National Report on Schooling in Australia

There have been many definitions offered of what characterises inclusive education. However there is now consensus that inclusive education provides every individual student with disabilities or special needs, access to and the right to equal opportunities for learning and participation in the classroom, in the same way that students without disabilities would have (Hyde, Carpenter and Conway, 2010; Westwood, 2007). A new paradigm emerged moving away from earlier attitudes that focused on groups of students with disabilities, to individuals with disabilities. This is an important factor that manifested in subsequent legislation and state policies, as governments progressed from the deficit model, which focused on the student’s disability or special need, towards an equitable social justice model. Legislation and government policies have impacted on how teachers and school policy makers must adapt their teaching methods and implement practices to ensure they cater for the diverse needs of learners, in order to create a genuinely inclusive classroom.

In 1989, the United Nations (UN) established an innovative treaty called the Convention of the Rights of the Child (CRC). Australia’s commitment to this declaration was ratified in 1990 (Australian Human Rights Commission, 2014), but has not actually been legislated. The convention stipulates that all countries who sign up must commit to ensuring all children enjoy the rights set out in it and report every five years to the UN. Australia’s last report was in 2013. The convention focuses on gender and disability discrimination and the general protection and wellbeing of all children. Whilst it states that children should receive a free primary education, its generalisation in thi...

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...s. Retrieved from http://sydney.edu.au/education_social_work/professional_learning/resources/papers/ShaddockA_07_paper_SLC.pdf

Smith, T. E., Polloway, E. C., Patton, J. R., & Dowdy, C. A. (1998). Teaching students with special needs in inclusive settings. Needham Heights, MA: Allyn & Bacon.

United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization. (1994). Salamanca Statement and Framework for Action on Special Needs Education retrieved from http://www.inclusive-education.org/publications/salamanca-statement-and-framework-action-special-needs-education

United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization. (1990). World Conference on Education for All. Retrieved from http://www.unesco.org/en/efa/the-efa-movement/jomtien-1990/

Westwood, P. (2007). Commonsense methods for children with special educational needs (5th ed.). Oxon, UK: Routledge.