Dennis A. Conrad – författare

This book offers an international perspective of philosophical, conceptual and praxis-oriented issues that impinge on achieving education for all students. It sheds light on the historical, systemic, structural, organizational, and attitudinal barriers that continue to be antithetical to the philosophy and practice of inclusive education within the Caribbean. The first section of the book examines how globalized views of inclusion informed by philosophical ideas from the North have influenced and continue to influence the equity in education agenda in the region. The second section considers how exclusion and marginalization still occur across selected Caribbean islands. It provides both quantitative and qualitative data about the nature and experience of exclusion in selected Caribbean islands, the UK and USA. The third section tackles the practical realities of transforming education systems in the Caribbean for inclusion. In particular, it identifies teacher practices as the mainsite of interrogation that needs to be tackled if inclusion is to be successful. The fourth and final section examines the contribution of principals and exemplars to the development and advocacy for inclusive education. It discusses how educational leadership is understood, as well as the role of school principals in making inclusion a reality in schools, the challenges experienced and the qualities of education leaders.

This book invites readers to challenge, corroborate, and add to the discourse on more inclusive pedagogical practice. Presenting theoretically and empirically informed research, it highlights potential considerations regarding the intersections of diversity, literacy, and learner difficulties. These three areas provide a stage where opposing paradigms often pose challenges for educators and create unnecessary barriers to providing the best education for all learners. These barriers might reveal how students are positioned through a deficit lens rather than one that recognizes individual differences and how these learner differences sometimes result in labels or put students at increased risk of encountering difficulties. 

The contributing authors’ goals are to start and sustain a conversation that examines these perspectives and to offer counter-narratives to the deficit lens by recognizing that individual difference does not need to be a barrier to educational access.By examining opportunities for more inclusive educational success, this book encourages discourse among key stakeholders; further, it goes beyond problematizing to offer new avenues for optimal learning and inclusive pedagogy across multiple contexts.