Inclusiveness Course Notes

Addis Ababa University - Inclusiveness Course (SNIE 1012)

Chapter One: Concepts and Principles of Inclusion

1.1. Definition of Inclusion

Inclusion means all people are entitled to full membership in the human family. Key principles include:

• Full participation in all aspects of society.
• Equal rights and responsibilities.
• Everyone has something to contribute.

Inclusion demands recognition of all people and their entitlement to meaningful interaction and engagement in all parts of society. It's the right of the individual and the responsibility of society, requiring the removal of barriers and proactive policy-making.

Inclusion accepts persons with disabilities as human diversity. It's a process involving:

1. Developing inclusive plans/policies/legal frameworks.
2. Developing an inclusive culture within communities and institutions.
3. Evolving inclusive practice.

Effective implementation requires considering three dimensions:

• Creating non-discriminatory attitudes within communities.
• Developing accessible/barrier-free environments for equal participation.
• Empowering physical and psychosocial capacity of persons with disabilities.

According to WHO (2001), the environment includes:

• Technology and products.
• Natural environment and human-made changes.
• Social support and relationships.
• Attitude.
• Policy, system, and services.

1.2. Principles of Inclusion

Inclusion is the practice of ensuring all individuals, regardless of differences, feel valued, respected, and able to participate fully. It goes hand-in-hand with diversity, creating environments where diverse individuals feel welcome and empowered. It's the opposite of exclusion and alienation, stating that societal benefits are for all, not just the able-bodied.

Key principles:

• Respect for Diversity: Recognize and value individual differences (culture, race, gender, ability, age, religion, disability, socioeconomic background).
• Equal Access and Opportunity: Ensure everyone has access to the same opportunities, resources, and support systems. Remove barriers preventing full participation.
• Active Participation: Create spaces where everyone is encouraged to contribute. Seek input from underrepresented groups.
• Supportive Environment: Foster a safe, supported, and respected atmosphere. Address discrimination and bias.
• Collaboration and Partnership: Promote teamwork and shared decision-making inclusive of all stakeholders. Encourage collaborative efforts.
• Adaptability and Flexibility: Adjust policies and practices to meet the needs of all individuals. Accommodate different learning styles and accessibility requirements.
• Continuous Learning and Improvement: Engage in ongoing learning about inclusion and diversity issues. Regularly assess and improve practices.

These principles apply to education, the workplace, community settings, and beyond.

1.3. Elements of Inclusion

Inclusion promotes equal participation in public life regardless of difference. All children should have the opportunity to learn together with equal access to education and individual accommodation based on impairment.

Key elements:

• Equity: Fair treatment and access to resources, addressing specific needs and disparities.
• Diversity: Embracing differences (race, gender, age, ability, disability, religion, socioeconomic status).
• Belonging: Creating an environment where everyone feels accepted and valued.
• Respect: Acknowledging the dignity and perspectives of all individuals.
• Collaboration: Fostering teamwork and valuing contributions.
• Representation: Ensuring diverse voices in decision-making.
• Accessibility: Designing inclusive environments and systems, including Universal Design and Reasonable Accommodation.
• Cultural Competence: Developing awareness and skills to engage effectively with different cultures.
• Open Communication: Encouraging dialogue and addressing concerns.
• Accountability: Holding individuals and organizations responsible for inclusive environments, addressing biases and discrimination.

These elements foster a culture where everyone can contribute fully by eliminating discrimination.

1.4. Features of Inclusion and Inclusive Environment

Key features of inclusion ensure equitable participation:

• Diversity Representation: Recognizing individuals from diverse backgrounds.
• Equal Access: Access to opportunities and resources without discrimination.
• Respect and Dignity: Treating individuals with respect.
• Participation and Belonging: Ensuring all individuals feel they belong and can participate fully.
• Non-Discrimination: Actively working against discrimination, promoting fairness.
• Support for Individual Needs: Providing different levels of support.
• Cultural Competence: Fostering understanding of cultural differences.
• Collaboration and Teamwork: Encouraging teamwork and communication.
• Empowerment and Voice: Empowering individuals to express opinions.
• Accountability and Continuous Improvement: Maintaining inclusive practices and improving policies.

Inclusive environments are characterized by:

• Members feeling respected and connected.
• Welcoming all people, recognizing their potential skills.
• Being respectful, supportive, and equalizing.
• Including individuals with disabilities at all levels.
• Adjusting to individual needs.
• Acknowledging individual difference as a source of richness.
• Encouraging changes toward strengthening participation.
• Developing culture, policy, and practice which meets pupils’ diversities and removes obstacles.

1.5. Why is Inclusion Important?

Inclusion benefits individuals, organizations, and society:

• Promotes Equality and Fairness: Ensures equal access to opportunities and reduces inequalities.
• Enhances Innovation and Creativity: Diverse perspectives foster creativity and problem-solving.
• Boosts Engagement and Productivity: Individuals feel valued and are more motivated.
• Improves Social Cohesion: Fosters a sense of belonging and reduces discrimination.
• Reflects Moral and Ethical Values: Aligns with human dignity and respect.
• Better Outcomes for All: Leads to better outcomes and ensures marginalized groups can participate and succeed.

Rationale for inclusion:

• Educational Foundations: Children do better in inclusive settings; resources are used more efficiently.
• Social Foundation: Segregation breeds prejudice; inclusion builds friendship and understanding.
• Legal Foundations: All individuals have the right to learn and live together.
• Economic Foundation: Inclusive education is more cost-effective and facilitates better employment.

Inclusion creates equitable, diverse, and thriving environments.

Chapter Two: Challenges for Inclusion and the Historical and Societal Context of Exclusion

2.1. Understanding Disability and Vulnerability

2.1.1. Disability

Rationale for involvement in disability issues:

• Impairment is a human diversity.
• More than one billion people have disabilities (15% of world population, WHO, 2011).
• Disability is a human right issue (UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, 2006).
• Development is all-inclusive and participatory.

People with disabilities experience poverty because disability causes poverty, but also because people who are poor are more likely to become disabled (WHO, 2011). The World Bank estimated the global GDP loss due to disability to be between $1.71$ trillion and $2.23$ trillion annually (Metts & Mondiale, 2004).

• Impairment: Absence or loss of functioning in a body part. It may result in activity limitation. Causes include genetic factors, diseases, and environmental factors during pre- and post-natal periods. Causes of impairment aren't always properly understood and are sometimes attributed to curses in low-income countries like Ethiopia.

  • Biological Causes: Abnormalities in genes and genetic inheritance, diseases, illnesses, over-exposure to x-rays, pre-term and underweight birth.

  • Environmental Causes: Adverse effects of poverty, malnutrition, lack of access to healthcare, use of drugs/alcohol/tobacco, exposure to toxic chemicals, childhood diseases, toxic materials, life accidents.

Common types of impairments:

• Visual impairment.

• Hearing Impairment.

• Specific Learning Disability (Dyslexia, Dysgraphia, Dyscalculia).

• Speech and Language Impairments.

• Autism Spectrum Disorder.

• Emotional and Behavioral Disorders.

• Intellectual Disability.

• Physical Impairments.

• Health related impairments (Heart disease, HIV/AIDS, Asthma, Diabetes).

• Multiple Impairment (Deaf blindness).

• Disability: An umbrella term covering impairments, activity limitations, and participation restrictions. It results from the interaction between impairments and attitudinal/environmental barriers.

2.1.2. Evolution of the Concept of Disability (Model of Disability)

The last three decades have been crucial for defining disability and developing disability rights. Disability is being mainstreamed in international and domestic policy and legal frameworks.

• Charity Model: People with disabilities are viewed as lacking capacity and needing to be cared for in separate facilities.

• Medical Approach: People with disabilities need to be ‘cured’ before they can participate fully in the community. Most persons with disabilities cannot access equally opportunities for participation in society.

• Social Approach: Disability is a consequence of the interaction of the individual with an environment that does not accommodate individual’s differences. Focus is on removing barriers. Disability is an element of diversity within a society. Oliver cited in (Shakespeare & Watson, 2002), described the ideological and or theoretical perspective of social model as follows

  In our view, it is society which disables physically impaired people. Disability is something imposed on top of our impairments by the way we are unnecessarily isolated and excluded from full participation in society. Disabled people are therefore an oppressed group in society. To understand this, it is necessary to grasp the distinction between the physical impairment and the social situation, called ‘disability’, of people with such impairment. Thus, we define impairment as lacking all or part of a limb, or having a defective limb, organism or mechanism of the body and disability as the disadvantage or restriction of activity caused by a contemporary social organisation which takes little or no account of people who have physical impairments and thus excludes them from participation in the mainstream of social activities.

• Rights-Based Approach: People with disabilities are subjects of rights, and the State has responsibilities to respect these rights. Everyone has a responsibility to promote, protect and ensure that this right is actualized. Persons with disabilities have the right to equal opportunities and participation.

2.2. Vulnerability

2.2.1. Definition and Types of Vulnerability

Vulnerability refers to the state of being exposed to being attacked or harmed physically or emotionally. Vulnerable groups are those who are physically and emotionally hurt as a result of social injustice.

• Emotional or Psychological Vulnerability: Openness to being emotionally hurt.
• Social or Economic Vulnerability: Higher risk of facing difficulties due to social, economic, or environmental factors.
• Physical Vulnerability: Risk of being physically harmed by external threats, like natural disasters.

Types of vulnerability:

• Physical Vulnerability: Depends on geographic proximity to disasters.
• Economic Vulnerability: Assessed by the variety of income sources, access to means of production, and availability of natural resources.
• Social Vulnerability: Weak family structures, lack of leadership, unequal participation, weak community organizations, and discrimination.
• Attitudinal Vulnerability: Negative attitude towards change, dependence on external support.
• Emotional/Psychological Vulnerability: Openness to emotional harm or distress.
• Cultural Vulnerability: Risk of losing cultural identity.

2.2.2. Causes of Vulnerability

• Economic Factors:

  • Poverty: Low income increases vulnerability.
  • Unemployment: Lack of employment increases vulnerability to economic shocks.
  • Inequality: Disparities make populations more vulnerable.

• Social Factors:

  • Social Exclusion: Marginalized groups face higher vulnerability.
  • Lack of Education: Lower attainment limits opportunities.
  • Cultural Norms: Gender roles can make certain groups more vulnerable.

• Environmental Factors:

  • Geographic Location: Areas prone to natural disasters are more vulnerable.
  • Climate Change: Environmental degradation increases vulnerability.
  • Pollution and Habitat Destruction: Industrial activities can impact health.

• Health Factors:

  • Chronic Illness or Impairment: Pre-existing conditions increase vulnerability.
  • Limited Healthcare Access: Inadequate access increase vulnerability to preventable diseases.
  • Aging Population: Older individuals often have higher vulnerability.

• Psychological Factors:

  • Trauma or Abuse: Past experiences increase vulnerability.
  • Mental Health Issues: Conditions like depression can increase vulnerability.
  • Lack of Social Support: Lack of strong networks increases vulnerability.

• Political and Institutional Factors:

  • Weak Governance: Corruption and poor law enforcement increase vulnerability.
  • War and Conflict: Armed conflicts increase vulnerability.
  • Lack of Legal Protection: Absence of legal frameworks can lead to increased exploitation.

• Demographic Factors:

  • Age: Children and the elderly are often more vulnerable.
  • Gender: Women and girls face increased vulnerability.
  • Migration Status: Refugees and migrants are more vulnerable.

Vulnerable groups include:

• Children: Depend on adults for care, susceptible to abuse and neglect.
• Elderly: Face declining health, isolation, and financial instability.
• Persons with Disabilities: Face discrimination and limited access to resources.
• Women and Girls: Face gender inequality and violence.
• Ethnic and Racial Minorities: Face prejudice and discrimination.
• Refugees, Migrants, and Displaced Persons: Face legal uncertainties and lack of resources.
• People Living in Poverty: Lack access to basic necessities.
• People with Chronic Illnesses: Face health complications and stigmatization.
• Homeless Population: Lack stable housing and access to healthcare.
• Rural Populations: Face geographic isolation and limited access.
• Prisoners or Formerly Incarcerated Individuals: Face stigmatization and limited opportunities.
• Victims of Human Trafficking: Stripped of autonomy and subjected to violence.

2.3. Historical background of the inclusion of persons with disabilities applied in education

The postindustrial period created opportunities for children with disabilities to access education.

• Specialized and or Residential Schools: Schools for the deaf and blind were established as separate institutions.
• Mainstreaming: Special needs education classes were established in public schools.
• Integration: Students with disabilities were integrated into general class settings without changing the regular school system. Students with disabilities are required to fit the system.
• Inclusive Education: Regular education system changes to fit the special educational needs of students with disabilities. Flexible system, system must change to fit the child.

2.4. Barriers for Inclusion of Persons with Disabilities

Barriers include:

1. Institutional barriers: Legislation and practices that prohibit or fail to facilitate access.
2. Physical barriers: Prevent access to physical environments.
3. Informational barriers: Prevent access to information.
4. Communication barriers: Make it difficult to participate fully in society.
5. Attitudinal barriers: Negative attitudes and lack of understanding.
6. Cultural barriers: Prevent access to community life due to myths and stereotypes.