The Importance of the Inclusion of Traveller Pupils - Research Paper Example

Inclusive education may be viewed as equal education for all pupils who come to school, regardless of a range of student characteristics, including “class, race, ethnicity, sexuality, perceived level of ability or disability, or age” (Rayner 2007: 36). OFSTED (2000) adds that it is for the most part about the provision made for and the achievement of different groups of pupils within a school, including “minority ethnic and faith groups, Travellers, asylum seekers and refugees” (p.4). However, equity in education should not be understood as “treating all pupils in the same way”, rather it involves “taking account of pupils’ varied life experiences and needs” (OFSTED 2000: 7).

Centre for Studies on Inclusive Education emphasises that besides “valuing all students equally” and “reducing barriers to learning and participation for all students”, inclusion in education also involves “restructuring the cultures, policies and practices in schools so that they respond to the diversity of students in the locality; …viewing the difference between students as resources to support learning, rather than as problems to be overcome; …fostering mutually sustaining relationships between schools and communities; …recognising that inclusion in education is one aspect of inclusion in society” (CSIE 2011 online).

The recent evolution of inclusion within the British educational system started in 1997 when the New Labour came to power. In 2000 a revised National Curriculum was designed to “secure for all pupils …an entitlement to a number of areas of learning and to develop knowledge, understanding, skills and attitudes necessary for their self-fulfilment as active and responsible citizens” (Hodkinson and Vickerman 2009: 74). This Curriculum 2000 is intended to be a curriculum for all as of right (Clough 1988: 11), and it is based upon three core principles: (1) setting suitable learning challenges; (2) responding to pupils’ diverse learning needs; (3) overcoming potential barriers to learning and assessment for individuals and groups of pupils (QCDA online).