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Equal is not Enough - Current Issues in Inclusive Education in the Eyes of Children
Article Number: SIS781305AI201222
20th December, 2022
Author(s):
Cornelia Schneider
Abstract:
The sociology of childhood opens up new perspectives on inclusive practices, as it considers
children themselves as actors in their environment. The author aims at expanding this notion
to children with special educational needs whose agency often goes unrecognized. At first,
this article will clarify notions of inclusive education and special educational needs, and then
analyze children’s agency by using two case studies involving children with special
educational needs in France and Germany. The qualitative research methodology (sociometric
surveys and semi-directed interviews) gives priority to children’s viewpoints with and
without special educational needs. The two cases reveal how two children with special needs
deal with risks of stigmatization and exclusionary practices in the inclusive setting. An
important outcome of the study is that children are able to consider their own social status in
the class, and that they adapt to challenges imposed on them by institutional structures and/or
other persons. It also reveals that these children may contradict the adults’ viewpoints on their
inclusion. Research in inclusive education needs to recognize the children’s perspective in
order to improve the quality of inclusive practices in classrooms and in educational policies.