I remember being a child and thinking how odd it was that no one else (or at least it felt like no one else) lived in a flat or apartment like me and my family. The conversations that I heard in class, and the stories that were shared in lessons, all seemed to include families that lived in houses of varying sizes and styles. Indeed, even the literature that I enjoyed reading for pleasure seemed to present living in a house as the norm.
For my living space to be unusual, perhaps atypical, gave a strange feeling. That said; our home was lovely, spacious and comfortable. No doubt it was nicer than many of my peersā, it was just that it was āupstairsā and happened to be above the place where my parents worked.
Understanding inclusion
The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989) outlines how children and young people should be enabled to have a voice and to express their views and opinions. This essentially involves ensuring that children and young people are involved actively in the educational organisations in which they find themselves. Such activity is not always particularly inclusive, and sometimes trying to involve children in decision-making processes can be superficial or tokenistic. However, the intention and vision for their involvement is of note, and needs to be considered in a book of this nature.
United Nations (UN) Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UN, 1948a) states that:
All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of [kinship].
This suggests that an approach to including all in society, in schools and educational establishments, and in constructive and supportive human relationships, is important. Whilst the language is of its era, and fails to be gender inclusive (referring to ābrotherhoodā in the original), the spirit of the statement interpreted decades later provides a sense of equality that requires that we are all included. This is particularly significant as this is Article 1: the first of all the articles.
As I have argued elsewhere (Woolley, 2010: 60ā61) the notion of children having influence and a voice, in other words democracy, can be difficult to specify clearly. On first consideration, such a democratic contribution may be described as the way in which the political systems work in many parts of the world. Political systems may be regarded in two ways: first, the formal structures of governance and secondly, a values base that informs personal opinion and action. These two approaches may be characterised by:
structures, which involve
- representative and accountable government, elected from a choice of political parties;
- protection of human rights and by the rule of law; and
- freedom of speech and expression, including free and diverse mass media;
a values base, which includes
- mutual respect between individuals and groups, including valuing diversity;
- willingness to be open to changing oneās mind, and basing oneās opinions in evidence; and
- regarding all human beings as having equal rights.
Being inclusive requires openness to the differences found in others, and indeed to recognising the differences within oneself. We are all unique and therefore all different. If we could only develop a society and a wider world that appreciated that difference as the norm, and not the exception, surely the world would be a better place. We are not naturally homogenous: heterogeneity is the norm.
In the context of the United Kingdom, the Crick Report (QCA, 1998: 44) outlined eight key concepts relating to having a voice that children should understand by the end of compulsory schooling:
- democracy and autocracy;
- co-operation and conflict;
- equality and diversity;
- fairness, justice, the rule of law and human rights;
- freedom and order;
- individual and community;
- power and authority; and
- rights and responsibilities.
These eight facets are notable in their focus on requiring an inclusive approach to valuing other people, and indeed valuing oneself. Whilst now somewhat dated, Crick set out enduring values and principles that have informed policy development in subsequent years, and its influence should not be underestimated.
In an international context, the second section of Article 26 of the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights relates directly to education and to the issues addressed throughout this book:
Education shall be directed to the full development of the human personality and to the strengthening of respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms. It shall promote understanding, tolerance and friendship among all nations, racial or religious groups, and shall further the activities of the United Nations for the maintenance of peace.
Furthermore, Article 12 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989) states that:
- Parties shall assure to the child who is capable of forming his or her own views the right to express those views freely in all matters affecting the child, the views of the child being given due weight in accordance with the age and maturity of the child.
- For this purpose, the child shall in particular be provided the opportunity to be heard in any judicial and administrative proceedings affecting the child, either directly, or through a representative or an appropriate body, in a manner consistent with the procedural rules of national law.
The childās voice is therefore important, as are their views and their rights. These are core principles in ensuring that children and young people are included in decisions relating to themselves and their own welfare, and also to decisions affecting provisions made for them.
These principles and values relate particularly to children and young people, and this book is not concerned with just the young. However, setting our inclusive approaches to the voices of children suggests that those often considered to be the inexperienced and vulnerable in society have a say, and from this we should conclude that all must have a say. Whatever our need or difference, we have a right to be included by and in society, and a responsibility to accept and appreciate the contribution of those different to ourselves. In fact, everyone is different to ourselves: there has never been anyone in the history of the world who has been me.
Experiences of inclusion
Case study
Jake was born in 1967, coincidently the year homosexuality was legalised in the UK (between two consenting men in private). Now in his fiftieth year, he is planning his wedding to his partner Steve. They have been together for six years, and have lived together for the past two. Reflecting on his life, Jake is glad to live in a place where he is able to make a public, legally recognised commitment to the person he loves. He knows that even in his early 20s sex with a man in a hotel room, or a house where a guest was in another room, would have been illegal (because this was not defined as being āin privateā). Although Jake and Steve are still careful about holding hands when out in public, something that they often discuss and lament, Jake talks about the freedom he feels in being able to plan their honeymoon together without having to pretend to be just friends or work colleagues. For him the world has moved on significantly, but he is very aware that this is not true for all gay men around the globe.
Carline has just been appointed to her first post as head teacher in a primary school. She entered the teaching profession eight years ago, after undertaking a three year degree in primary education. She is currently working to complete her masterās degree, and has taught in two schools, taking a middle leadership position as the Special Educational Needs Coordinator (SENCo) in the last one. Carline was the first in her family to go to university, and the only one from her group of friends at school to undertake a degree. Her careers advisor at school suggested that she train to be a teacher, as she had volunteered with uniformed organisations and as a Sunday School teacher in her local church for several years. She now has a highly responsible job, and a salary higher than her parents ever dreamed of earning themselves.
Reflect on:
- Your responses to the experiences of Jake and Carline.
- How might the concept of inclusion relate to their situation?
- What facets of them as individuals might affect their experience?
When considering inclusion, it can be all too easy to focus on visible or obvious aspects of what we see in other people. For example, we may see someone as being in a wheelchair and make simple, and perhaps superficial, assumptions about their needs. However, their social class, age, gender, sexual orientation and non-visible health needs (to suggest just a few examples) also impact on who they are and how they relate to the world. In the case study above, Carlineās socio-economic or class background may not be known to those with whom she works, and Jakeās sexual orientation may not be known or visible to others. In both cases, the issues they face in day to day life in terms of feeling included in society may not be known to those around them. Creating an inclusive environment is essential in order to aim for all people to feel included, whatever their differences. It is not just a case of responding to differences when we come across them. This is reflected in a small incident from my own experience:
After a meeting I was engaged in conversation with a woman who suddenly turned her interest to my own background: āDo you have a family?ā she asked. āYes I do,ā I replied, āmy mum and dad live locally and I have a brother.ā āNo,ā she replied, āI meant do you have a family of your own?ā
(Woolley, 2010: 1)
This brief example shows how others can make assumptions about us, and how sometimes they filter their expectations of us through their own experience. The woman did not understand that as a single man I still have a family. I find it interesting how often it is assumed in general conversation that all present have partners and children. Whilst I do not feel particularly excluded in such situations, it does interest me that often people assume that everyone is just like them.
Broadening inclusion
The Crick Report (QCA, 1998) considered how whole-school approaches could contribute to the development of active citizenship and an understanding of democracy. It suggested that such issues needed to be understood in terms of the whole-school ethos, the ways in which a school is organised, its structures and daily practices (Woolley, 2010):
In particular, schools should make every effort to engage pupils in discussion and consultation about all aspects of school life on which pupils might reasonably be expected to have a view, and wherever possible to give pupils responsibility and experience in helping to run parts of the school. This might include school facilities, organisation, rules, relationships and matters relating to teaching and learning. Such engagement can be through both formal structures such as school and class councils and informal channels in pupilsā daily encounters with aspects of school life. To create a feeling that it is āour schoolā can increase pupil motivation to learn in all subjects.
(QCA, 1998: 36)
Crick also identified three strands that make up effective education for citizenship, with the intention that these should develop progressively as children move through the school system, namely:
- social and moral responsibility;
- community involvement; and
- political literacy.
Democracy suggests engagement, an interest in the common good, a concern for others and a belief that things can be better than they are. Readers will want to reflect on their own views of democracy and democratic values, and whether they reflect such principles. They certainly have the potential to engage individuals with decision-making processes and to encourage them to care about what happens in the wider world. Such values can constitute part of inclusion, in a broad definition.
Gregory (2000: 447, drawing on Gilligan, 1993) outlines six elements that contribute to an ethic of care and thereby, I argue, the building of communities: acquaintance, mindfulness, moral imagining, solidarity, tolerance and self-care, to which I have added my own interpretations (Wool-ley, 2010: 67):
- Acquaintance is concerned with the ways in which we develop contact with others, noticing their existence, naming and communicating with them. It is difficult to measure the ripple effects that acquaintance has on others, but it is important to no...
