE in Australia:

• Defining IE – the term itself has yet to be definitively defined (Graham and
Slee, 2008), which has led to confusion and angst among policy makers and
educators alike (Connolley and Hausstätter, 2009).
• Attitude of educators – the attitudes of educators have a direct correlation
with the success (or not) of IE (Avramidis and Norwich, 2002). Pearce (2009)
argues that the importance of having a positive attitude towards IE outweighs
possession of the knowledge and skills for its effective implementation.
While there is evidence to suggest that early years pre-service teachers hold
a positive attitude towards IE, attitudes become less favourable once they
enter the profession (Boyle et al., 2012).
• Resourcing – plentiful and high-quality resourcing has been linked to posi-
tive educator attitude towards IE (Boyle et al., 2012). In Australia, there are
inconsistent and complex procedures for both the identification of and pro-
vision of support for students with additional needs across the eight
educational jurisdictions (Forlin et al., 2013).
• Evaluation processes – there is a lack of process and reliable data for the
evaluation of current IE strategies and practices (Sweller et al., 2012).
• Exclusive practices – evidence suggests that exclusive practices, in the form
of educational segregation and disciplinary action, are on the increase. Slee
(2013) contends that this is due to these practices becoming ‘part of the order
of things’ (p. 897).
• Teacher education – ‘teachers are seen as needing better preparation for
inclusive education’ (Forlin et al., 2013, p. 5), and while some universities
now offer units in IE (Berlach and Chambers, 2011), further research is
needed to ensure that universities continue to grow and improve their courses
(Varcoe and Boyle, 2014).

16 Support for Learning · Volume 30 · Number 1 · 2015 © 2015 NASEN

• Categorisation and labelling – despite evidence of their negative impact on
students (Lauchlan and Boyle, 2007, 2014), both categorisation and labelling
of students are on the increase (Slee, 2013). Graham (in press) argues that the
current reliance on categorisation and labelling to allocate resources is
placing undue pressures on medical professionals to diagnose. As a result,
‘labels proliferate and some children receive several’ (p. 14).

Interestingly, most of the barriers mentioned above, perhaps with the exception of
resourcing, are not dealt with in relevant policy. Subban and Sharma (2006) raised
this concern a decade ago, specifically in relation to teacher attitudes towards IE.
Unfortunately, the ensuing years have not seen a shift in policy to begin the work
towards overcoming these barriers. Perhaps, before this can happen, the broader
context of IE should be interrogated. Successfully providing truly inclusive
schooling requires ‘attitudinal change’ (Forlin and Chambers, 2011) at all levels
of design and implementation, from social commentators, to policy makers, to all
of those who work in and support schools (Smyth, 2013).

The road ahead

The road to attitudinal change is a complex and difficult one. Assumptions cannot
be made that all who live within communities value a just and fair society (Rawls,
2001); discrimination will still, and will probably always, exist (Loreman et al.,
2011). There seems to be a growing indifference to the harmful impact of exclu-
sion on the vulnerable; as Slee (2013, p. 897) explains, ‘social exclusion . . . is
everywhere and it has been there for a very long time. In this way, the fact of
exclusion has come to be seen as natural; it is a part of the order of things’. The
suggestion is not that the construct of IE has failed, but rather that ‘a narrow,
instrumentalist view as to the purposes of education in a modern society continues
to prevail – preventing the reconceptaulisation of schooling that a rapidly growing
number of students so clearly require’ (Graham and Sweller, 2011, p. 951). In
Australia, this reconceptualisation must comprise a number of critical elements.

First, funding should be allocated on a needs basis, eliminating the current

reliance on labelling and categorisation. Second, the national curriculum and
testing regimes need to be revised to ensure they meet the needs of all learners.
Third, teachers, both pre-service and practising, should be provided with ‘best
practice’ instruction in both the why and how of IE. Fourth, access to resources,

© 2015 NASEN Support for Learning · Volume 30 · Number 1 · 2015 17

in the form of funding, trained support staff and other professionals, should be
plentiful and meet the needs of the learners and teachers. Fifth and finally, the
Commonwealth government must develop policy and guidelines for IE that are
reviewed and refined regularly, to ensure consistency in the access to and imple-
mentation of IE practices throughout Australia.

Nevertheless, before the barriers to IE can be considered and eradicated, Australia

needs to engage in explicit discussion about the purpose and goals of IE, in other
words, about what ‘constitutes a good education’ (Biesta, 2009, p. 36). This needs
to be done from a ‘deeper philosophical basis’ in order to deal with the increased
prevalence of exclusive practices in a system that professes to be inclusive
(Graham and Jahnukainen, 2011).

Conclusion

Transformation of the status quo requires unified support through a shared under-
standing of IE, the direction in which it needs to go and the outcomes it aims to
achieve. As Smyth (2013) argues, ‘social change of any consequence comes
through collective commitment to ideas’ (pp. 119–120). The challenge for edu-
cators and policy makers is to create the space for this change to occur: ‘It is
necessary to unsettle default modes of operation in order to replace them with new
settlements about what is to be valued, taught and expected in schools’ (Johnston
and Hayes, 2007, p. 376). While this may seem an insurmountable task, Smyth
(2013) views it a little more optimistically. He ascertains that if an issue is viewed
and considered carefully but creatively, change is possible.

Much has been learned since Australia adopted the philosophy of IE almost two
decades ago. Research indicates that current practices have not met the original
intent of the IE movement. However, all is not lost: in the words of Armstrong
et al. (2011, p. 37), ‘it is by going back to the big picture of inclusion and
reformulating it in the light of knowledge, experiences and learning accumulated
during the last 20 or so years that we can find a way forward’.

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