The Development of Inclusive Education Practice: A Review of Literature

The idea of inclusive education has become a very important element of educational thinking internationally and has been widely advocated by international organisations such as UNESCO. This paper gives a historical and philosophical review of the concept of inclusive education. The review looks first to the definition of inclusive education, the global movement towards educational inclusion, and the shift in terminology from integration to inclusion. It then discusses some issues raised in the literature about inclusive education and later details the influence of the ideological framework. This paper also identifies two main factors that should be considered to ensure the better implementation of inclusive education. This article concludes that, despite the general agreement on the principle of inclusion, some elements have been widely contested, such as what it means in practice and what should be considered inclusion.