‘From Integration to Inclusive Education in England: Illuminating the Issues Through A Life History Account’

This paper provides a life history account of one teacher’s
determination to make inclusion work. The account reflects on the
policy discourses of integration and inclusion and demonstrates ways in
which these were translated into practice within the remit of the
informant’s experience. The account illustrates how inclusion can result
in exclusive practices which categorise and marginalise learners on
account of their impairments. The account also demonstrates how
inclusion operates within a medical model of disability rather than a
social model. Insights into the policy discourse of integration
demonstrate how the informant was better able to meet pupils’ holistic
needs at that time.