Overview

Inclusive Radical Pedagogy draws on work in disability studies, critical psychology and critical pedagogy as well as on the author's own research to challenge current educational policies and practices, particularly those which address disabled students and students with special educational needs (SEN). In doing so it aims to offer alternative practices and values that are consistent with the struggle for a just and inclusive society for all. The book focuses on schools as prominent sites of disciplinary power, which work to produce individuals as subjects of power, willing and able to govern themselves in accordance with the social order. Schools are perceived as institutions of learning, in which children acquire the skills to become fully participating citizens in society. Looking at the aims and practices of schooling enables us to analyze the meanings assigned to social participation and the relationship between individuals and society. The main aim of the book is to re-theorize ideas from critical pedagogy in ways that are inclusive of students with diverse abilities, drawing on the assertion that the hardship of disability, far from being located in the individual's body or mind, is in fact the result of social, economic and cultural factors that serve to exclude and pathologize disabled people. The book's uniqueness lies in the connections it makes between these two areas of critical social theory, and in its use of theoretical knowledge alongside knowledge from activist movements and educational practice, offering insight into what inclusive critical pedagogy might look like. Inclusive Radical Pedagogy will appeal to students, researchers and practioners in a variety of fields including psychology, education, special education, speech and language therapy, disability studies and childhood studies. Its connection of critical theory to alternative practice will interest activists and campaigners for inclusive education (including disabled people's organizations and parents' organizations) and policy makers.