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Global Agendas in Special Education: A Critique

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Global Pedagogies

Part of the book series: Globalisation, Comparative Education and Policy Research ((GCEP,volume 12))

Abstract

Over the last 2 decades, inclusive schooling has assumed the momentum of a general globalization movement. Inclusion both as a general phenomenon, as well as the specific case of inclusion for students with special needs is fraught with both general and particular problems. This chapter analyzes how inclusion is interpreted, modified, and sometimes subverted or rejected in different national and cultural contexts. The authors conclude that despite the continued prostelyzing of international bodies and the exportation of western models and mandates, societal perceptions of disability and the manner in which they should be treated educationally and socially are heavily nation/culture-bound. The success of inclusion, in both its philosophical and pragmatic guises, depends on adapting itself to the social, cultural, political, and economic realities of a particular nation. The fact that, to date, inclusion has had decidedly limited success is accounted for in its advocates failing to recognize such cultural constraints.

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Correspondence to Margaret Winzer .

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Winzer, M., Mazurek, K. (2010). Global Agendas in Special Education: A Critique. In: Zajda, J. (eds) Global Pedagogies. Globalisation, Comparative Education and Policy Research, vol 12. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-3617-9_7

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