Within the discourse of inclusive education, international schooling may seem to escape consideration of issues such as whether students with special education needs should be admitted provided that the parents can afford the tuition fees. In this study, inclusion is interpreted as an unending process towards ever slightly more participation in schools1, where the educational policy guarantees that the focus is broadened not only to reach children with disabilities2, but also to include all children who are regarded as being at educational risk due to marginalisation3. The risk may emerge as a result of minority group status, such as ability, ethnicity, religion, socio-economic background, and/or psychological factors. Inclusive practice as one dimension of inclusive school development4 is regarded as pertaining to activities that are responsive to the diversity of students and young people in the particular context and in the surrounding community.
With that in mind, this study is aimed to (1) elucidate how the practitioners of international schooling interpret inclusion; (2) explore the approaches to evolving inclusive practice based on the indicators in the Index for Inclusion4; and (3) investigate to what extent inclusive school policies support inclusive practice. It was conducted in one international school in each of the UK and the Netherlands over a period of three months, during which time I lived in each country in order to study how inclusive education and special education needs were interpreted and implemented. Document analysis, interviews, and field observations were used to provide a rich description of inclusive practice in both schools.
Although the underlying principles and the founding history of international schools supposedly advocate the notions of providing equal opportunities, catering for diversity, and promoting global citizenship, the dimensions of inclusive education might not be self-evident. Findings from this qualitative case study show that the understanding of inclusion in the context of international schools goes beyond disabilities and special education needs5. Several approaches to evolving inclusive practice are highlighted, i.e. regarding curriculum development, understanding of cultural and linguistic diversity, and students with special education needs. However, there are tensions between different stakeholders of international schools in defining inclusion; between the rhetoric of inclusion found in school documents and the reality, and between the original philosophy of international education and schools’ admission policies.
The study is relevant for Nordic educational research particularly in the field of international education. There are currently no fewer than 128 international schools across Nordic countries offering various curricula, mainly International Baccalaureate6. With the increasing internationalisation of Nordic universities, some insight could also be relevant for the discussion of inclusion and equity in higher education.
References
1. Azorín C, Ainscow M. Guiding schools on their journey towards inclusion. Int J Incl Educ. 2020;24(1):58-76.
2. Agustian HY. Redefining disability in the context of ‘masyarakat madani’, an Indonesian model of inclusive society. Br J Spec Educ. 2016;43(4):358-372.
3. Qvortrup A, Qvortrup L. Inclusion: Dimensions of inclusion in education. Int J Incl Educ. 2018;22(7):803-817.
4. Booth T, Ainscow M. Index for Inclusion: Developing Learning and Participation in Schools. Bristol: Centre for Studies on Inclusive Education; 2011.
5. Agustian HY. Investigating inclusive practice in international schooling: a case study of two schools. J Res Int Educ. 2021;20(3):226-241.
6. International School Search. International school country profiles. www.internationalschoolsearch.com. Published 2022. Accessed February 5, 2022.