Being pushed and pulled: making sense of inclusive and exclusive forces

Inclusion and segregation are often thought about as opposite poles on a dimension. Teachers can place themselves in any position on that dimension. The exact position depends on a variety of complex factors or forces that push the teacher one way or pull the teacher in the other direction. Understanding those forces allow us to start to think about how the way that society is organised contributes to this pushing and pulling and in turn influences what we think education is about and who should receive it. By allowing education to become more inclusive we can help to develop a more cohesive society. There are challenges in doing this and the ultimate goal would be to have an education system that is designed with all learners in mind, rather than a system that fails some learners and then has to address these failings through interventionist and compensatory approaches.