Collaboration and compromise in creating and sustaining an inclusive school

Abstract This paper examines the evolution of one progressively oriented, inclusive public elementary school in the USA. Ethnographic data gathered over 4 years illustrate how support for the inclusion of children classified for special education in general education classrooms developed alongside teachers' commitment to creating classroom communities that value racial, cultural and linguistic diversity. Its story illustrates what other researchers have found as essential ingredients for successful reform: a commitment to a central philosophy and belief system; teacher initiatives supported by the building principal; structures that support on-going change and continuous improvement. Collaboration and compromise are central to the evolution and maintenance of this school's inclusive culture. Analysis of the ethnographic data demonstrates how a dialectical relationship between collaboration and autonomy supported teachers' ability to sustain learner-centred programmes and practices in the face of external pressures for curricular uniformity from an increasingly bureaucratized school system.