In the last ten years, the inclusion of students with special needs in the regular classroom has become common practice in schools in many Canadian provinces (Bunch et al, 1997; Cummins, 2000). This is due to government legislation and policy (Special Education Implementation Review Committee, 2001; Valentine, 2001). The difference between policy and actual practice can be studied through analysis of implementation at the school level (Taylor et al, 1997; Duemer and Mendez-Morse, 2002). The issues of identity of teachers, principles, other staff, parents and students have been found to impact stakeholders' self-efficacy and decision making regarding inclusion (Cable, 2004; Chenoweth and Stehlik, 2004; Dyches et al, 2004; Avramidas et al, 2002). Power relationships between stakeholders develop in response to a change such as inclusive policy at the school level (Kugelmass, 2001; Pearson, 2000; Hargreaves, 1992; Blase and Anderson, 1995). / This study aimed to study the process of inclusion as it developed alongside identity and power relationships in a relatively new school with a strong cultural mandate. Students with special needs have been found to have additional difficulties due to cultural, linguistic, and economic challenges at the school level (Manyak, 2002; Hanson and Gutierrez, 1997; McCray and Garcia, 2002). The school in this study faced these challenges as well, due to their mandate to develop minority culture in a hegemonic English environment. / This study is an ethnographic case study of one school as it developed over the period of a year, in its early years of implementing an inclusion policy as set out by the provincial government. Through interviews, participant observation, and document analysis, data were gathered, and analysed continuously using the 'constant comparative method' of Glasser and Strauss (1967). This grounded theory approach led to a theory elaboration of sociologist Pierre Bourdieu's theory of social organization (1996, 1992, 1986, 1982). Bourdieu's notions of habitus, capital, and field were applied to inclusion, and the results brought new insight into the relationship between individual and group experiences of school for all stakeholders involved in inclusion. / Thesis ([PhDEducation])--University of South Australia, 2005.

Commitment to a single, inclusive education system has been the aspiration of reform in education in a democratic South Africa. The dilemma facing the democratically elected government was to write educational policy which, when translated into practice, would improve the educational standards offered to students in impoverished schools while at the same time allow the maintenance of the high standards achieved in schools which had been privileged under the apartheid system. There was, furthermore, the challenge of providing a curriculum that would be meaningful to students from diverse backgrounds bearing in mind the socio-historical moment within which education found itself.Research on inclusive education in the developed world has been extensive. There has been less research completed in developing world countries. Situated in the Pietermaritzburg area of KwaZulu‐Natal (KZN), South Africa, a developing world country, participants in the current study were parents of children with disabilities, aide workers, regular and special educators, managers who made decisions affecting the education of these children, and the children themselves. The research is positioned in the theory of interpretivism which provided the opportunity to give a voice to the participants, to interpret how they made sense of their world. The methodology used was qualitative description with an evaluation component. Qualitative description allowed the discovery and understanding of "a phenomenon, a process, or the perspectives and worldviews of the people involved" (Merriam, 1998, p. 11). Data are presented so that the participants' point of view could be understood and made explicit (Artinian, 1988). Using qualitative description, this current study explored the beliefs about disability and inclusive education specifically of stakeholders in the education of disabled children. The evaluation component provided the means of ascertaining the extent to which disabled students were having their educational needs met, and the extent to which the policy ideals of inclusive education, as articulated in White Paper 6 (Department of Education, 2001), were being achieved.Inclusive education in this present study is viewed as a multifaceted construct which shares a reciprocal relationship with various theoretical determinants. The determinants considered in the present study are (a) concept of other, (b) disability discourse, (c) equity, (d) reconceptualist/incrementalist approaches to inclusive education, and (e) prerequisites for regular and special educator buy-in.Findings revealed that there was evidence of inclusive education beginning to be implemented in KZN in that barriers to learning for many students were being addressed and removed. The specific provision in policy documents directed towards children with disabilities was behind schedule, however, and there was little evidence of full inclusion of students with disabilities in regular education. Reasons for this were multiple and were explored in relation to criteria at a macro- and micro-level, distilled from the literature, which seem to be necessary for the successful inclusion of students with disabilities.The most significant macro-level factors were (i) the legacy of apartheid and the democratic process, moving towards a liberal democracy, still being in progress; (ii) the discourse around disability espoused by the majority of the population resulting in high levels of ostracism of the disabled; and (iii) the disabled becoming lost in the wide definition of need in the barriers to learning approach to inclusive education.The most significant micro-level factors were (i) regular educators being reluctant to embrace the inclusive education initiative because of problems they had encountered with another recent initiative, the implementation of Outcomes Based Education; (ii) special educators fearing for their students if they were to be included without the requisite preparation and support; and (iii) some parents lacking the efficacy to access education of any sort for their disabled children.These macro- and micro-level findings exist within a multifaceted array of factors, an intricate web of nuances and complexity.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of North Carolina at Greensboro, 2007. / Title from PDF t.p. (viewed Mar. 3, 2008). Directed by Linda L. Hestenes; submitted to the School of Human Environmental Sciences. Includes bibliographical references (p. 114-123).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Toronto, 2004. / Adviser: Paula Stanovich.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Western Sydney, 2008. / A thesis presented to the University of Western Sydney, College of Arts, Education and Social Sciences, School of Education and Early Childhood Studies, in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Includes bibliographies.

Thesis (M.Ed.)--York University, 2007. Graduate Programme in Education. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 75-81). Also available on the Internet. MODE OF ACCESS via web browser by entering the following URL: http://gateway.proquest.com/openurl?url_ver=Z39.88-2004&res_dat=xri:pqdiss&rft_val_fmt=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:dissertation&rft_dat=xri:pqdiss:MR32019

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Ohio University, June, 2008. / Title from PDF t.p. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.Sp.Ed.)--University of Waikato, 2008. / Title from PDF cover (viewed February 25, 2009) Includes bibliographical references (p. 73-80)

Dissertation (Ph.D.)--Auburn University, 2007. / Abstract. Vita. Includes bibliographic references (p.177-212).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 1997. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves [108]-118).