Inclusive Education is not Dead, it just Articulates Differently
Over the past three decades, inclusive education has evolved into a global paradigm embedded in the policies of international organizations and reflected in major agreements such as the Salamanca Statement, the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), or the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). While aiming to combat discrimination, marginalization, and foster participation for all, inclusive education faces increasing political resistance and varying interpretations across cultural and national contexts. This diversity of interpretations has rendered inclusive education a fuzzy concept, posing significant challenges to international comparative educational research.
This special issue of the European Journal for Inclusive Education focuses on some of these challenges. The contributions grabble with the question of how such research projects can be appropriately conducted. The volume originated within the German Research Foundation (DFG) network “Inclusive Education in International Comparison” and is edited by Raphael Zahnd, Julia Gasterstädt (the Research Group Foundations of Inclusive and Special Education), Andreas Köpfer, and Lea Schäfer.