Abstract:
Inclusion is a buzzword in education policies and institutional practices across the globe. In this paper, we discuss research work and practices in schools and local communities in Queensland, Australia and Wales, United Kingdom oriented towards ‘radical’ inclusion. The phrase ‘radical inclusion’ arose from conversations with practitioners. It signifies something more than the phrase inclusion, where the latter equates to tolerating rather than fully recognising the complexity of difference and diversity in schools serving high poverty communities. We ask: what if the ‘norm’ or ‘normal’ in the category school student, includes students experiencing complex trauma and associated high levels of anxieties, subjectivities constituted by historical, structural conditions of global capitalism and the rise of the precariat clas? How should research and practitioners work together towards racial inclusion in these communities? In this paper, we elaborate on various research projects undertaken in co-designing curriculum and pedagogy, as well as other innovations to achieve radical inclusion. Our definition of radical inclusion builds on the work of scholars questioning: (1) the purposes of education and (2) pedagogic rights and democracy.