Dilemmas in the quest for inclusion

In 1995, on the occasion of his ‘retirement’, Professor Klaus Wedell wrote a leading article for BJSE entitled ‘Making inclusive education ordinary’. Last October, Professor Wedell, also known to BJSE's readers as the author of the regular ‘Points from the SENCo‐Forum’ column, delivered the Gulliford Lecture at Birmingham University. Here he makes the text of his lecture accessible to a wider audience. In this article, Professor Wedell places some of the ideas he discussed in 1995 in a contemporary context. He explores the systemic rigidities that create barriers to inclusion; he offers creative ideas for new ways to approach the challenges of inclusion; and he argues persuasively for much greater flexibility, at a range of levels, in order to facilitate change, development and innovation. Building on these themes, Professor Wedell summarises a series of implications for policy and practice. These concern teaching and learning; staffing and professional expertise; and grouping and locations for learning. In concluding his article, Professor Wedell calls on the Government to consider in more depth the issues that are raised by moves towards inclusion – particularly those issues that concern the individual learner in relation to the shared curriculum. This article will be of interest to anyone who recognises these and other tensions in the movement towards inclusion.