EU description of Inclusive Education

Inclusive education for learners with disabilities - Study by the European Parliament (2017):

There is currently no internationally agreed definition of inclusive education (Dyssegaard and Larsen, 2013). While originally used to combat discrimination faced by learners with disabilities and/or special needs, inclusive education goes far beyond the issue of disability (OECD, 2004; Booth and Ainscow, 2002). Nowadays, it is seen as a response to increasingly complex and diverse societies. It treats diversity as anasset whichhelps prepareindividuals for life and active citizenship in increasingly complex, demanding, multi-cultural and integrated societies.Inclusive education aims topromotecitizenship and the common values of human rights, freedom, tolerance and non-discrimination through education. It builds on innovative approaches and practices developed for the education of people with disabilities to design effective and equitable education systems for all learners in a lifelong perspective covering all aspects of  education.

1.1.1.Inclusive education:a new approach to schools

As the European Agency’s* position paper states:‘The ultimate vision for inclusive education systems is to ensure that all learners of any age are provided with meaningful, high-quality educational opportunities in their local community, alongside their friends and peers’(European Agency, 2015, p.1). Such a goal requires changing theeducational culture in teaching and support practices. It requires moving away from a ‘one-size-fits-all’education model, towards a tailored approach to education that aims to increase the system’s ability to respond to learners’ diverse needs without the need to categorise and label them.

European Agency for Special Needs and Inclusive Education