The Meanings of Inclusion in Cross-Cultural Contexts

Doctoral Thesis / Dissertation from the year 2010 in the subject Pedagogy - Adult Education, grade: -, University of London (Goldsmiths College), course: Education, language: English, comment: The thesis has the potential to make an important contribution to the research literature in the field of post compulsory education. The discussion of the concept of inclusion provides the thesis with its originality: although there have been studies of inclusion in FE I have not seen it tacked in this way. It is an ambitious and innovative thesis written in a strong voice. The findings shed valuable light on the ways in which adult learners perceive their experiences of studying on a range of programmes within colleges that reflect the diversity of the communities in which they sit. , abstract: The focus of the research in this thesis concerns the meanings of inclusion. The thesis explores the meanings of inclusion within the post-compulsory education policy subsystem of the national education policy system. The thesis uses ethnographic analysis of policy documents, ethnographic interviews and surveys to explore the meanings of inclusion and the experiences of learners, teachers, College policy-makers, curriculum managers and course co-ordinators together with the factors that influence those meanings and experiences in the cross-cultural contexts of further education colleges. The thesis begins with a critical review of theoretical models of inclusion before embarking on historical explorations of the evolution of inclusive policy 1945 - 2010 and thence the meanings of inclusion from the perspectives of adult learners, teachers, College policy-makers, curriculum managers and course co-ordinators. From the results of the analysis of ethnographic interviews, surveys and documents it was found that the meanings of inclusion, the experiences of inclusion and the factors that influenced these meanings and experiences were varied and contested. The thesis argues that irrespecti