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.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:ADTP/267376 |
| Creators | DiGiorgio, Carla Lisa. |
| Source Sets | Australiasian Digital Theses Program |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Rights | copyright under review |
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