Salamanca Statement and IDEA 2004: possibilities of practice for inclusive education

Abstract This article offers a comparative analysis of the Salamanca Statement and Framework for Action, and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act, within a critically discursive framework. The author creates the notion of possibilities of practice, and analyses each policy document as to how these are created, by means of interdiscursive, intertextual and recontextual analyses. In turn, the author demonstrates how each policy differs in the textual dimensions that represent themes of social representation/construction, such as: how pupils are constructed; how schooling is constructed; how inclusion/exclusion is constructed; how teacher preparation is constructed; and how resource allocation is constructed (or constricted). Finally, the author discusses the policy that best allows for possibilities of practice that promote the inclusion of ALL children. Keywords: inclusive educationspecial education needspolicyIDEA 2004Salamanca