Inclusion and Exclusion

Inclusive education is the right of all students including those who have traditionally been marginalised due to disability and/or other devalued characteristics. These other characteristics can be non-dominant cultural backgrounds and ways of knowing, including those of Indigenous peoples; languages spoken, other than standard forms of English; refugee/asylum seeker experiences; and low socio-economic conditions. While these other characteristics are not disabilities, they are often unrecognised and devalued in education.

Inclusive education is informed by the social model of disability which recognises that it is the attitudinal, environmental, financial, pedagogical and physical barriers that affect students’ access, participation and achievement, not the students’ characteristics themselves.

Inclusive education also encompasses students with other marginalised characteristics not just those with impairments, but who have the same experience of barriers in education. Inclusion in education is essential not only for the school years but for the quality of life that follows. It is also critical not only for students who are traditionally marginalised but also for society as a whole, as a means for developing the attitudes, values and beliefs that underpin welcoming, inclusive communities.

Inclusive Education is underpinned by a number of international and national pieces of legislation protecting human rights including:

Inclusion and Exclusion Program Leader

Current projects

Recent publications

An experimental investigation of alternative ideas of force in autistic adolescents

Kaliampos, George, Mavropoulou, Sofia, Kollias, Vasilis, Ravanis, Konstantinos, Vavougios, Denis (2023) An experimental investigation of alternative ideas of force in autistic adolescents Research in Science Education.
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Higher education decision making of Australian women with caring responsibilities

Munro, Deborah, Willis, Jill, Gibson, Andrew, Laundon, Melinda (2023) Higher education decision making of Australian women with caring responsibilities Frontiers in Education, 8, pp.Article number: 927792.
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Little things mean a lot: Parent perspectives on positive teacher-parent communication when students have disability

Glenys Mann, Ainsley Robertson, Lynsey Kennedy-Wood & Lara Maia-Pike (2023) Little things mean a lot: Parent perspectives on positive teacher-parent communication when students have disability. Taylor & Francis Online: Teachers and Teaching.

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Closing special schools: lessons from Canada

Glenys Mann, Suzanne Carrington, Carly Lassig, Sofia Mavropoulou, Beth Saggers, Shiralee Poed, & Callula Killingly (2023) Closing special schools: lessons from Canada. The Australian Educational Researcher.

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Little things mean a lot: parent perspectives on positive teacher-parent communication when students have disability

Glenys Mann, Linda Gilmore, Ainsley Robertson, Lynsey Kennedy-Wood, & Lara Maia-Pike (2023) Little things mean a lot: parent perspectives on positive teacher-parent communication when students have disability. Teachers and Training.

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The national disability insurance scheme and parenting support for families of children with developmental disability: A need for policy reform

Trevor G Mazzucchelli, Bruce J Tonge, Avril V Brereton, Catherine Wade, Kirsten Baird-Bate, & Sharon Dawe (2023) The national disability insurance scheme and parenting support for families of children with developmental disability: A need for policy reform. Australian & New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry.

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Overrepresentation of Indigenous students in school suspension, exclusion, and enrolment cancellation in Queensland: is there a case for systemic inclusive school reform?

Graham, Linda J., Killingly, Callula, Laurens, Kristin R., Sweller, Naomi (2022) Overrepresentation of Indigenous students in school suspension, exclusion, and enrolment cancellation in Queensland: is there a case for systemic inclusive school reform? Australian Educational Researcher.
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The future of special schools in Australia: complying with the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities

Lassig, Carly, Poed, Shiralee, Mann, Glenys, Saggers, Beth, Carrington, Suzanne, Mavropoulou, Sofia (2022) The future of special schools in Australia: complying with the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities International Journal of Inclusive Education.
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Do the rights of the many outweigh the rights of the few?

Gillett-Swan, Jenna, Lundy, Laura (2022) Children, classrooms and challenging behaviour: do the rights of the many outweigh the rights of the few? Oxford Review of Education, 48 (1), pp.95-111.
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Legal system barriers to the effectiveness of the Disability Discrimination Act 1992 (Cth) as a support for the inclusion of students with disability

Elizabeth Dickson (2022) Legal system barriers to the effectiveness of the Disability Discrimination Act 1992 (Cth) as a support for the inclusion of students with disability. Australian Journal of Education.

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