Labels as help or hindrance? Labels are another recurring idea. These can be well intentioned, but are too often restrictive in practice, tend to be one-dimensional and lack intersectional nuance. For example, Yunus Emre Demir looks at the underresearched phenomenon of twice-exceptionality where one label can mask the presence of another. Karen Zecca considers the influence that medical and social models of inclusion have on perceptions of disability and argues for a more intersectional approach. Then there are questions around whether activity in the name of inclusion is tinkering at the edges or genuinely predicated on a willingness to acknowledge and shift the current locally dominant cultural norms and power structures. Myrtle Emmanuel highlights this, as she argues for greater attention to be paid to hair-based discrimination experienced by Black and mixed-race students and staff. She seeks enforceable policies and action beyond ‘symbolic solidarity’, a move from superficial initiatives towards genuine and sustained institutional and sectoral transformation. Similarly, Aria Zhang discusses the benefits of bringing a lens of transgender and trans-feminist studies to support understanding of, and fostering of, inclusivity: ‘What does meaningful inclusion look like … beyond a series of talks?’ Further, inclusive practice often starts with existing content and pedagogy and adapts it as necessary to meet diverse needs. Kay Sidebottom notes that this approach does not challenge the underpinning assumptions, predicated on humanism and centred on certain types of human. Using the lens of critical posthumanism, Sidebottom reimagines inclusion in the context of physical education, where ableism, normative ideals and a presumption of performance and competition are currently embedded. Interrogating school’s purpose Reimagining through a posthuman lens or otherwise can allow for alternative and bold projections of inclusive curricula. Reece Sohdi revisits our thinking about the purposes of education through the lens of decolonisation. This is not to tweak content to add some diversity but as an examination of bigger questions that would move us away from content delivery and its inherent underlying assumptions towards an ethical and relational practice. Rebecca Loader and colleagues also advocate acknowledging and planning for existing diversity. They welcome the review of the primary religious education curriculum in Northern Ireland and examine, through the lens of epistemic injustice, the potential harms done by the existing dominance of Christianity in the curriculum.
Finally, one of Emma Simpson ’s questions is: ‘If you’re not academic, what’s in it for you?’ This brings us back full circle to our starting point with Mary James’s provocation: ‘Aside from academic qualifications, what do we want pupils to feel they are getting from their experience of school?’ Simpson argues that a school system increasingly under pressure, and with a focus on attainment, has the unintended consequence of driving pedagogies which focus on individual exam performance, inculcating a passivity in learning, devaluing other pathways, potentially reducing children’s sense of achievement, and particularly impacting those students who are already marginalised, including White working- class families. Brave steps needed The blog posts in this BERA Bites collection suggest orientations to schooling practices which celebrate differences rather than trying to assimilate and make uniform. The key questions and provocations raised are applicable far beyond those groups identified here. This is a systemic challenge for today’s schooling system, which too often values conformity and responsibilisation of individuals (children and adults alike). Brave steps are required if school is to turn away from schooling to become more educational, more democratic, more inclusive. Dare we transform to a more ethical, relational practice not predicated on dominant cultural norms or operating within current existing power structures?
REFERENCE Dawson, E. (2017). Social justice and out-of-school science learning: Exploring equity in science television, science clubs and maker spaces. Science Education , 101 (4), 539–547. https:// doi.org/10.1002/sce.21288
A NOTE FROM THE BLOG EDITORS While you read these blog posts, you might also think about your own contexts or research. Perhaps you would like to contribute a post to the BERA Blog, or perhaps when you are next at a conference or professional development event you might come across someone whom you could encourage to write for us (see bera.ac.uk/submission-policy for details on how to submit). Please consider interesting methodological aspects, issues and approaches that would be worth reporting more widely, as well as the content of studies. As the BERA Blog team and our colleagues develop these resources we welcome feedback that can help us improve their quality and accessibility.
BERA BITES 15 | EDUCATING FOR ALL
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