The Dynamics of Social Inclusion: Public Education and ... - CERIS
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W O R K I N G P A P E R S E R I E S<br />
PERSPECTIVES<br />
ON SOCIAL<br />
INCLUSION<br />
<strong>The</strong> <strong>Dynamics</strong> <strong>of</strong><br />
<strong>Social</strong> <strong>Inclusion</strong>:<br />
<strong>Public</strong> <strong>Education</strong> <strong>and</strong><br />
Aboriginal People in Canada<br />
Terry Wotherspoon<br />
DECEMBER 2 002
PERSPECTIVES<br />
ON SOCIAL<br />
INCLUSION<br />
<strong>The</strong> <strong>Dynamics</strong> <strong>of</strong><br />
<strong>Social</strong> <strong>Inclusion</strong>:<br />
<strong>Public</strong> <strong>Education</strong> <strong>and</strong><br />
Aboriginal People in Canada<br />
Terry Wotherspoon<br />
Terry Wotherspoon is a Pr<strong>of</strong>essor <strong>of</strong> Sociology <strong>and</strong> Head <strong>of</strong> the<br />
Department at the University <strong>of</strong> Saskatchewan
Copyright © 2002 <strong>The</strong> Laidlaw Foundation<br />
<strong>The</strong> views expressed in this paper are those <strong>of</strong> the author <strong>and</strong> do not necessarily reflect those <strong>of</strong> the<br />
Laidlaw Foundation.<br />
National Library <strong>of</strong> Canada Cataloguing in <strong>Public</strong>ation<br />
Wotherspoon, Terry, 1954 -<br />
<strong>The</strong> dynamics <strong>of</strong> social inclusion : public education <strong>and</strong> Aboriginal people in Canada /<br />
by Terry Wotherspoon.<br />
(Perspectives on social inclusion working paper series)<br />
Includes bibliographical references.<br />
ISBN 0-9730740-4-3<br />
1. Native peoples--<strong>Education</strong>--Canada. 2. <strong>Social</strong> integration--Canada. 3. Inclusive education--<br />
Canada. I. Laidlaw Foundation II. Title. III. Series.<br />
E96.2.W68 2002 306.43'2 C2002-902316-5<br />
<strong>The</strong> Laidlaw Foundation<br />
365 Bloor Street East, Suite 2000<br />
Toronto, Ontario, Canada M4W 3L4<br />
Tel.: (416) 964-3614 Fax: (416) 975-1428<br />
President<br />
Paul Zarnke<br />
Executive Director<br />
Nathan Gilbert<br />
Editing <strong>and</strong> Layout<br />
Is five Communications<br />
This paper is part <strong>of</strong> the Laidlaw Foundation’s Working Paper Series, Perspectives on <strong>Social</strong><br />
<strong>Inclusion</strong>. <strong>The</strong> full papers (in English only) <strong>and</strong> the summaries in French <strong>and</strong> English can be downloaded<br />
from the Laidlaw Foundation’s web site at www.laidlawfdn.org under Children’s Agenda/<br />
Working Paper Series on <strong>Social</strong> <strong>Inclusion</strong> or ordered from workingpapers@laidlawfdn.org<br />
Price: $11.00 full paper; $6.00 Summaries (Taxes do not apply <strong>and</strong> shipment included).
Table <strong>of</strong> Contents<br />
PERSPECTIVES ON SOCIAL INCLUSION<br />
iii<br />
About the Laidlaw Foundation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .v<br />
Foreword . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .vii<br />
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1<br />
<strong>The</strong> <strong>Dynamics</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Inclusion</strong> <strong>and</strong> Exclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2<br />
Concepts <strong>of</strong> <strong>Inclusion</strong> <strong>and</strong> Exclusion in <strong>Education</strong>al Analysis . . . . . . . . . . .3<br />
<strong>Public</strong> Schools as <strong>Social</strong>ly Inclusive Agencies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4<br />
<strong>The</strong> Shifting Boundaries <strong>of</strong> <strong>Inclusion</strong> in <strong>Public</strong> Schooling . . . . . . . . . . . . .6<br />
<strong>The</strong> Creation <strong>of</strong> Inclusive “Spaces” within <strong>Education</strong>al Environments . . . . . .9<br />
Inclusive Schooling: Canada’s Aboriginal People . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12<br />
<strong>The</strong> <strong>Social</strong>ly Inclusive School: Implications for <strong>Education</strong>al Practice . . . . . .16<br />
<strong>Education</strong>al Practices <strong>and</strong> Policy Context . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .18<br />
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .22
PERSPECTIVES ON SOCIAL INCLUSION<br />
v<br />
About the Laidlaw Foundation<br />
<strong>The</strong> Laidlaw Foundation is a private, public-interest foundation that uses its human <strong>and</strong> financial<br />
resources in innovative ways to strengthen civic engagement <strong>and</strong> social cohesion. <strong>The</strong> Foundation<br />
uses its capital to better the environments <strong>and</strong> fulfill the capacities <strong>of</strong> children <strong>and</strong> youth, to enhance<br />
the opportunities for human development <strong>and</strong> creativity <strong>and</strong> to sustain healthy communities <strong>and</strong><br />
ecosystems.<br />
<strong>The</strong> Foundation supports a diverse portfolio <strong>of</strong> innovative <strong>and</strong> <strong>of</strong>ten unconventional projects in three<br />
program areas: in the arts, in the environment <strong>and</strong> improving the life prospects for children, youth<br />
<strong>and</strong> families.<br />
Working for social inclusion is a theme that underlies much <strong>of</strong> the Foundation’s activities. <strong>The</strong> key<br />
words in the Foundation’s mission — human development, sustainable communities <strong>and</strong> ecosystems<br />
— imply that achievement will rely on the enhancement <strong>of</strong> capacity <strong>and</strong> capability. Not only is social<br />
inclusion being developed as an emerging funding stream, it is an embedded Laidlaw Foundation<br />
value, both structurally <strong>and</strong> programmatically.<br />
Nathan Gilbert<br />
Executive Director<br />
For more information about the Laidlaw Foundation please contact us at:<br />
<strong>The</strong> Laidlaw Foundation<br />
Tel: 416 964-3614<br />
Fax: 416 975-1428<br />
Email: mail@laidlawfdn.org<br />
www.laidlawfdn.org
PERSPECTIVES ON SOCIAL INCLUSION<br />
vii<br />
Foreword:<br />
<strong>The</strong> Laidlaw Foundation’s<br />
Perspective on <strong>Social</strong> <strong>Inclusion</strong><br />
<strong>The</strong> context for social inclusion<br />
Children have risen to the top <strong>of</strong> government<br />
agendas at various times over<br />
the past decade, only to fall again<br />
whenever there is an economic downturn, a<br />
budget deficit, a federal-provincial relations<br />
crisis or, most recently, a concern over terrorism<br />
<strong>and</strong> national security. While there have<br />
been important achievements in public policy<br />
in the past 5 to 10 years, there has not been a<br />
sustained government commitment to children<br />
nor a significant improvement in the wellbeing<br />
<strong>of</strong> children <strong>and</strong> families. In fact, in<br />
many areas, children <strong>and</strong> families have lost<br />
ground <strong>and</strong> social exclusion is emerging as a<br />
major issue in Canada. Examples abound <strong>and</strong><br />
include these facts.<br />
• the over-representation <strong>of</strong> racial minority<br />
families <strong>and</strong> children among those living<br />
in poverty in large cities, <strong>and</strong> the denial<br />
<strong>of</strong> access to many services by immigrant<br />
<strong>and</strong> refugee families;<br />
• the 43% increase in the number <strong>of</strong> children<br />
in poverty in Canada since 1989,<br />
the 130% increase in the number <strong>of</strong> children<br />
in homeless shelters in Toronto, as<br />
well as the persistence <strong>of</strong> one <strong>of</strong> the highest<br />
youth incarceration rates among<br />
Commonwealth countries;<br />
• the exclusion <strong>of</strong> children with disabilities<br />
from public policy frameworks (e.g. the<br />
National Children’s Agenda), from definitions<br />
<strong>of</strong> ‘healthy’ child development<br />
<strong>and</strong>, all too <strong>of</strong>ten, from community life.<br />
<strong>The</strong>se situations provide the context for<br />
the Laidlaw Foundation’s interest in social<br />
inclusion. <strong>The</strong> Foundation’s Children’s Agenda<br />
program first began exploring social inclusion<br />
in 2000 as a way to re-focus child <strong>and</strong> family<br />
policy by:<br />
• re-framing the debate about poverty, vulnerability<br />
<strong>and</strong> the well-being <strong>of</strong> children<br />
in order to highlight the social dimensions<br />
<strong>of</strong> poverty (i.e. the inability to participate<br />
fully in the community)<br />
• linking poverty <strong>and</strong> economic vulnerability<br />
with other sources <strong>of</strong> exclusion such<br />
as racism, disability, rejection <strong>of</strong> difference<br />
<strong>and</strong> historic oppression<br />
• finding common ground among those<br />
concerned about the well-being <strong>of</strong> families<br />
with children to help generate greater<br />
public <strong>and</strong> political will to act.<br />
<strong>The</strong> Foundation commissioned a series <strong>of</strong><br />
working papers to examine social inclusion<br />
from a number <strong>of</strong> perspectives. Although the<br />
authors approach the topic from different<br />
starting points <strong>and</strong> emphasize different aspects<br />
<strong>of</strong> exclusion <strong>and</strong> inclusion, there are important<br />
common threads <strong>and</strong> conclusions. <strong>The</strong> working<br />
papers draw attention to the new realities<br />
<strong>and</strong> new underst<strong>and</strong>ings that must be brought<br />
to bear on the development <strong>of</strong> social policy<br />
<strong>and</strong> the creation <strong>of</strong> a just <strong>and</strong> healthy society.
viii<br />
Foreword: <strong>The</strong> Laidlaw Foundation's Perspective<br />
<strong>The</strong>se are:<br />
• Whether the source <strong>of</strong> exclusion is poverty,<br />
racism, fear <strong>of</strong> differences or lack <strong>of</strong><br />
political clout, the consequences are the<br />
same: a lack <strong>of</strong> recognition <strong>and</strong> acceptance;<br />
powerlessness <strong>and</strong> ‘voicelessness’;<br />
economic vulnerability; <strong>and</strong>, diminished<br />
life experiences <strong>and</strong> limited life prospects.<br />
For society as a whole, the social exclusion<br />
<strong>of</strong> individuals <strong>and</strong> groups can become a<br />
major threat to social cohesion <strong>and</strong> economic<br />
prosperity.<br />
• A rights-based approach is inadequate to<br />
address the personal <strong>and</strong> systemic exclusions<br />
experienced by children <strong>and</strong> adults.<br />
People with disabilities are leading the way<br />
in calling for approaches based on social<br />
inclusion <strong>and</strong> valued recognition to deliver<br />
what human rights claims alone cannot.<br />
• Diversity <strong>and</strong> difference, whether on the<br />
basis <strong>of</strong> race, disability, religion, culture or<br />
gender, must be recognized <strong>and</strong> valued.<br />
<strong>The</strong> ‘one size fits all approach’ is no longer<br />
acceptable <strong>and</strong> has never been effective in<br />
advancing the well-being <strong>of</strong> children <strong>and</strong><br />
families.<br />
• <strong>Public</strong> policy must be more closely linked<br />
to the lived experiences <strong>of</strong> children <strong>and</strong><br />
families, both in terms <strong>of</strong> the actual programs<br />
<strong>and</strong> in terms <strong>of</strong> the process for<br />
arriving at those policies <strong>and</strong> programs.<br />
This is one <strong>of</strong> the reasons for the growing<br />
focus on cities <strong>and</strong> communities, as places<br />
where inclusion <strong>and</strong> exclusion happen.<br />
• Universal programs <strong>and</strong> policies that serve<br />
all children <strong>and</strong> families generally provide<br />
a stronger foundation for improving wellbeing<br />
than residual, targeted or segregated<br />
approaches. <strong>The</strong> research <strong>and</strong> anecdotal<br />
evidence for this claim is mounting from<br />
the education, child development <strong>and</strong><br />
population health sectors.<br />
Underst<strong>and</strong>ing social inclusion<br />
<strong>Social</strong> exclusion emerged as an important<br />
policy concept in Europe in the 1980s in<br />
response to the growing social divides<br />
that resulted from new labour market conditions<br />
<strong>and</strong> the inadequacy <strong>of</strong> existing social welfare<br />
provisions to meet the changing needs <strong>of</strong><br />
more diverse populations. <strong>Social</strong> inclusion is<br />
not, however, just a response to exclusion.<br />
Although many <strong>of</strong> the working papers use<br />
social exclusion as the starting point for their<br />
discussions, they share with us the view that<br />
social inclusion has value on its own as both a<br />
process <strong>and</strong> a goal. <strong>Social</strong> inclusion is about<br />
making sure that all children <strong>and</strong> adults are<br />
able to participate as valued, respected <strong>and</strong><br />
contributing members <strong>of</strong> society. It is, therefore,<br />
a normative (value based) concept - a way<br />
<strong>of</strong> raising the bar <strong>and</strong> underst<strong>and</strong>ing where we<br />
want to be <strong>and</strong> how to get there.<br />
<strong>Social</strong> inclusion reflects a proactive,<br />
human development approach to social wellbeing<br />
that calls for more than the removal <strong>of</strong><br />
barriers or risks. It requires investments <strong>and</strong><br />
action to bring about the conditions for inclusion,<br />
as the population health <strong>and</strong> international<br />
human development movements have taught<br />
us.<br />
Recognizing the importance <strong>of</strong> difference<br />
<strong>and</strong> diversity has become central to new under-
PERSPECTIVES ON SOCIAL INCLUSION<br />
ix<br />
st<strong>and</strong>ings <strong>of</strong> identity at both a national <strong>and</strong><br />
community level. <strong>Social</strong> inclusion goes one<br />
step further: it calls for a validation <strong>and</strong> recognition<br />
<strong>of</strong> diversity as well as a recognition <strong>of</strong><br />
the commonality <strong>of</strong> lived experiences <strong>and</strong> the<br />
shared aspirations among people, particularly<br />
evident among families with children.<br />
This strongly suggests that social inclusion<br />
extends beyond bringing the ‘outsiders’<br />
in, or notions <strong>of</strong> the periphery versus the centre.<br />
It is about closing physical, social <strong>and</strong><br />
economic distances separating people, rather<br />
than only about eliminating boundaries or<br />
barriers between us <strong>and</strong> them.<br />
<strong>The</strong> cornerstones <strong>of</strong> social inclusion<br />
<strong>The</strong> working papers process revealed that<br />
social inclusion is a complex <strong>and</strong> challenging<br />
concept that cannot be reduced<br />
to only one dimension or meaning. <strong>The</strong> working<br />
papers, together with several other initiatives<br />
the Foundation sponsored as part <strong>of</strong> its<br />
exploration <strong>of</strong> social inclusion , have helped us<br />
to identify five critical dimensions, or cornerstones,<br />
<strong>of</strong> social inclusion:<br />
Valued recognition– Conferring recognition<br />
<strong>and</strong> respect on individuals <strong>and</strong> groups. This<br />
includes recognizing the differences in children’s<br />
development <strong>and</strong>, therefore, not equating<br />
disability with pathology; supporting community<br />
schools that are sensitive to cultural<br />
<strong>and</strong> gender differences; <strong>and</strong> extending the<br />
notion to recognizing common worth through<br />
universal programs such as health care.<br />
Human development – Nurturing the talents,<br />
skills, capacities <strong>and</strong> choices <strong>of</strong> children <strong>and</strong><br />
adults to live a life they value <strong>and</strong> to make a<br />
contribution both they <strong>and</strong> others find worthwhile.<br />
Examples include: learning <strong>and</strong> developmental<br />
opportunities for all children <strong>and</strong><br />
adults; community child care <strong>and</strong> recreation<br />
programs for children that are growth-promoting<br />
<strong>and</strong> challenging rather than merely<br />
custodial.<br />
Involvement <strong>and</strong> engagement – Having the<br />
right <strong>and</strong> the necessary support to make/be<br />
involved in decisions affecting oneself, family<br />
<strong>and</strong> community, <strong>and</strong> to be engaged in community<br />
life. Examples include: youth engagement<br />
<strong>and</strong> control <strong>of</strong> services for youth; parental<br />
input into school curriculum or placement<br />
decisions affecting their child; citizen engagement<br />
in municipal policy decisions; <strong>and</strong> political<br />
participation.<br />
Proximity – Sharing physical <strong>and</strong> social<br />
spaces to provide opportunities for interactions,<br />
if desired, <strong>and</strong> to reduce social distances<br />
between people. This includes shared public<br />
spaces such as parks <strong>and</strong> libraries; mixed<br />
income neighbourhoods <strong>and</strong> housing; <strong>and</strong><br />
integrated schools <strong>and</strong> classrooms.<br />
Material well being – Having the material<br />
resources to allow children <strong>and</strong> their parents to<br />
participate fully in community life. This<br />
includes being safely <strong>and</strong> securely housed <strong>and</strong><br />
having an adequate income.
x<br />
Foreword: <strong>The</strong> Laidlaw Foundation's Perspective<br />
Next steps: Building inclusive cities <strong>and</strong> communities<br />
Over the next three years, the Children’s<br />
Agenda program <strong>of</strong> the Laidlaw<br />
Foundation will focus on Building<br />
inclusive cities <strong>and</strong> communities. <strong>The</strong> importance<br />
<strong>of</strong> cities <strong>and</strong> communities is becoming<br />
increasingly recognized because the well-being<br />
<strong>of</strong> children <strong>and</strong> families is closely tied to where<br />
they live, the quality <strong>of</strong> their neighbourhoods<br />
<strong>and</strong> cities, <strong>and</strong> the ‘social commons’ where people<br />
interact <strong>and</strong> share experiences.<br />
<strong>The</strong> Laidlaw Foundation’s vision <strong>of</strong> a<br />
socially inclusive society is grounded in an<br />
international movement that aims to advance<br />
the well-being <strong>of</strong> people by improving the<br />
health <strong>of</strong> cities <strong>and</strong> communities. Realizing<br />
this vision is a long-term project to ensure that<br />
all members <strong>of</strong> society participate as equally<br />
valued <strong>and</strong> respected citizens. It is an agenda<br />
based on the premise that for our society to be<br />
just, healthy <strong>and</strong> secure, it requires the inclusion<br />
<strong>of</strong> all.<br />
Christa Freiler<br />
Children’s Agenda Program Coordinator<br />
Laidlaw Foundation<br />
Paul Zarnke<br />
President <strong>and</strong> Former Chair,<br />
Children’s Agenda Advisory Committee<br />
Laidlaw Foundation<br />
Acknowledgements<br />
We wish to thank the following for their contribution <strong>and</strong> commitment to the working papers series<br />
on social inclusion: the authors, without whom there would be no working papers; Karen Swift,<br />
Frank Stark, Nancy Matthews, Jennifer Keck, Daniel Drache <strong>and</strong> the forty external reviewers <strong>of</strong><br />
papers, all <strong>of</strong> whom provided critical feedback <strong>and</strong> expert advice at various stages during the editorial<br />
process; the members <strong>of</strong> the Advisory Committee, Children’s Agenda Program, Nathan Gilbert,<br />
Executive Director, <strong>and</strong> the Board <strong>of</strong> Directors, Laidlaw Foundation for their support, interest <strong>and</strong><br />
critical comments; <strong>and</strong> Larisa Farafontova, Eva-Marie Dolhai, <strong>and</strong> Richard Wazana, for their<br />
perseverance <strong>and</strong> skillful assistance at critical stages in the process.<br />
This series is dedicated to the memory <strong>of</strong><br />
Dr. Jennifer Keck who died on June 12, 2002<br />
after a long battle with cancer.<br />
Jennifer was a key member <strong>of</strong> the editorial committee,<br />
an insightful <strong>and</strong> passionate reviewer <strong>of</strong> the working papers,<br />
<strong>and</strong> an unwavering advocate for<br />
social justice <strong>and</strong> the social inclusion <strong>of</strong> all people.
<strong>The</strong> <strong>Dynamics</strong> <strong>of</strong><br />
<strong>Social</strong> <strong>Inclusion</strong>:<br />
<strong>Public</strong> <strong>Education</strong> <strong>and</strong><br />
Aboriginal People in Canada
xii
PERSPECTIVES ON SOCIAL INCLUSION<br />
<strong>The</strong> <strong>Dynamics</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Social</strong> <strong>Inclusion</strong>:<br />
<strong>Public</strong> <strong>Education</strong> <strong>and</strong> Aboriginal People in Canada<br />
1<br />
Introduction<br />
<strong>The</strong> resurgence <strong>of</strong> interest in concepts <strong>of</strong><br />
social inclusion <strong>and</strong> exclusion, along<br />
with related concerns like social cohesion<br />
<strong>and</strong> integration, is occurring in a context<br />
in which many people, their families, <strong>and</strong> the<br />
communities <strong>and</strong> societies they live in are<br />
experiencing considerable change <strong>and</strong> uncertainty.<br />
Widespread tensions, as well as unequal<br />
opportunities <strong>and</strong> resource reallocation, are<br />
produced through the advancement <strong>of</strong> economic<br />
globalization, the restructuring <strong>of</strong> work<br />
<strong>and</strong> social institutions, rapid technological<br />
innovations, realignment <strong>of</strong> political <strong>and</strong> policy<br />
l<strong>and</strong>scapes, demographic shifts, <strong>and</strong> numerous<br />
parallel forces.<br />
<strong>The</strong> combined impact <strong>of</strong> these transformations<br />
is far-reaching, though likely to be<br />
experienced most acutely by those who have<br />
been displaced in the process <strong>of</strong> accommodating<br />
such change from businesses or jobs, family<br />
connections, community networks or<br />
locales, <strong>and</strong> other sources <strong>of</strong> stability. A sense<br />
<strong>of</strong> vulnerability is intensified when shifts in the<br />
economic <strong>and</strong> social spheres are accompanied<br />
by market-based policy orientations that contribute<br />
to what some commentators have variously<br />
called the “privatization <strong>of</strong> risk” or the<br />
“adaptive autonomy <strong>of</strong> the individual”<br />
(Donzelot, 1991a; 1991b: 268ff.; Pulkingham<br />
<strong>and</strong> Ternowetsky, 1996).<br />
<strong>Social</strong> inclusion <strong>and</strong> exclusion, in this climate,<br />
need to be understood as processes<br />
rather than specific outcomes. <strong>The</strong>y describe<br />
how people’s opportunities for meaningful participation<br />
in diverse but inter-related spheres <strong>of</strong><br />
social life (including social, economic, political,<br />
<strong>and</strong> cultural processes) can be differentially<br />
facilitated or blocked, contributing, in turn, to<br />
unequal prospects among people to achieve<br />
socially <strong>and</strong> economically valued resources,<br />
capacities <strong>and</strong> credentials. Supportive policies<br />
<strong>and</strong> structures, in turn, are required to ensure<br />
that these objectives can be realized on an<br />
equitable basis, beyond simple affirmation <strong>of</strong><br />
them in principle.<br />
This paper explores the relevance <strong>of</strong> the<br />
renewed focus on social inclusion <strong>and</strong> exclusion<br />
for Canada’s public education systems,<br />
with reference both to general factors <strong>and</strong><br />
more specific issues that arise in relation to<br />
schooling for Aboriginal people. <strong>Public</strong> schooling<br />
serves as a useful case study since, historically,<br />
its m<strong>and</strong>ate has been broadly inclusive in<br />
nature. Schools are inclusive ins<strong>of</strong>ar as they are<br />
public spaces in which children <strong>and</strong> youth<br />
from diverse backgrounds are expected to have<br />
access to common services, curricula <strong>and</strong> experiences<br />
that, in turn, are linked to prospects for<br />
their eventual participation <strong>and</strong> inclusion in<br />
other social <strong>and</strong> economic venues.<br />
<strong>The</strong> discussion focuses on three key questions:<br />
• What is the relationship between discourses<br />
<strong>of</strong> social inclusion/social exclusion<br />
<strong>and</strong> changes within public education<br />
systems
2<br />
<strong>The</strong> <strong>Dynamics</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Social</strong> <strong>Inclusion</strong>: <strong>Public</strong> <strong>Education</strong> <strong>and</strong> Aboriginal People in Canada<br />
• What are the major dynamics to promote<br />
social inclusion relative to exclusion within<br />
recent educational policies <strong>and</strong> practices<br />
• What impact do these processes have on<br />
children <strong>and</strong> youth, in general, as well as<br />
on specific groups <strong>of</strong> children <strong>and</strong> youth,<br />
particularly within Aboriginal communities<br />
<strong>Education</strong>al structures <strong>and</strong> processes are<br />
understood here as having a contradictory relationship<br />
with the dynamics <strong>of</strong> inclusion <strong>and</strong><br />
exclusion. <strong>The</strong> discussion highlights these<br />
dynamics by outlining several key dimensions<br />
<strong>of</strong> educational practices, <strong>and</strong> explores the<br />
implications <strong>of</strong> recent educational trends for<br />
prospects to achieve more inclusive educational<br />
environments <strong>and</strong> promote well-being for children<br />
<strong>and</strong> youth. It is argued that, despite a<br />
general tendency for formal education to<br />
become more inclusive in its m<strong>and</strong>ate <strong>and</strong> outcomes,<br />
schooling is also infused (both internally<br />
<strong>and</strong> in its relations with wider social structures<br />
<strong>and</strong> policy frameworks) with tensions <strong>and</strong><br />
conflicts that have potential to generate new or<br />
continuing forms <strong>of</strong> exclusion. <strong>The</strong> paper concludes<br />
with a brief outline <strong>of</strong> key recommendations<br />
for policy <strong>and</strong> practice that emerge from<br />
this analysis.<br />
<strong>The</strong> <strong>Dynamics</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Inclusion</strong> <strong>and</strong> Exclusion<br />
<strong>The</strong> varied experiences <strong>of</strong> social change<br />
<strong>and</strong> uncertainty are related to the emergence<br />
<strong>of</strong> new questions about what it<br />
means “to belong” to (<strong>and</strong>, therefore, to be<br />
included in or excluded from) particular social<br />
or institutional settings. It is important, in all<br />
<strong>of</strong> this, to keep in mind that there is a political<br />
<strong>and</strong> ideological, as well as an analytical, dimension,<br />
to themes like social integration, cohesion<br />
<strong>and</strong> inclusion. Diverse social actors or agencies<br />
seek not only to make sense <strong>of</strong> <strong>and</strong> respond to<br />
their own circumstances, but also to advance<br />
their own particular interests. Discourses related<br />
to social inclusion have been embraced by<br />
an increasing number <strong>of</strong> writers <strong>and</strong> organizations<br />
representing specific aims <strong>and</strong> positions.<br />
<strong>The</strong> unquestioned adoption <strong>of</strong> Sen’s<br />
(1992; 1999) capabilities or rights-based<br />
approach by disparate sources highlights how<br />
the language <strong>of</strong> inclusion becomes seductive<br />
even among conflicting orientations.<br />
Community <strong>and</strong> social agencies are attracted to<br />
the prospects the approach has to foster a social<br />
justice orientation based on strategies to ensure<br />
that attention is paid to the rights <strong>and</strong> conditions<br />
<strong>of</strong> the socially most vulnerable <strong>and</strong> politically<br />
least powerful groups. Meanwhile, many<br />
governments – notably the G-7 nations <strong>and</strong><br />
various internal state administrative organizations<br />
– recognize the value these notions contain<br />
to reorient approaches to policy, service<br />
delivery <strong>and</strong> political intervention to package<br />
specific program initiatives <strong>and</strong> manage destabilizing<br />
social <strong>and</strong> economic changes.<br />
Corporate enterprises, at the same time, look<br />
to socially inclusive environments to provide<br />
access to the kinds <strong>of</strong> labour <strong>and</strong> commodity<br />
markets <strong>and</strong> investment climates that their own<br />
pr<strong>of</strong>itable operations depend on (see, e.g., the<br />
wide range <strong>of</strong> sources related to inclusion in<br />
O’Brien <strong>and</strong> de Haan, 1998). <strong>The</strong>re is a danger,<br />
in all <strong>of</strong> these discussions, that fundamental<br />
<strong>and</strong> pervasive social divisions, like class,<br />
gender, <strong>and</strong> race, are obscured in the search for<br />
a language <strong>and</strong> policy motivated by solutions<br />
to problems that are created, ultimately, by<br />
much more deeply-rooted social <strong>and</strong> economic
PERSPECTIVES ON SOCIAL INCLUSION<br />
3<br />
structural forces.<br />
<strong>The</strong> dynamic nature <strong>of</strong> these social <strong>and</strong><br />
definitional phenomena suggests that inclusion<br />
<strong>and</strong> exclusion are not end states, but rather are<br />
processes that are inter-related, multidimensional,<br />
<strong>and</strong> processual in nature, taking various<br />
forms over different times <strong>and</strong> places (de<br />
Haan, 1999; Klasen, 1999). Since the nature<br />
<strong>and</strong> boundaries <strong>of</strong> families, communities,<br />
nations, <strong>and</strong> other social sites are being<br />
reshaped <strong>and</strong> redefined, it is difficult to speak<br />
<strong>of</strong> inclusion into them in any definitive terms.<br />
In these regards, inclusion <strong>and</strong> exclusion are<br />
not simply opposites to one another or counterparts<br />
to social cohesion <strong>and</strong> disintegration,<br />
respectively. Instead, they have meaning in<br />
relation to specific contexts <strong>and</strong> practices at<br />
various intersecting levels.<br />
People are called on to participate in<br />
diverse institutional settings at the same time<br />
that they are incorporated into broader collectivities<br />
like identity group, local, regional,<br />
national, <strong>and</strong> global communities. De Haan<br />
(1999: 5) observes that the concept <strong>of</strong> social<br />
exclusion gains significance when our analysis<br />
extends “beyond mere descriptions <strong>of</strong> deprivation,<br />
<strong>and</strong> focuses attention on social relations,<br />
the processes <strong>and</strong> institutions that underlie <strong>and</strong><br />
are a part <strong>of</strong> deprivation” with respect to various<br />
types <strong>of</strong> social groupings <strong>and</strong> domains.<br />
One way to underst<strong>and</strong> this relational<br />
<strong>and</strong> dynamic underst<strong>and</strong>ing <strong>of</strong> inclusion <strong>and</strong><br />
exclusion is to link it with social differentiation.<br />
<strong>Social</strong> difference, <strong>and</strong> diversity, does not<br />
in themselves produce inequality, just as inclusion<br />
entails more than the right to belong to<br />
an agency or society. We need, here, to focus<br />
on the particular ways in which social conditions<br />
<strong>and</strong> processes <strong>of</strong> exclusion may contribute<br />
to more enduring kinds <strong>of</strong> marginalization.<br />
Juteau (2000: S96), elaborating upon<br />
Silver (1994), emphasizes that social differentiation<br />
is a process that leads to exclusion ins<strong>of</strong>ar<br />
as “differences are socially constructed through<br />
the unequal access to economic, political, <strong>and</strong><br />
cultural resources.” Diversity in itself should<br />
not be regarded as the critical problem or focus<br />
<strong>of</strong> analysis, since any complex social organization<br />
or society may contain within it a broad<br />
range <strong>of</strong> communities <strong>and</strong> participatory levels.<br />
Instead, we need to examine the processes<br />
through which particular forms <strong>of</strong> difference<br />
become more salient than others, give rise to<br />
social boundaries, <strong>and</strong> contribute to continuing<br />
social inequalities (Juteau, 2000: S97).<br />
Concepts <strong>of</strong> <strong>Inclusion</strong> <strong>and</strong> Exclusion in <strong>Education</strong>al Analysis<br />
As in general policy <strong>and</strong> social analysis,<br />
discourses associated with notions <strong>of</strong><br />
inclusion <strong>and</strong> exclusion in formal<br />
schooling have evolved <strong>and</strong> gained varying<br />
degrees <strong>of</strong> prominence over time as the institutional<br />
contexts have changed. <strong>The</strong>se trends can<br />
be illustrated in a general way with reference to<br />
thematic summary reporting on journal articles<br />
<strong>and</strong> reports catalogued in the United States by<br />
the <strong>Education</strong>al Resources Information Centre<br />
(ERIC) database. Between 1992 <strong>and</strong> June,<br />
2000, inclusion was identified as a thematic<br />
concern in 2,931 items, <strong>and</strong> exclusion in 493,<br />
compared with 1,274 references to the former,<br />
<strong>and</strong> 368 to the latter, in the previous nine year<br />
period. Prior to 1981, references to inclusion<br />
were highly diverse, emphasizing a loose notion<br />
<strong>of</strong> the concept ranging from the incorporation<br />
<strong>of</strong> specific topics or material into the curriculum<br />
<strong>and</strong> the construction <strong>of</strong> test items, to the<br />
integration <strong>of</strong> particular types <strong>of</strong> students into<br />
school programs <strong>and</strong> classrooms. After the
4<br />
<strong>The</strong> <strong>Dynamics</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Social</strong> <strong>Inclusion</strong>: <strong>Public</strong> <strong>Education</strong> <strong>and</strong> Aboriginal People in Canada<br />
early 1980s, attention to inclusion in the educational<br />
literature came to be dominated by<br />
concern for the integration <strong>of</strong> students with<br />
physical, learning <strong>and</strong> developmental disabilities.<br />
<strong>The</strong> literature on exclusion, by contrast,<br />
was more concerned initially with discrimination<br />
against specific groups <strong>of</strong> students or<br />
social participants, directed especially at<br />
racial/visible minorities, as well as gender, sexual<br />
orientation, <strong>and</strong> ability groupings.<br />
Since the mid-1990s, notions <strong>of</strong> inclusion<br />
also have come to embrace multiple reference<br />
points, including social diversity more generally,<br />
as well as issues related to labour market<br />
integration, workplace learning, adult education,<br />
<strong>and</strong> citizenship education. Even the terminology<br />
with reference to students with special<br />
needs has become more inclusive, moving<br />
from an emphasis on students with disabilities<br />
to a broader concern with special learning<br />
needs that may be physical, developmental, or<br />
even social in nature (OECD, 1997). <strong>The</strong>re<br />
has been a parallel shift in programming <strong>and</strong><br />
teaching arrangements for students with special<br />
needs, from a focus on integration (concerned<br />
with providing opportunities for those students<br />
to participate in <strong>and</strong> be exposed to other students<br />
in regular school settings, although <strong>of</strong>ten<br />
in special groupings) to one on inclusion (concerned<br />
in providing, as much as possible, common<br />
programs <strong>and</strong> experiences within the<br />
same classrooms) (Baxter <strong>and</strong> Read, 1999: 6-<br />
7). Many recent definitions <strong>of</strong> disability-related<br />
inclusion can be read to encompass all types <strong>of</strong><br />
students. Ainscow (1999), for instance, defines<br />
inclusion as “a process <strong>of</strong> increasing the participation<br />
<strong>of</strong> pupils in, <strong>and</strong> reducing their exclusion<br />
from, school curricula, cultures <strong>and</strong> communities.”<br />
Similarly, Dei et al. (2000: 13), with<br />
particular reference to pupils from minority<br />
backgrounds, approaches inclusive schooling<br />
from the perspective that “a school is inclusive<br />
if every student is able to identify <strong>and</strong> connect<br />
with the school’s social environment, cultural<br />
<strong>and</strong> organizational life.”<br />
<strong>The</strong> educational literature, in short,<br />
encompasses diverse conceptions <strong>of</strong> inclusion.<br />
<strong>Inclusion</strong> is understood narrowly with respect<br />
to specific populations or groups <strong>of</strong> learners,<br />
such as the disabled or visible minorities, as<br />
well as more broadly with regard to its<br />
prospects to incorporate children <strong>and</strong> youth<br />
from all social backgrounds. Schooling <strong>and</strong><br />
education-related variables (such as readiness to<br />
learn, school attendance, educational attainment,<br />
behavioural problems, <strong>and</strong> relations with<br />
others in school) are also becoming more<br />
prevalent in wider policy discussions <strong>and</strong><br />
strategies regarding inclusion <strong>and</strong> exclusion,<br />
particularly with respect to children <strong>and</strong> youth<br />
(Evans et al., 2001; Klasen, 1998). In subsequent<br />
sections, the paper explores linkages<br />
among these varying levels <strong>of</strong> inclusion, <strong>and</strong><br />
points to key debates <strong>and</strong> mechanisms that<br />
affect schooling’s ability to become a more<br />
inclusive institution, before considering more<br />
concrete examples <strong>of</strong> how these dynamics operate<br />
<strong>and</strong> affect specific groups.<br />
<strong>Public</strong> Schools as <strong>Social</strong>ly Inclusive Agencies<br />
<strong>The</strong> realm <strong>of</strong> education illustrates how<br />
inclusion can be meaningful as an outcome<br />
as well as a process. <strong>Public</strong><br />
schooling is <strong>of</strong> substantial interest in considerations<br />
<strong>of</strong> inclusion <strong>and</strong> exclusion because <strong>of</strong> its<br />
central role in the transitions that individuals<br />
undergo through their life cycles. Schooling is<br />
both a site defined by its ability to include <strong>and</strong><br />
involve nearly all children <strong>and</strong> youth, <strong>and</strong> a<br />
gateway for inclusion into broader social ven-
PERSPECTIVES ON SOCIAL INCLUSION<br />
5<br />
ues as people become engaged in diverse roles<br />
such as citizens, workers, <strong>and</strong> consumers. In<br />
these regards, schooling is widely understood as<br />
an integrative force, providing people with a<br />
common base <strong>of</strong> values, knowledge <strong>and</strong> skills<br />
to enable them to participate effectively in key<br />
social realms. Beyond these basic functions,<br />
formal education has gained currency as public<br />
emphasis on an emerging “knowledge-based<br />
economy” <strong>and</strong> “learning society” stresses the<br />
importance <strong>of</strong> formal learning <strong>and</strong> credentials<br />
as tools for social survival <strong>and</strong> economic<br />
advancement. At the same time, the school’s<br />
traditional role as an intermediary agency in<br />
the linear transition from home into the workforce<br />
has been replaced by awareness that people<br />
undergo multiple transitions throughout<br />
their lives. <strong>The</strong> norm, for many people, now<br />
involves periodic disjunctures, sometimes<br />
accompanied by strains <strong>and</strong> conflicting expectations,<br />
among schooling, work, domestic <strong>and</strong><br />
family life, community participation, <strong>and</strong> other<br />
personal <strong>and</strong> public commitments (see, e.g.,<br />
Anisef <strong>and</strong> Axelrod, 1993; Frederick, 1995).<br />
<strong>Social</strong> inclusion, in these regards, does<br />
not simply signify that people are able to participate<br />
or be integrated in any given sphere. It<br />
requires, additionally, assurances that they will<br />
have the autonomy, resources <strong>and</strong> capacity to<br />
respond to <strong>and</strong> manage potentially competing<br />
dem<strong>and</strong>s across crucial sectors <strong>of</strong> social involvement.<br />
Factors such as poverty, language or literacy<br />
barriers, racial discrimination, illness, disability,<br />
<strong>and</strong> inadequate child care or housing,<br />
for instance, pose difficulties that can undermine<br />
people’s ability to find <strong>and</strong> maintain<br />
quality employment, attend to their children’s<br />
school-related problems, or become fully<br />
engaged in community activities. <strong>The</strong>se factors,<br />
in turn, tend to have multiplicative <strong>and</strong> intergenerational<br />
effects. Children who are born<br />
into poor households, for instance, are frequently<br />
likely to experience health, educational<br />
<strong>and</strong> social problems, as well as to live in conditions<br />
<strong>of</strong> economic instability or poverty later in<br />
life.<br />
<strong>The</strong> parallel themes <strong>of</strong> life transitions <strong>and</strong><br />
multiple spheres <strong>of</strong> inclusion suggest the<br />
importance <strong>of</strong> underst<strong>and</strong>ing that inclusion<br />
<strong>and</strong> exclusion manifest themselves as both transitional<br />
<strong>and</strong> more enduring phenomena.<br />
Children may experience temporary exclusion<br />
from schools or school-related activities for various<br />
reasons, such as periodic school absences<br />
due to illness, movement from one school or<br />
district to another, migration across provinces<br />
or nations, parental breakup <strong>and</strong> family reconstitution,<br />
or particular difficulties with teachers<br />
or peers. Many <strong>of</strong> these disruptions, however<br />
serious they may be at a given time, are not<br />
likely to have any long-term significance <strong>and</strong><br />
may, in fact, have some benefits by fostering<br />
resiliency <strong>and</strong> adaptation to change.<br />
Conversely, apparently trivial school-based or<br />
education-related practices may contribute to<br />
alienation, dropping out, failure, or limited<br />
educational attainment to an extent that individuals’<br />
life chances are adversely affected by<br />
exclusion from education or from social opportunities<br />
<strong>and</strong> pathways that rely upon educational<br />
credentials.<br />
<strong>The</strong> analysis <strong>of</strong> students who leave school<br />
before graduating, despite widespread information<br />
about the critical importance <strong>of</strong> education<br />
to social <strong>and</strong> economic success, is instructive in<br />
this regard. Considerable recent attention has<br />
been paid to creating a pr<strong>of</strong>ile <strong>of</strong> the typical<br />
dropout, based on assessment <strong>of</strong> various categories<br />
<strong>of</strong> “at risk” characteristics among children<br />
or youth <strong>and</strong> their families. Those from<br />
backgrounds that include at least one key factor<br />
such as poverty, home-related health or<br />
emotional problems, lack <strong>of</strong> fluency in English<br />
or French, Aboriginal status, or having a single<br />
parent or learning disability, have the highest<br />
risk <strong>of</strong> failing to graduate from school or experiencing<br />
later life problems; this probability is
6<br />
<strong>The</strong> <strong>Dynamics</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Social</strong> <strong>Inclusion</strong>: <strong>Public</strong> <strong>Education</strong> <strong>and</strong> Aboriginal People in Canada<br />
increased by exposure to multiple “risk” factors<br />
(OECD, 1998; Schwartz et al., 1998: 72-74).<br />
<strong>The</strong> literature on “at risk” learners has demonstrated<br />
how critical it is for schools to pay<br />
attention to social <strong>and</strong> family conditions, as<br />
these can be demonstrated to have a significant<br />
impact on school attendance, performance,<br />
<strong>and</strong> outcomes. Moreover, by virtue both <strong>of</strong><br />
more all-encompassing definitions <strong>and</strong> demographic<br />
<strong>and</strong> social factors, the overall proportions<br />
<strong>of</strong> students who fall into these risk categories<br />
are increasing <strong>and</strong> likely to grow even<br />
further in the near future (Wotherspoon <strong>and</strong><br />
Schissel, 2000b). Despite the impact <strong>of</strong><br />
“cumulative disadvantage,” though, the majority<br />
<strong>of</strong> students in these categories do complete<br />
school successfully, <strong>and</strong> many early school<br />
leavers eventually return to complete their<br />
schooling or attain other educational credentials<br />
(Gilbert et al., 1993; Gilbert <strong>and</strong> Frank,<br />
1998: 15-16). We need, in other words, to pay<br />
attention to how <strong>and</strong> why indicators associated<br />
with risk <strong>and</strong> disadvantage are differentially<br />
translated into particular outcomes in students’<br />
lives.<br />
Recent studies that employ life course<br />
theory have been useful, in these regards,<br />
demonstrating that the pathways that lead<br />
individuals through <strong>and</strong> out <strong>of</strong> school are long<br />
<strong>and</strong> circuitous. Family <strong>and</strong> early childhood<br />
experiences interlock with school processes,<br />
social support networks, <strong>and</strong> personal actions<br />
(or in many cases failure to act) based on an<br />
assessment <strong>of</strong> labour market options, social<br />
futures, <strong>and</strong> individual preferences (Anisef et<br />
al., 2000). <strong>The</strong>se insights enable us to shift<br />
analytical <strong>and</strong> policy focus from a concern<br />
with faulty or deficient background characteristics<br />
in the home <strong>and</strong> family to an underst<strong>and</strong>ing<br />
<strong>of</strong> the mutually interdependent relationships<br />
<strong>and</strong> processes that contribute to differential<br />
social outcomes. Lareau <strong>and</strong> Horvat<br />
(1999: 37) suggest in these regards the value <strong>of</strong><br />
underst<strong>and</strong>ing educational inequality in terms<br />
<strong>of</strong> “moments” <strong>of</strong> inclusion or exclusion. That<br />
is, even though there are demonstrated patterns<br />
<strong>of</strong> inequality at the social or collective<br />
level, there is no readily discernable equation<br />
or set <strong>of</strong> factors to indicate which individuals<br />
will or will not complete their schooling successfully.<br />
Rather, educational advantage <strong>and</strong><br />
disadvantage are realized through the complex<br />
interactions that occur among social contexts;<br />
institutional requirements <strong>and</strong> responses;<br />
social, fiscal <strong>and</strong> cultural resources; <strong>and</strong> the relative<br />
ability <strong>of</strong> learners <strong>and</strong> their families to<br />
draw effectively upon such resources. As the<br />
kinds <strong>of</strong> social <strong>and</strong> economic transformations<br />
that produce “disruptions” <strong>and</strong> polarization in<br />
school <strong>and</strong> family life become increasingly<br />
more prevalent, as the numbers <strong>and</strong> proportion<br />
<strong>of</strong> children <strong>and</strong> youth in designated “at risk”<br />
categories exp<strong>and</strong>, <strong>and</strong> amidst growing uncertainty<br />
associated with life transition processes,<br />
it becomes more critical then ever to explore<br />
how schools can become agencies that foster<br />
inclusion rather than exclusion, as well as to<br />
consider schools’ contradictory role in these<br />
processes.<br />
<strong>The</strong> Shifting Boundaries <strong>of</strong> <strong>Inclusion</strong> in <strong>Public</strong> Schooling<br />
Changing conceptions <strong>of</strong> social inclusion<br />
<strong>and</strong> the range <strong>of</strong> phenomena that it<br />
embraces are strongly aligned with<br />
shifting notions <strong>of</strong> the role <strong>and</strong> nature <strong>of</strong> public<br />
schooling. One way to illustrate this is with<br />
respect to notions <strong>of</strong> equality <strong>of</strong> educational<br />
opportunity. Coleman (1968) outlines how the<br />
idea <strong>of</strong> equality <strong>of</strong> (as opposed to differentiated)<br />
educational opportunity has accompanied<br />
transformations in the social positions occu-
PERSPECTIVES ON SOCIAL INCLUSION<br />
7<br />
pied by children in democratic societies. He<br />
argues that the state’s role has become reoriented<br />
since the nineteenth century from relatively<br />
passive expectations that it provide common,<br />
tax-supported educational services for children<br />
from all class backgrounds to more active<br />
efforts to reduce out-<strong>of</strong>-school inequalities <strong>and</strong><br />
promote equality <strong>of</strong> results.<br />
Viewed in this way, a longst<strong>and</strong>ing objective<br />
<strong>of</strong> public schooling has been the incorporation<br />
or inclusion <strong>of</strong> students from diverse<br />
backgrounds in order to provide at least some<br />
common social <strong>and</strong> curricular experiences. As<br />
public institutions, schools were promoted by<br />
early reformers as agencies concerned simultaneously<br />
with ensuring that children had access<br />
to basic knowledge <strong>and</strong> training, <strong>and</strong> with fostering<br />
values, habits, morals, <strong>and</strong> loyalties<br />
deemed through the state to be socially necessary<br />
public virtues (Klasen, 1999; Corrigan,<br />
Curtis <strong>and</strong> Lanning, 1987). From this baseline,<br />
schools’ roles exp<strong>and</strong>ed as they devoted greater<br />
attention to such concerns as vocational <strong>and</strong><br />
pr<strong>of</strong>essional skills, legitimate credential-granting<br />
authority, <strong>and</strong> the enhancement <strong>of</strong> capacities<br />
related to emerging political, social, economic,<br />
or cultural concerns (Wotherspoon,<br />
1998b).<br />
Empirical evidence over a long period <strong>of</strong><br />
time points to significant achievements by<br />
Canadian public education systems towards<br />
fostering inclusivity as both an outcome <strong>and</strong> a<br />
process. Guppy <strong>and</strong> Davies (1998: 4-19) highlight<br />
several indicators that reveal the extent to<br />
which increasing proportions <strong>of</strong> the population<br />
are attaining rising levels <strong>of</strong> formal education.<br />
Whereas at the time <strong>of</strong> Confederation only 41<br />
percent <strong>of</strong> registered school-age children<br />
attended school on a daily basis, regular school<br />
attendance was a near-universal experience<br />
among Canadian children by the 1930s while,<br />
by the late 1960s, youth aged 14 to 17 were<br />
also attending schools on a daily basis.<br />
Between 1951 <strong>and</strong> 1996, the proportion <strong>of</strong><br />
Canadians aged 15 <strong>and</strong> over with less than<br />
grade nine declined from 51.9 percent to 12.1<br />
percent, while corresponding figures for those<br />
with a university degree increased from 1.9<br />
percent to 13.3 percent (Guppy <strong>and</strong> Davies,<br />
1998: 19; Statistics Canada, 2001). During<br />
this time frame, inclusiveness has been further<br />
enhanced by fiscal <strong>and</strong> administrative policies,<br />
such as the massive expansion <strong>of</strong> educational<br />
facilities <strong>and</strong> programs, <strong>and</strong> equalization<br />
schemes to transfer school funding from<br />
provincial governments to school districts.<br />
<strong>The</strong>se trends signify the powerful impact<br />
that educational growth has had for nearly all<br />
segments <strong>of</strong> the population. Some <strong>of</strong> the most<br />
positive developments are observed among<br />
groups that previously have had minimal access<br />
to the full range <strong>of</strong> educational opportunities<br />
<strong>and</strong> the social <strong>and</strong> economic benefits associated<br />
with formal credentials. <strong>The</strong> expansion <strong>of</strong> education<br />
systems <strong>and</strong> the provision <strong>of</strong> new educational<br />
<strong>and</strong> labour market opportunities has<br />
been accompanied by a gradual tendency for<br />
educational inequalities based on social origins<br />
such as class, racial background, region, <strong>and</strong><br />
most notably gender, to decline. By the end <strong>of</strong><br />
the twentieth century, for instance, women’s<br />
enrollment <strong>and</strong> attainment in nearly every level<br />
<strong>of</strong> formal education outpaced that <strong>of</strong> men,<br />
while immigrants had higher levels <strong>of</strong> education,<br />
on average, than did persons born in<br />
Canada (Guppy <strong>and</strong> Arai, 1993; Wotherspoon,<br />
2000: 259-263).<br />
<strong>The</strong>se transformations reflect the combined<br />
impact <strong>of</strong> social policy <strong>and</strong> economic<br />
<strong>and</strong> social forces. Compulsory school attendance<br />
legislation, amended over time to lower<br />
the age <strong>of</strong> school entry <strong>and</strong> raise the m<strong>and</strong>atory<br />
minimum school leaving age, has extended<br />
the period <strong>of</strong> dependency <strong>and</strong> exposure to<br />
public services for nearly all children <strong>and</strong><br />
youth. Selective immigration policy tailored<br />
increasingly to target the importation <strong>of</strong> highly<br />
qualified <strong>and</strong> skilled labour has contributed to
8<br />
<strong>The</strong> <strong>Dynamics</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Social</strong> <strong>Inclusion</strong>: <strong>Public</strong> <strong>Education</strong> <strong>and</strong> Aboriginal People in Canada<br />
rising educational attainment among immigrants,<br />
who in turn reveal high levels <strong>of</strong> investment<br />
in the education <strong>of</strong> their children.<br />
Changing occupational structures, with job<br />
growth concentrated in white collar, pr<strong>of</strong>essional<br />
<strong>and</strong> clerical positions, in conjunction<br />
with shifts in demographic <strong>and</strong> family patterns,<br />
have created unprecedented opportunities for<br />
women, immigrants, <strong>and</strong> other non-traditional<br />
labour market entrants to secure work based to<br />
a substantial extent on educational qualifications.<br />
Policies to promote the inclusion <strong>of</strong> students<br />
with physical <strong>and</strong> learning disabilities,<br />
various “stay in school” initiatives, <strong>and</strong> other<br />
programs targeted to meet the needs <strong>of</strong> “at<br />
risk” children <strong>and</strong> youth have further positioned<br />
school systems to improve both educational<br />
attainments <strong>and</strong> the quality <strong>of</strong> educational<br />
experiences among groups <strong>of</strong> learners<br />
that previously were not expected to have long<br />
educational careers. <strong>Education</strong>al programming<br />
<strong>and</strong> policy developments have also contributed<br />
to the introduction <strong>of</strong> curricula, courses, activities,<br />
<strong>and</strong> supporting resources that promote<br />
inclusion by acknowledging the needs, histories<br />
<strong>and</strong> experiences <strong>of</strong> many <strong>of</strong> these groups. In<br />
short, public schooling has made significant<br />
strides in the direction <strong>of</strong> promoting inclusion<br />
among constituencies that typically have been<br />
excluded or marginalized from full participation<br />
in schooling <strong>and</strong> thereby from the social<br />
<strong>and</strong> economic benefits arising from education.<br />
Despite these gains, it is important to<br />
recognize the presence <strong>of</strong> boundaries <strong>and</strong><br />
obstacles that limit the effectiveness <strong>of</strong> schools<br />
to operate as agencies to foster inclusion. <strong>The</strong>se<br />
include questions about who is eligible for<br />
inclusion (both into particular educational levels<br />
<strong>and</strong> practices, <strong>and</strong> through social benefits<br />
derived from schooling) <strong>and</strong> the conditions<br />
under which they can be included. Basil<br />
Bernstein (1971: 198) expresses these concerns<br />
in his succinct characterization <strong>of</strong> schooling<br />
<strong>and</strong> other institutions that contribute to socialization<br />
as “a process for making people safe.”<br />
Schools mediate citizenship, identity, values,<br />
skills, <strong>and</strong> other crucial bases <strong>of</strong> social <strong>and</strong> economic<br />
participation. Notions <strong>of</strong> who is eligible<br />
for citizenship rights, access to post-secondary<br />
education, <strong>and</strong> other social opportunities,<br />
along with expectations about the “good” citizen,<br />
student, immigrant, worker, educated person,<br />
<strong>and</strong> so on, vary from one time <strong>and</strong> place<br />
to another. Moreover, these definitions <strong>and</strong><br />
boundaries are not neutral. As the product <strong>of</strong><br />
power struggles, they typically are managed<br />
through the state or other central agencies<br />
under the guise <strong>of</strong> cultivating <strong>and</strong> maintaining<br />
stable, cohesive societies. Nonetheless, the task<br />
also involves moral <strong>and</strong> political choices or<br />
selectivity regarding the st<strong>and</strong>ards <strong>and</strong> norms<br />
that signify inclusion. This underst<strong>and</strong>ing, in<br />
the form <strong>of</strong> political accommodation to local<br />
<strong>and</strong> sectoral interests, is one <strong>of</strong> the key reasons<br />
why education in Canada was placed under the<br />
constitutional jurisdiction <strong>of</strong> provincial governments<br />
(Stamp, 1977: 31-32), a factor that will<br />
be discussed later in terms <strong>of</strong> its policy complications.<br />
Claims made by several groups, supported<br />
in many cases by substantial evidence, highlight<br />
the continuing presence within schooling<br />
<strong>of</strong> dynamics <strong>and</strong> outcomes associated with<br />
social exclusion rather than inclusion.<br />
Important educational programs, <strong>and</strong> the occupational<br />
paths that they lead to, remain<br />
marked by segregation <strong>and</strong> inequalities <strong>of</strong> gender<br />
<strong>and</strong> class. First Nations <strong>and</strong> other<br />
Aboriginal people highlight the presence <strong>of</strong> a<br />
significant “education gap” in their experiences,<br />
linked, in turn, with both employment <strong>and</strong><br />
income gaps marked by restricted opportunities<br />
to gain access to important social <strong>and</strong> economic<br />
positions relative to the general population.<br />
Recent immigrant groups <strong>and</strong> visible<br />
minority Canadians advocate aggressive antiracist<br />
education strategies in order to overcome<br />
persistent, sometimes covert, forms <strong>of</strong> racism
PERSPECTIVES ON SOCIAL INCLUSION<br />
9<br />
<strong>and</strong> educational <strong>and</strong> occupational discrimination.<br />
Many educators <strong>and</strong> parents <strong>of</strong> special<br />
needs students point to the failure <strong>of</strong> integration<br />
strategies to ensure that education will<br />
<strong>of</strong>fer these students a proper grounding for<br />
equitable life chances. Frustrations over the lack<br />
<strong>of</strong> educational options for vocational training<br />
<strong>and</strong> post-secondary education expressed by<br />
community members in remote areas <strong>and</strong> small<br />
towns are intensified as elementary <strong>and</strong> secondary<br />
schools are shut down or consolidated.<br />
Children <strong>and</strong> youth, in general, have few<br />
opportunities to participate in educational<br />
decision-making or to promote the introduction<br />
<strong>of</strong> curricula that are meaningful to their<br />
immediate circumstances (Federation <strong>of</strong><br />
Saskatchewan Indian Nations, 1997: 87-90;<br />
Guppy <strong>and</strong> Davies, 1998: 61ff.; Wotherspoon,<br />
1998a: 137-138; Wotherspoon, 1998b: 162-<br />
192; Wotherspoon, 2000).<br />
<strong>Education</strong> systems, then, are marked by<br />
dynamics that contribute variously to both<br />
social inclusion <strong>and</strong> exclusion. Before these<br />
processes are examined with reference to their<br />
differential impact on specific groups <strong>of</strong> children<br />
<strong>and</strong> youth (<strong>and</strong> Aboriginal people in particular),<br />
it is useful to draw attention to some<br />
<strong>of</strong> the main contextual factors that affect the<br />
relative ability education systems have to<br />
respond to particular groups, needs or interests.<br />
<strong>The</strong> Creation <strong>of</strong> Inclusive “Spaces” within <strong>Education</strong>al Environments<br />
Elementary <strong>and</strong> secondary education has<br />
been characterized by some commentators<br />
as one <strong>of</strong> the two remaining major<br />
universal social programs in Canada (see, e.g.,<br />
Rice <strong>and</strong> Prince, 2000: 169). However, public<br />
education, like its counterpart, medicare, is in<br />
jeopardy <strong>of</strong> having that status undermined as<br />
funding decisions, lobbying by selected interests,<br />
<strong>and</strong> parental decisions place pressures on<br />
provincial/territorial governments to provide<br />
support for private schooling, charter schools,<br />
<strong>and</strong> other alternatives to the public school system.<br />
<strong>The</strong> normative <strong>and</strong> substantive dimensions<br />
<strong>of</strong> debates over public versus private<br />
schooling, <strong>and</strong> the impact <strong>of</strong> each type <strong>of</strong><br />
schooling, carry tremendous significance for<br />
questions related to social inclusion.<br />
<strong>The</strong> achievement <strong>of</strong> truly inclusive<br />
schools, in recognition <strong>of</strong> these circumstances,<br />
warrants attention to several interdependent<br />
areas <strong>of</strong> concern, covering several policy <strong>and</strong><br />
administrative domains. Freiler (2001) develops<br />
a framework in which social inclusion is<br />
understood in terms <strong>of</strong> the complex interplay<br />
among four overlapping dimensions:<br />
spatial/locational (involving social <strong>and</strong> physical<br />
boundaries, social distance, <strong>and</strong> public spaces),<br />
relational (involving social <strong>and</strong> personal relationships,<br />
notions <strong>of</strong> self in relation to others,<br />
recognition, <strong>and</strong> solidarity), functional/developmental<br />
(involving processes <strong>of</strong> human development<br />
<strong>and</strong> capabilty enhancement); <strong>and</strong><br />
political (involving power, participation, <strong>and</strong><br />
agency). Virtually all <strong>of</strong> these dimensions <strong>and</strong><br />
elements interact with one another within education<br />
<strong>and</strong> the social arrangements within<br />
which schooling operates.<br />
Ideologies <strong>and</strong> practices that emphasize<br />
individuality <strong>and</strong> competition pose dangers to<br />
schooling’s ability to ensure that all children<br />
have access to sufficient resources <strong>and</strong> opportunities<br />
for meaningful participation in critical<br />
spheres <strong>of</strong> contemporary social life. This<br />
underst<strong>and</strong>ing builds upon a rights- or capability-based<br />
notion <strong>of</strong> inclusion based on full<br />
integration into social participation, to encom-
10<br />
<strong>The</strong> <strong>Dynamics</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Social</strong> <strong>Inclusion</strong>: <strong>Public</strong> <strong>Education</strong> <strong>and</strong> Aboriginal People in Canada<br />
pass substantive concerns that people will have<br />
real prospects to achieve meaningful work,<br />
experience an adequate quality <strong>of</strong> life, <strong>and</strong> have<br />
individual <strong>and</strong> community autonomy to make<br />
important life decisions.<br />
Most school participants, once they overcome<br />
initial anxieties or doubts they may have<br />
about going to school or entering new classroom<br />
environments, accept schooling as a central<br />
part <strong>of</strong> the unquestioned daily routine <strong>of</strong><br />
their early life experience. However, schools<br />
can reinforce, or be in their own rights,<br />
uncomfortable or unwelcome environments for<br />
many children <strong>and</strong> youth. Schools that do not<br />
function as inclusive “spaces” which actively<br />
ensure that participants are engaged with a<br />
sense <strong>of</strong> well-being can function as barriers to<br />
social participation <strong>and</strong> contribute to social<br />
exclusion.<br />
Issues about the kinds <strong>of</strong> “spaces” that<br />
schools are tend to be most prominent when<br />
associated with explosive phenomena like bullying,<br />
victimization or violence. Although <strong>of</strong>ten<br />
posed in graphic terms around rising public<br />
concern about youth crime <strong>and</strong> diminishing<br />
school discipline, these problems have also<br />
drawn attention to the role that safe <strong>and</strong> supportive<br />
physical environments play as a precondition<br />
for cognitive <strong>and</strong> social learning (Craig,<br />
Peters <strong>and</strong> Konarski, 1998; Schissel, 1997).<br />
Just as family <strong>and</strong> community environments<br />
are critical sites that, ideally, allow children to<br />
develop their identities <strong>and</strong> gain competence to<br />
make choices <strong>and</strong> function effectively in varied<br />
social situations, schools are expected to complement<br />
<strong>and</strong> extend these by exposing children<br />
to new experiences <strong>and</strong> capabilities. Children<br />
require <strong>and</strong> look to schools as sites that provide<br />
safe spaces that will facilitate social activity <strong>and</strong><br />
learning in the absence <strong>of</strong> threats to their physical<br />
<strong>and</strong> emotional well-being.<br />
In its most blatant forms (such as the<br />
residential schooling experience for earlier generations<br />
<strong>of</strong> Aboriginal people, that will be commented<br />
on later), schooling has sometimes represented<br />
a hostile presence in the lives <strong>and</strong><br />
communities <strong>of</strong> selected social groups.<br />
However, there are several variants in the manner<br />
in which schools can fail to be safe or<br />
inclusive spaces for other participants. <strong>The</strong>se<br />
processes can be visible <strong>and</strong> direct. For example,<br />
students may be subjected to verbal taunting<br />
or threats, or singled out based on their<br />
appearance, dress or mannerisms; schools may<br />
be located in neighbourhoods in which many<br />
children have to walk through unsafe areas (or,<br />
conversely, students may be forced to attend<br />
schools in environments in which they are perceived<br />
as outsiders); while curricula, materials<br />
or discussions may perpetuate gender or racial<br />
stereotypes. Mechanisms that exclude, isolate,<br />
or pose threats to children <strong>and</strong> youth, though,<br />
tend to have a powerful impact when they are<br />
indirect or less visible. Class, gender <strong>and</strong> racial<br />
segmentation typically are reinforced through<br />
practices <strong>and</strong> signals conveyed in administrative<br />
arrangements, classroom organization, student<br />
placement <strong>and</strong> assessment procedures,<br />
<strong>and</strong> many other supposedly neutral aspects <strong>of</strong><br />
the shcooling process. Proponents <strong>of</strong> anti-racist<br />
education, for instance, demonstrate that racial<br />
discrimination is reinforced when schools do<br />
not adopt a more active stance to combat<br />
underlying structural mechanisms that lead to<br />
systemic disadvantage (Dei et al., 2000).<br />
Silencing is one <strong>of</strong> the most serious exclusionary<br />
processes within schooling. Through<br />
silencing, selected issues are left out <strong>of</strong> classroom<br />
consideration relative to curricular matters<br />
regarded as more valid or legitimate, or else<br />
positions or circumstances that are central to<br />
participants’ lives are undermined or ignored<br />
(Wotherspoon, 1998b: 95-97). School knowledge<br />
is typically presented to students as part<br />
<strong>of</strong> a natural or universally-sanctioned order<br />
rather than as something that has been selected<br />
from a range <strong>of</strong> options. Contemporary educa-
PERSPECTIVES ON SOCIAL INCLUSION<br />
11<br />
tors have become increasingly sensitive to the<br />
need for discussion, critical reflection <strong>and</strong><br />
diverse curricular materials that reflect currency<br />
with relevant issues. Still, many topics, such as<br />
poverty, sexuality, racism, cultural diversity, or<br />
even social inclusion/exclusion themselves, are<br />
dismissed as being too controversial, or else<br />
incorporated into schooling in an incidental<br />
manner. However, children <strong>and</strong> youth <strong>of</strong> nearly<br />
all ages tend to be highly aware <strong>of</strong> <strong>and</strong> interested<br />
in these concerns, in many cases reflecting<br />
life conditions that affect their identities,<br />
school participation, <strong>and</strong> ability to connect<br />
schooling with life beyond school.<br />
Practices linked to silencing also affect the<br />
relative ability <strong>of</strong> particular groups to represent<br />
themselves within schooling <strong>and</strong> educational<br />
decision-making. Children <strong>and</strong> youth are rarely<br />
accorded a voice in making crucial decisions<br />
about how schools are organized, what kinds <strong>of</strong><br />
programs are <strong>of</strong>fered, <strong>and</strong> in the determination<br />
<strong>of</strong> priorities to guide future educational planning.<br />
Children’s interests may be selectively<br />
served when parents <strong>and</strong> community members<br />
from minority backgrounds feel ill-equipped,<br />
lack confidence, or encounter language, social<br />
class, fiscal, or cultural barriers in approaching<br />
teachers <strong>and</strong> school <strong>of</strong>ficials. Patterns <strong>of</strong> political<br />
representation on school boards, legislative<br />
assemblies, <strong>and</strong> other key educational decisionmaking<br />
bodies also reveal significant under-representation,<br />
<strong>and</strong> therefore absence <strong>of</strong> effective<br />
voice, among the poor, Aboriginal people, visible<br />
minorities, recent immigrants, <strong>and</strong> other<br />
minority groups.<br />
Schools’ failure to take these matters seriously<br />
can produce two interrelated kinds <strong>of</strong><br />
responses. First, students from backgrounds<br />
that are not acknowledged or validated in the<br />
delivery <strong>of</strong> curriculum <strong>and</strong> other educational<br />
services may interpret their own identities, families<br />
or communities in terms <strong>of</strong> a deficit, leading<br />
either to uncertainty <strong>and</strong> confusion about<br />
their home environment or to personalization<br />
<strong>of</strong> failure or effort without any broader social<br />
support. Second, disillusionment with or disengagement<br />
from educational processes may follow<br />
as students or their parents come to view<br />
schooling as irrelevant or unsympathetic to<br />
their lives <strong>and</strong> interests.<br />
By contrast, there are advantages beyond<br />
simply keeping children interested in <strong>and</strong><br />
attending school when educational practices are<br />
based upon acceptance <strong>of</strong> students’ backgrounds<br />
<strong>and</strong> needs. <strong>The</strong>re is growing awareness<br />
<strong>of</strong> what Livingstone (1999) calls the “icebergs”<br />
<strong>of</strong> hidden informal learning activities, skills <strong>and</strong><br />
capacities for which people are not given formal<br />
credit or recognition. <strong>The</strong>re has been<br />
recent impetus towards acknowledging more<br />
formally some <strong>of</strong> these capabilities as employers<br />
look more selectively at matching particular<br />
skill sets with potential workers, <strong>and</strong> as individuals<br />
become more enterprising in their search<br />
for social <strong>and</strong> economic opportunities. Such<br />
initiatives include Prior Learning Assessment<br />
<strong>and</strong> Recognition programs, movements to<br />
acknowledge <strong>and</strong> advance indigenous knowledge<br />
systems, <strong>and</strong> more liberal assessments <strong>of</strong><br />
credentials held by foreign-trained individuals.<br />
However, these processes remain selective <strong>and</strong><br />
incomplete, tending to privilege those groups<br />
that have sufficient resources or organizational<br />
capacity to assert their cases. Moreover, limited<br />
attention so far has been paid by educators,<br />
policy-makers <strong>and</strong> researchers to the hidden<br />
reserves <strong>of</strong> knowledge <strong>and</strong> capabilities that children<br />
<strong>and</strong> youth possess, both in general, <strong>and</strong><br />
especially among minorities <strong>and</strong> other groups<br />
that are considered to be “at risk” for various<br />
reasons. Attentiveness to these issues <strong>of</strong>fers<br />
schools the opportunity to provide curricula,<br />
assessment <strong>and</strong> programming reforms built<br />
around a broader, rather than narrower, range<br />
<strong>of</strong> competencies <strong>and</strong> expectations.<br />
In summary, many <strong>of</strong> the difficulties<br />
that students encounter or bring with them<br />
into schools are situational <strong>and</strong> temporary.
12<br />
<strong>The</strong> <strong>Dynamics</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Social</strong> <strong>Inclusion</strong>: <strong>Public</strong> <strong>Education</strong> <strong>and</strong> Aboriginal People in Canada<br />
However, both direct threats to student wellbeing<br />
<strong>and</strong> less visible but systemic processes <strong>of</strong><br />
marginalization <strong>and</strong> exclusion constitute for<br />
many children <strong>and</strong> youth serious impediments<br />
to their longer-term socioeconomic participation<br />
<strong>and</strong> entitlement. Obviously, the broad<br />
range <strong>of</strong> potential problem factors, combined<br />
with the diversity <strong>of</strong> students in most Canadian<br />
school jurisdictions, make it difficult for school<br />
authorities to monitor <strong>and</strong> respond to all possible<br />
instances <strong>of</strong> student exclusion. Nonetheless,<br />
it is crucial that social inclusion in schooling be<br />
approached proactively, reaching beyond the<br />
most obvious factors like encouragement <strong>of</strong><br />
student involvement in particular activities <strong>and</strong><br />
programs.<br />
What is required is an orientation to all<br />
school-related activities that begins by validating,<br />
<strong>and</strong> responding to the social circumstances<br />
<strong>of</strong>, the students <strong>and</strong> communities served by the<br />
schools. This point is highlighted in literature<br />
on “exemplary schools,” where it is demonstrated<br />
that there is no single formula or template<br />
to determine school success. Nonetheless, the<br />
most effective schools are those that do much<br />
more than fulfill their basic academic, developmental,<br />
affective, <strong>and</strong> credential-related m<strong>and</strong>ates.<br />
Significantly, they are repeatedly<br />
described as places imbued with characteristics<br />
like “spirit <strong>of</strong> caring,” “warmth <strong>and</strong> openness,”<br />
an “ethos <strong>of</strong> belonging <strong>and</strong> support,” <strong>and</strong><br />
opportunities for student <strong>and</strong> community voice<br />
(Gaskell, 1995: 85; Renihan et al., 1994: 100).<br />
<strong>The</strong> importance <strong>of</strong> these dimensions is illustrated,<br />
below, in a discussion <strong>of</strong> the dynamics<br />
<strong>of</strong> inclusion <strong>and</strong> exculsion with reference to<br />
Aboriginal people.<br />
Inclusive Schooling: Canada’s Aboriginal People<br />
Aboriginal people’s relationships with<br />
formal schooling provide an instructive<br />
case study for the examination <strong>of</strong> some<br />
<strong>of</strong> the central dynamics <strong>of</strong> inclusion <strong>and</strong> exclusion<br />
discussed so far. <strong>Education</strong> continues to<br />
hold a paradoxical status for many Aboriginal<br />
people. It has figured prominently in their historical<br />
subordination <strong>and</strong> marginalization relative<br />
to other Canadians, yet it is looked upon<br />
as a central vehicle for successful integration<br />
into mainstream <strong>and</strong> self-governed enterprises.<br />
Aboriginal people experience incidences associated<br />
with “disadvantage,” such as rates <strong>of</strong><br />
poverty, child poverty, unemployment, low<br />
income <strong>and</strong> education, disability, single parenthood,<br />
<strong>and</strong> homelessness, that are far in excess<br />
<strong>of</strong> Canadian averages (Royal Commission on<br />
Aboriginal Peoples, 1996; Ontario Federation<br />
<strong>of</strong> Friendship Centres, 2000; Federation <strong>of</strong><br />
Saskatchewan Indian Nations, 1997). Caution<br />
must be exercised in these kinds <strong>of</strong> observations;<br />
Aboriginal people, like other Canadians,<br />
reflect considerable diversity in their legal status,<br />
social backgrounds, identities, interests,<br />
experiences, <strong>and</strong> aspirations, <strong>and</strong> there are dangers<br />
that overemphasis on selective indicators<br />
can perpetuate negative stereotypes <strong>and</strong> stigmatization.<br />
Nonetheless, distinctive features <strong>of</strong> the<br />
collective historical <strong>and</strong> contemporary circumstances<br />
among the indigenous population <strong>of</strong>fer<br />
an opportunity to consider some <strong>of</strong> the more<br />
complex (<strong>and</strong> not always clearly defined) issues<br />
<strong>and</strong> lessons that arise through efforts to underst<strong>and</strong><br />
<strong>and</strong> foster social inclusion. Four major<br />
themes will be highlighted in this section – the<br />
potential for socially inclusive strategies to produce<br />
exclusion; the need to acknowledge divergent<br />
educational jurisdictions; the preconditions<br />
for inclusive schooling; <strong>and</strong> the linkages<br />
between schools <strong>and</strong> other social settings.
PERSPECTIVES ON SOCIAL INCLUSION<br />
13<br />
<strong>The</strong> experience <strong>of</strong> residential schooling<br />
among Canada’s Aboriginal population provides<br />
one <strong>of</strong> the most obvious examples <strong>of</strong> how<br />
schools’ failure to provide a supportive environment<br />
has contributed to a legacy <strong>of</strong> social marginalization<br />
<strong>and</strong> economic exclusion. <strong>The</strong><br />
irony, <strong>of</strong> course, is that residential schooling<br />
was implemented as part <strong>of</strong> the federal government’s<br />
policy to assimilate or integrate the<br />
indigenous population – at least at a superficial<br />
level – into Canadian social identities <strong>and</strong><br />
institutions. Within the wider policy framework,<br />
practices like “enfranchisement” were<br />
accompanied by bans on cultural ceremonies<br />
<strong>and</strong> strict regulation <strong>of</strong> everyday life with the<br />
intent to create people who were effectively no<br />
longer “Indian” (Satzewich <strong>and</strong> Wotherspoon,<br />
2000). Children were separated, physically <strong>and</strong><br />
culturally, from their families <strong>and</strong> community<br />
influences in order to expose them to norms,<br />
behaviours, <strong>and</strong> patterns oriented to conventional<br />
social <strong>and</strong> economic success. Despite<br />
some countervailing instances, the dominant<br />
outcome <strong>of</strong> residential schooling has been the<br />
damage the process has inflicted, accompanied<br />
by frequent physical, sexual <strong>and</strong> emotional<br />
abuse, to both individual lives <strong>and</strong> subsequent<br />
family <strong>and</strong> community relationships (Miller,<br />
1996). <strong>The</strong> schools were actively engaged in a<br />
process to undermine or eradicate First Nations<br />
languages <strong>and</strong> heritages, utilizing measures like<br />
curricula <strong>and</strong> work requirements, continual<br />
surveillance, rigid daily regimes, harsh discipline<br />
<strong>and</strong> punishment, <strong>and</strong> separation <strong>of</strong> children<br />
from their parents <strong>and</strong> siblings. Only<br />
recently has sustained attention been paid to<br />
the ensuing cultural dissociation or confusion,<br />
with many school survivors <strong>and</strong> their children<br />
plagued by disturbing personal life experiences<br />
<strong>and</strong> unstable family dynamics induced by the<br />
residential school process (Royal Commission<br />
on Aboriginal Peoples, 1996). <strong>The</strong> residential<br />
schooling experience <strong>of</strong>fers a key lesson, for an<br />
underst<strong>and</strong>ing <strong>of</strong> social inclusion, as to how<br />
potentially damaging consequences can follow<br />
extensive separation between schooling (<strong>and</strong><br />
the society it represents) <strong>and</strong> supportive social<br />
contexts required to ground children’s identity,<br />
development <strong>and</strong> future orientations. It is<br />
against this backdrop that terms like healing<br />
<strong>and</strong> self-determination reappear as prominent<br />
features in the various initiatives Aboriginal<br />
people have engaged in as they seek to reconstruct<br />
<strong>and</strong> build hope for their lives <strong>and</strong> communities.<br />
Many observers, even if they do not<br />
dispute the negative assessment <strong>of</strong> residential<br />
schools’ legacy, may dismiss this experience as<br />
an extreme <strong>and</strong> isolated case. <strong>The</strong>se issues,<br />
though, do carry implications for other current<br />
educational policy debates. Multicultural, linguistic<br />
<strong>and</strong> race-relations practices tend to be<br />
premised on assumptions that cultural preservation<br />
has only a limited place in schools <strong>and</strong><br />
other public agencies. Additional programs<br />
(such as English or French language training,<br />
or life skills courses) intended to foster inclusion<br />
receive far less attention <strong>and</strong> resources<br />
than they require to be effective <strong>and</strong> equitable.<br />
Consequently, many students – <strong>of</strong>ten immigrants,<br />
those from poor working class families,<br />
core inner-city neigbourhoods, or residents <strong>of</strong><br />
remote rural areas – find that schooling simultaneously<br />
separates them from their familial<br />
environments <strong>and</strong> fails to <strong>of</strong>fer them the literacy<br />
or academic skills that are critical for full<br />
social <strong>and</strong> economic participation (Corson,<br />
2000: 173-178).<br />
In addition to these kinds <strong>of</strong> difficulties,<br />
Aboriginal people frequently encounter schooling<br />
as a threatening force because <strong>of</strong> its powers<br />
as a colonizing force. This is not always evident<br />
ins<strong>of</strong>ar as contemporary Aboriginal children<br />
<strong>and</strong> youth are presented with a distinctly different,<br />
<strong>and</strong> broader, range <strong>of</strong> educational<br />
options <strong>and</strong> circumstances than those that were<br />
available to residential school survivors. Two<br />
parallel developments <strong>of</strong>fer Aboriginal people<br />
prospects for improved educational participa-
14<br />
<strong>The</strong> <strong>Dynamics</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Social</strong> <strong>Inclusion</strong>: <strong>Public</strong> <strong>Education</strong> <strong>and</strong> Aboriginal People in Canada<br />
tion <strong>and</strong> achievement, through the emergence<br />
<strong>of</strong> First Nations self-government, including<br />
b<strong>and</strong>-controlled schooling, along with new initiatives<br />
in response to the growth <strong>of</strong> Aboriginal<br />
student populations in provincial <strong>and</strong> territorial<br />
schools.<br />
Preliminary evidence from b<strong>and</strong>-controlled<br />
schooling <strong>of</strong>fers reasons to be moderately<br />
optimistic. Overall trends reveal that<br />
Aboriginal controlled schools have yielded<br />
improved student attendance <strong>and</strong> outcomes, an<br />
increased sense <strong>of</strong> participation <strong>and</strong> ownership<br />
among community members, <strong>and</strong> innovative,<br />
culturally-sensitive programming (Royal<br />
Commission on Aboriginal Peoples, 1996).<br />
<strong>The</strong>se outcomes are enhancing students’<br />
opportunities to participate in work <strong>and</strong> further<br />
education in both First Nations <strong>and</strong> non-<br />
Aboriginal settings. However, First Nations<br />
education is not problem-free, reflecting a<br />
range <strong>of</strong> difficulties - fiscal, ideological, organizational,<br />
<strong>and</strong> political - arising from a combination<br />
<strong>of</strong> factors both within <strong>and</strong> outside <strong>of</strong><br />
Aboriginal communities. <strong>The</strong> “l<strong>and</strong>scape” is<br />
thus one characterized by Castellano, Davis<br />
<strong>and</strong> Lahache (2000: 251) as one “in which<br />
hope <strong>and</strong> possibility live side by side with constraint<br />
<strong>and</strong> frustration.”<br />
Broader debates <strong>and</strong> developments concerning<br />
self-government are also important.<br />
Failure to acknowledge or underst<strong>and</strong> the distinct<br />
legal <strong>and</strong> historical status <strong>of</strong> First Nations<br />
people <strong>and</strong> Aboriginal rights has led some<br />
groups to challenge self-government initiatives,<br />
<strong>and</strong> others to present competing claims for<br />
parallel recognition <strong>of</strong> private schools or agencies<br />
based upon religion, ethnicity, <strong>and</strong> other<br />
bases <strong>of</strong> social distinction. Some critics have<br />
suggested that self-government will contribute<br />
to the balkanization <strong>of</strong> Canada, or the creation<br />
<strong>of</strong> racially-based cycles <strong>of</strong> segregation <strong>and</strong><br />
dependency (Flanagan, 2000).<br />
It is clear that efforts to define <strong>and</strong><br />
achieve effective self-government are beset by<br />
considerable uncertainty <strong>and</strong> many problems.<br />
In its most extreme manifestations, b<strong>and</strong>-controlled<br />
schooling, along with other forms <strong>of</strong><br />
self-determination, could contribute to fragmentation<br />
<strong>and</strong> barriers to the extent that<br />
notions <strong>of</strong> Aboriginal “distinctiveness” override<br />
the capacity to be engaged within<br />
Canadian society more generally. In practice,<br />
however, Aboriginal people tend to approach<br />
self-determination as a strategy by which they<br />
can regain control over <strong>and</strong> stabilize their lives,<br />
identities <strong>and</strong> communities. Its intent is directed<br />
not at separation <strong>and</strong> self-exclusion, but<br />
constitutes instead a vital part <strong>of</strong> a process <strong>of</strong><br />
decolonization that is a precondition to ensure<br />
their broader participation in central social<br />
institutions (Battiste, 2000). Aboriginal rights,<br />
self-government <strong>and</strong> control <strong>of</strong> education, in<br />
these regards, may be understood more appropriately<br />
in terms <strong>of</strong> the case that Cairns (2000:<br />
9) makes for a conception <strong>of</strong> “citizens plus,” a<br />
notion that “recognizes the Aboriginal difference<br />
fashioned by history <strong>and</strong> the continuing<br />
desire to resist submergence <strong>and</strong> also recognizes<br />
our need to feel that we belong to each other.”<br />
<strong>The</strong> distinct status <strong>of</strong> indigenous or<br />
Aboriginal rights, in this respect, is <strong>of</strong> a different<br />
order than the case made by proponents <strong>of</strong><br />
school “choice” for public support for options<br />
like private or charter schools. <strong>The</strong> latter case is<br />
parallel to debates over the merits <strong>of</strong> a two-tier<br />
health care system, where the focus is less on<br />
the guarantee that basic services will be provided<br />
for persons who have been denied them,<br />
than on the availability <strong>of</strong> specific types <strong>of</strong><br />
alternatives. Unlike self-government, these<br />
alternatives carry with them the risk <strong>of</strong> promoting<br />
exclusion from the top. That is, public<br />
systems potentially may be undermined<br />
through self-selection out by those who can<br />
afford to pay for higher quality services or who<br />
opt to send their children to higher ranked<br />
schools (Klasen, 1999: 14-15). Aboriginal
PERSPECTIVES ON SOCIAL INCLUSION<br />
15<br />
rights, by contrast, have a distinct legal basis<br />
grounded in the realities <strong>of</strong> indigenous people<br />
as “first peoples” with historic occupancy <strong>and</strong><br />
use <strong>of</strong> established l<strong>and</strong>s, combined with distinctive<br />
social, cultural <strong>and</strong> economic formations.<br />
Culturally-appropriate schooling, in<br />
these regards, becomes a vital way by which<br />
indigenous people are able to regain a sense <strong>of</strong><br />
their own heritage <strong>and</strong> identities, as a critical<br />
precondition for their ability to achieve <strong>and</strong><br />
employ citizenship <strong>and</strong> social rights that they<br />
have been denied through longer term colonization<br />
processes.<br />
It is essential to acknowledge, as well, that<br />
while a majority <strong>of</strong> First Nations students now<br />
attend b<strong>and</strong>-controlled schools, most children<br />
<strong>and</strong> youth <strong>of</strong> Aboriginal ancestry (including<br />
non-status, Métis, <strong>and</strong> some First Nations people,<br />
especially those living <strong>of</strong>f-reserve) remain<br />
in provincial or territorial schools.<br />
Acknowledgement <strong>of</strong> past failures, combined<br />
with political pressure from Aboriginal communities,<br />
has led many school systems to<br />
introduce programs <strong>and</strong> initiatives intended to<br />
improve their ability to <strong>of</strong>fer appropriate educational<br />
services for Aboriginal constituencies.<br />
However, there is a continuing uneasiness as<br />
indigenous people remain sensitive to the likelihood<br />
that their heritage is posed in many<br />
ways as a barrier to mainstream success.<br />
Aboriginal children <strong>and</strong> their parents point to<br />
racism <strong>and</strong> discrimination, schools’ limited<br />
ability to acknowledge <strong>and</strong> address their heritage,<br />
lack <strong>of</strong> educational attention to contemporary<br />
life conditions, <strong>and</strong> constrained postschool<br />
opportunities in many <strong>of</strong> their communities<br />
as recurrent obstacles to full social participation<br />
<strong>and</strong> inclusion (Royal Commission on<br />
Aboriginal Peoples, 1996; Wotherspoon <strong>and</strong><br />
Schissel, 2000a). As a result, they <strong>of</strong>ten experience<br />
in their homes <strong>and</strong> communities a lingering<br />
distrust <strong>of</strong> schools <strong>and</strong> other public institutions.<br />
<strong>The</strong>se processes provide strong evidence<br />
that inclusive education cannot simply be<br />
achieved by dismantling or overcoming exclusionary<br />
practices. <strong>The</strong> achievement <strong>of</strong> an inclusive<br />
“space” requires conditions in which children<br />
<strong>and</strong> youth, <strong>and</strong> their parents, feel comfortable<br />
to become fully engaged as participants<br />
rather than received as outsiders or<br />
clients. <strong>The</strong> extent to which they are socially<br />
included depends upon the opportunities they<br />
are afforded “to create or reclaim relations <strong>of</strong><br />
connection” with their heritage, communities,<br />
<strong>and</strong> independence (Monture-Angus, 1999: 9-<br />
11). Schools need, in these regards, to<br />
acknowledge <strong>and</strong> incorporate elements <strong>of</strong> the<br />
students’ cultures <strong>and</strong> knowledge systems, <strong>and</strong><br />
to ensure that appropriate teachers <strong>and</strong> other<br />
personnel, including those <strong>of</strong> Aboriginal ancestry,<br />
are present as role models, mentors, <strong>and</strong><br />
agents who can respond to student needs.<br />
A broader underst<strong>and</strong>ing <strong>of</strong> culture is<br />
necessary in these regards, so that the daily<br />
lives <strong>and</strong> concerns <strong>of</strong> students (regardless <strong>of</strong><br />
their racial or social backgrounds) become a<br />
central element in what is taught, how it is<br />
taught, <strong>and</strong> how school is organized. Two<br />
interrelated aspects <strong>of</strong> Aboriginal “culture” can<br />
be drawn upon to illustrate these points.<br />
First, it is instructive to appreciate the<br />
view within Aboriginal knowledge systems that<br />
children are sacred or “on loan” to families <strong>and</strong><br />
communities. Children, therefore, become central<br />
to networks <strong>of</strong> mutual obligation <strong>and</strong> support,<br />
in common with other indigenous<br />
knowledge systems as conveyed in expressions<br />
such as the widely-employed African notion<br />
that “it takes a village to grow a child.” <strong>The</strong><br />
child is not commodified as “property” subject<br />
to the investment decisions <strong>of</strong> any individual<br />
or couple but is regarded, instead, as a collective<br />
resource or gift. <strong>The</strong> ascendancy <strong>of</strong> more<br />
individualistic or privatized conceptions <strong>of</strong><br />
childhood <strong>and</strong> child development is accompanied<br />
by the destruction <strong>of</strong> community social<br />
relationships built around indigenous concep-
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<strong>The</strong> <strong>Dynamics</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Social</strong> <strong>Inclusion</strong>: <strong>Public</strong> <strong>Education</strong> <strong>and</strong> Aboriginal People in Canada<br />
tions <strong>of</strong> childhood, family <strong>and</strong> society. <strong>The</strong>se<br />
processes create not only a conceptual break<br />
that may be jarring to family members, but<br />
may lead, more seriously, to deeper problems<br />
that accompany the loss <strong>of</strong> social foundations.<br />
In this regard, a second culture-related<br />
issue gains significance, in the sense that<br />
Aboriginal communities contend with personal,<br />
material <strong>and</strong> social circumstances that are<br />
sometimes dismissed simply as individual or<br />
cultural pathologies. Pressing concerns like substance<br />
abuse, teen pregnancy, racism, violence,<br />
“street” issues, <strong>and</strong> the struggle to attain adequate<br />
housing <strong>and</strong> safe water supplies dominate<br />
the lives <strong>of</strong> students, their family members <strong>and</strong><br />
associates in many Aboriginal communities.<br />
However, schools frequently ignore or marginalize<br />
the immediacy <strong>of</strong> these matters, sometimes<br />
in order to avoid their highly controversial<br />
nature. <strong>The</strong>y are subordinated to curricula<br />
<strong>and</strong> class discussions that are posed in more<br />
general, abstract <strong>and</strong> remote terms, <strong>and</strong> isolated<br />
through special personnel <strong>and</strong> services that further<br />
stigmatize <strong>and</strong> marginalize selected students<br />
by requiring them periodically to leave<br />
the school, classroom or even community.<br />
Clearly, many <strong>of</strong> these problems require attention<br />
in the form <strong>of</strong> targeted resources, services,<br />
<strong>and</strong> special program initiatives in the school<br />
<strong>and</strong> other sites. However, they must also be<br />
acknowledged <strong>and</strong> integrated more directly as<br />
core issues in both classroom activities <strong>and</strong><br />
educational planning.<br />
<strong>The</strong> distance between school <strong>and</strong> community,<br />
<strong>and</strong> therefore the possibility that students<br />
will feel <strong>and</strong> become excluded, increases when<br />
the school “world” is divorced from, <strong>and</strong> privileged<br />
over, the “worlds” that students bring<br />
with them <strong>and</strong> return to outside <strong>of</strong> school.<br />
<strong>The</strong>se are not strictly curricular matters. Many<br />
successful schools have responded to their students’<br />
needs through innovations like the<br />
implementation <strong>of</strong> flexible timetable or assignment<br />
schedules, improved school accessibility<br />
to pupils who arrive at different times during<br />
the school year, encouragement for students to<br />
discuss everyday life matters in non-threatening<br />
class environments, youth leadership programs,<br />
<strong>and</strong> active programs to incorporate elders <strong>and</strong><br />
other cultural resource persons within daily<br />
school life. Although structural changes are<br />
<strong>of</strong>ten necessary, schools can also have a significant<br />
positive impact on students’ school experiences<br />
<strong>and</strong> longer-term trajectories by making<br />
even small modifications. <strong>The</strong> key for success is<br />
to ensure that the “worlds” <strong>of</strong> school <strong>and</strong> student<br />
life are complementary <strong>and</strong> integrated<br />
rather than in opposition to one another.<br />
<strong>The</strong> <strong>Social</strong>ly Inclusive School: Implications for <strong>Education</strong>al Practice<br />
This paper has been guided by questions<br />
concerning the relationships among the<br />
dynamics <strong>of</strong> social inclusion <strong>and</strong> exclusion<br />
(as both concepts <strong>and</strong> social processes),<br />
public schooling, <strong>and</strong> selected groups <strong>of</strong> children<br />
<strong>and</strong> youth served by public schooling.<br />
Key factors that variously contribute to, or<br />
impede the development <strong>of</strong>, inclusive schooling<br />
are summarized below. <strong>The</strong> paper concludes<br />
with a brief discussion <strong>of</strong> policy factors that<br />
follow from these issues.<br />
It is argued that themes related to the<br />
analysis <strong>of</strong> social inclusion <strong>and</strong> exclusion, both<br />
in general <strong>and</strong> with respect to schooling, reflect<br />
contradictory meanings <strong>and</strong> dimensions in<br />
relation to the social contexts in which these<br />
discourses have emerged as central concerns.<br />
Consideration has been given, as well, to how<br />
dynamics within public schooling have contributed<br />
to differential forms <strong>and</strong> degrees <strong>of</strong>
PERSPECTIVES ON SOCIAL INCLUSION<br />
17<br />
inclusion <strong>and</strong> exclusion for children <strong>and</strong> youth<br />
from diverse social backgrounds, with explicit<br />
reference to critical aspects <strong>of</strong> Aboriginal people’s<br />
experiences with schooling.<br />
Implicit in this discussion is the recognition<br />
that notions <strong>of</strong> inclusion <strong>and</strong> exclusion,<br />
understood broadly as processes linked to<br />
active social participation <strong>and</strong> access to meaningful<br />
resources <strong>and</strong> opportunities, are useful<br />
signposts for assessing the ability <strong>of</strong> public<br />
education systems to achieve their major objectives.<br />
This general underst<strong>and</strong>ing, it is<br />
acknowledged, must not st<strong>and</strong> as a substitute<br />
for attentiveness to more specific dimensions<br />
<strong>of</strong> social participation <strong>and</strong> forms <strong>of</strong> inequality.<br />
In these regards, public schooling has retained<br />
<strong>and</strong> increased its significance as a near-universal<br />
social program. It has potential to fulfill its<br />
m<strong>and</strong>ate as an inclusive agency through which<br />
diverse social groups experience social acceptance<br />
<strong>and</strong> gain credentials <strong>and</strong> opportunities for<br />
other forms <strong>of</strong> social <strong>and</strong> economic participation.<br />
Nonetheless, it also contributes selectively<br />
to mechanisms <strong>of</strong> social exclusion through its<br />
internal dynamics, its relations with other<br />
institutions <strong>and</strong> its own structural limitations.<br />
Acknowledgement <strong>of</strong> this background is an<br />
important step towards an underst<strong>and</strong>ing <strong>of</strong><br />
the kinds <strong>of</strong> practices <strong>and</strong> arrangements that<br />
may contribute to the achievement <strong>of</strong> more<br />
socially inclusive forms <strong>of</strong> schooling.<br />
Inclusive schools are those in which all<br />
students (including non-traditional learners)<br />
have not only the opportunity, but also active<br />
encouragement, guidance <strong>and</strong> support, to gain<br />
socially valued skills, knowledge, capabilities,<br />
<strong>and</strong> credentials that are necessary for meaningful<br />
social <strong>and</strong> economic participation.<br />
Internally, inclusive schools attend to a wide<br />
range <strong>of</strong> needs <strong>and</strong> capacities carried within<br />
the diverse populations <strong>of</strong> children <strong>and</strong> youth<br />
they serve. <strong>The</strong>y equip themselves, by devoting<br />
priority <strong>and</strong> resources, to <strong>of</strong>fer the physical,<br />
social, cultural, material, <strong>and</strong> moral supports<br />
essential to ground <strong>and</strong> complement the basic<br />
learning <strong>and</strong> higher-order intellectual challenges<br />
they are expected to provide for all students.<br />
Schools are more inclusive when they<br />
are arranged as “spaces” that provide safe, supportive<br />
environments which allow participants<br />
to express <strong>and</strong> develop themselves in a manner<br />
that, while socially validated <strong>and</strong> appropriate<br />
to their social backgrounds, is also sensitive to<br />
ambitious aspirations. <strong>The</strong>y are also sites in<br />
which children <strong>and</strong> youth, as well as their families,<br />
are assured a voice that can shape their<br />
educational experiences.<br />
One <strong>of</strong> the major advantages <strong>of</strong> public<br />
schooling, relative to privatized <strong>and</strong> segmented<br />
alternatives, is that it is, ideally, an open, nondiscriminatory<br />
agency, even if the reality has<br />
not always matched this objective. <strong>The</strong> will to<br />
improve upon this record is put to the test as<br />
schooling has exp<strong>and</strong>ed to incorporate increasingly<br />
more diverse groups <strong>of</strong> children <strong>and</strong><br />
youth, as well as non-traditional learners in<br />
early adulthood. Policy-makers <strong>and</strong> critics <strong>of</strong><br />
public education <strong>of</strong>ten fail to take into account<br />
the growing role <strong>and</strong> responsibility <strong>of</strong> schools<br />
in a complex society when they make decisions<br />
about resource allocation, accountability, <strong>and</strong><br />
educational outcomes. In order to embrace<br />
their growing constituencies, schools need to<br />
be equipped to respond to the periodic transitions<br />
that children, youth <strong>and</strong> their families<br />
experience, as well as to the unequal resources<br />
that families <strong>and</strong> communities have available<br />
to them to deal with the impact <strong>of</strong> these transition<br />
processes.<br />
Such schools cannot function successfully<br />
without sufficient integration with other policy<br />
domains <strong>and</strong> agencies that provide services to<br />
children, youth <strong>and</strong> their families. In a general<br />
sense, there are limits to the extent to which<br />
inclusive schooling can be achieved <strong>and</strong> maintained<br />
in the absence <strong>of</strong> supportive or inclusive
18<br />
<strong>The</strong> <strong>Dynamics</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Social</strong> <strong>Inclusion</strong>: <strong>Public</strong> <strong>Education</strong> <strong>and</strong> Aboriginal People in Canada<br />
communities <strong>and</strong> societies. Innovations to<br />
implement community schooling <strong>and</strong> to <strong>of</strong>fer<br />
within the school setting a wide range <strong>of</strong> onsite<br />
services <strong>and</strong> personnel related to areas such<br />
as nutritional <strong>and</strong> food programs, health care,<br />
family services, social services, <strong>and</strong> justice agencies,<br />
can contribute substantially to success in<br />
responding directly to student needs. <strong>The</strong>se<br />
arrangements, when guided by service orientations<br />
rather than strictly fiscal or managerial<br />
imperatives, can <strong>of</strong>fer the additional advantage<br />
<strong>of</strong> avoiding unnecessary duplication, gaps or<br />
interventions <strong>and</strong> aiding in the sharing <strong>of</strong> useful<br />
information, expertise <strong>and</strong> resources across<br />
agencies. In order to be effective, all <strong>of</strong> these<br />
activities must complement the ability <strong>of</strong><br />
schools to conduct their education <strong>and</strong> developmental<br />
m<strong>and</strong>ates. <strong>The</strong>ir impact will be<br />
undermined when they are regarded simply as<br />
add-ons to an already crowded agenda.<br />
It is important, as well, to remain sensitive<br />
to the roles that teachers are expected to play to<br />
foster inclusion. Teachers’ qualities, degrees <strong>of</strong><br />
commitment <strong>and</strong> actions are important variables<br />
in how education comes to be experienced<br />
by diverse groups <strong>of</strong> students. Teaching<br />
<strong>and</strong> teacher effectiveness are undermined, however,<br />
when teachers are not backed by sufficient<br />
system support to enable them to do their jobs,<br />
especially when they are confronted with additional<br />
duties <strong>and</strong> expectations. Teachers are also<br />
centrally situated to play a vital role as advocates<br />
for children <strong>and</strong> youth, <strong>and</strong> to promote<br />
opportunities for children <strong>and</strong> youth to voice<br />
their own concerns <strong>and</strong> interests.<br />
As noted previously, the educational literature<br />
<strong>and</strong> discussions about school improvement<br />
are instructive for an underst<strong>and</strong>ing <strong>of</strong><br />
the conditions that are essential for the creation<br />
<strong>of</strong> inclusive education. <strong>The</strong>se sources point<br />
repeatedly to the observation that the most successful<br />
schools are those that demonstrate the<br />
ability to provide simultaneously a caring, supportive<br />
environment, a commitment to high<br />
st<strong>and</strong>ards, <strong>and</strong> a mutually open relationship<br />
with the communities that they serve.<br />
<strong>Education</strong>al Practices <strong>and</strong> Policy Context<br />
This paper has outlined several structures<br />
<strong>and</strong> practices that contribute to dynamics<br />
<strong>of</strong> inclusion <strong>and</strong> exclusion within<br />
formal education. Many <strong>of</strong> these are specific to<br />
school settings, but they are also conditioned<br />
by <strong>and</strong> affect the social <strong>and</strong> political environments<br />
in which children <strong>and</strong> youth live <strong>and</strong> are<br />
educated. Policy interventions can have an<br />
impact on these general environments, on specific<br />
dimensions <strong>of</strong> education <strong>and</strong> child, family<br />
<strong>and</strong> youth services, <strong>and</strong> on associated agencies<br />
<strong>and</strong> practices.<br />
Research agenda/data coordination -<br />
Discussions <strong>of</strong> the contradictory <strong>and</strong> complex<br />
nature <strong>of</strong> education are frustrating from the<br />
perspective <strong>of</strong> those trying to frame effective<br />
policies. <strong>The</strong> plural governance <strong>and</strong> structure <strong>of</strong><br />
education systems under provincial jurisdiction<br />
<strong>and</strong> local or regional administration in Canada<br />
further complicates matters. Nonetheless, as<br />
signified by the emergence <strong>of</strong> efforts by pan-<br />
Canadian agencies like the Council <strong>of</strong><br />
Ministers <strong>of</strong> <strong>Education</strong> Canada, there is a<br />
growing commitment to seek common, effective<br />
educational policies <strong>and</strong> strategies.<br />
In this context, action is required to<br />
address one simple but nonetheless fundamental<br />
paradox. <strong>The</strong>re is a need to develop more<br />
effective large-scale, systematic databases concerning<br />
education <strong>and</strong> life transitions in
PERSPECTIVES ON SOCIAL INCLUSION<br />
19<br />
Canada, but there are also hidden riches <strong>of</strong><br />
knowledge about educational innovation <strong>and</strong><br />
practice across the nation. On the one h<strong>and</strong>,<br />
major government, policy <strong>and</strong> funding agencies<br />
need to commit support to exp<strong>and</strong> <strong>and</strong><br />
supplement cohort analysis <strong>and</strong> surveys like the<br />
National Longitudinal Survey <strong>of</strong> Children <strong>and</strong><br />
Youth in Canada (NLSCY) in order to<br />
enhance our underst<strong>and</strong>ing <strong>of</strong> education <strong>and</strong><br />
its relationships with life course transition<br />
processes. At the same time, there is a wealth<br />
<strong>of</strong> case studies <strong>and</strong> localized information about<br />
inclusive schooling <strong>and</strong> effective educational<br />
practices (defined in terms <strong>of</strong> how appropriate<br />
they are to the communities they serve) that is<br />
not widely known, shared or utilized beyond<br />
specific participants or districts. In many<br />
instances, this reflects a characteristic feature <strong>of</strong><br />
the educational policy cycle, in which significant<br />
gaps separate one or more phases in<br />
intended linkages among policy planning,<br />
implementation, <strong>and</strong> evaluation (Ungerleider,<br />
1999). As Corson (2000: 180) emphasizes,<br />
there is a strong need for policy evaluation<br />
research that can “reveal that policies are<br />
addressing the needs <strong>of</strong> all the people they aim<br />
to address. It needs to show what has to be<br />
done to improve implementation processes; it<br />
needs to reveal when policies are missing the<br />
mark.”<br />
Central educational organizations (especially<br />
education ministries <strong>and</strong> their national<br />
council) in conjunction with their sectoral<br />
partners (teachers’ unions, trustees’ organizations,<br />
<strong>and</strong> local educational bodies) <strong>and</strong> relevant<br />
federal partners can benefit from targeting<br />
resources to initiate, acknowledge <strong>and</strong> coordinate<br />
research <strong>and</strong> data bases about education<br />
needs <strong>and</strong> innovations or initiatives (both those<br />
that work <strong>and</strong> those that don’t) under their<br />
jurisdiction, <strong>and</strong> link it with other jurisdictions.<br />
In addition, teachers, students, <strong>and</strong> other<br />
participants tend to be the most ardent advocates<br />
for their own activities, <strong>and</strong> are eager to<br />
share their successes <strong>and</strong> frustrations with others,<br />
with the aid <strong>of</strong> even modest resources,<br />
opportunities, <strong>and</strong> platforms. Consequently,<br />
both regional <strong>and</strong> nation-wide opportunities<br />
for discussion <strong>and</strong> dissemination <strong>of</strong> key initiatives,<br />
supported by funding to bring together<br />
key participants, would help to promote lesserknown<br />
but viable initiatives. As evidence-based<br />
decision-making begins to proliferate in fields<br />
like health care, educational research, policy<br />
<strong>and</strong> planning tend to remain unsystematic,<br />
underdeveloped, <strong>and</strong> fragmented in the<br />
absence <strong>of</strong> active commitment to develop<br />
broader data bases, information sharing, <strong>and</strong><br />
research dissemination practices.<br />
Schools as bases for integrated services –<br />
Continuing attention is required by governments<br />
<strong>and</strong> other agencies to alternatives to promote<br />
greater coordination among schools <strong>and</strong><br />
other agencies, <strong>and</strong> to link programs <strong>and</strong> services<br />
for children <strong>and</strong> youth at both federal <strong>and</strong><br />
provincial levels. While the experience <strong>of</strong><br />
school-related integration has been mixed, considerable<br />
potential remains for schools to operate<br />
as home bases for, or centrally located within,<br />
clusters <strong>of</strong> services that reach students <strong>and</strong><br />
their families. Several program areas, such as<br />
social services, physical <strong>and</strong> mental health care,<br />
justice, family services, early child care, <strong>and</strong><br />
employment-related services, are integrally<br />
related to both school programs <strong>and</strong> child <strong>and</strong><br />
family needs. Integrated services can be effective<br />
ins<strong>of</strong>ar as they reduce duplication <strong>of</strong> or<br />
gaps in services when they are situated in or<br />
adjacent to school facilities. However, continuous<br />
contact, flexible divisions <strong>of</strong> labour, <strong>and</strong><br />
resource-related decisions must be negotiated<br />
among all participating agencies <strong>and</strong> their personnel.<br />
One <strong>of</strong> the key lessons derived from<br />
recent integration-related initiatives is that success<br />
tends to flow from the activities that<br />
emerge among teachers, educational administrators,<br />
front-line service workers, <strong>and</strong> community<br />
members at the school or local level,
20<br />
<strong>The</strong> <strong>Dynamics</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Social</strong> <strong>Inclusion</strong>: <strong>Public</strong> <strong>Education</strong> <strong>and</strong> Aboriginal People in Canada<br />
rather than dictates from central authorities<br />
(two Saskatchewan initiatives – the<br />
Community Schools <strong>and</strong> Integrated School-<br />
Linked Services programs – <strong>of</strong>fer instructive<br />
examples; see<br />
http://www.sasked.gov.sk.ca/k/pecs/community/index.html).<br />
Commitment to universal public education<br />
with targeted services – <strong>Public</strong> schooling<br />
remains a cornerstone <strong>of</strong> universal social programming<br />
in Canada. In this capacity, it provides<br />
unique opportunities as well as special<br />
challenges. Governments <strong>and</strong> external agencies<br />
have not always resisted the temptation to look<br />
to schools as the point <strong>of</strong> entry for new programs<br />
<strong>and</strong> services targeted to children, youth<br />
<strong>and</strong> their families, sometimes to the point <strong>of</strong><br />
overloading expectations <strong>and</strong> workloads. At the<br />
same time, governments have faced mounting<br />
pressure to support <strong>and</strong> finance private schools<br />
<strong>and</strong> other alternatives in response to criticisms<br />
about st<strong>and</strong>ards, accountability, values, learning<br />
outcomes, <strong>and</strong> school climate in public<br />
education systems. Clearly, public school systems<br />
must become more flexible in the ways<br />
that education is conceptualized, arranged <strong>and</strong><br />
delivered, in order to meet the needs <strong>of</strong> diverse<br />
communities <strong>of</strong> learners.<br />
As this paper has emphasized, schools<br />
have had considerable success in becoming<br />
agents <strong>of</strong> inclusion <strong>and</strong> diversity despite their<br />
limitations. Government commitment to public<br />
education remains one <strong>of</strong> the most powerful<br />
tools by which social exclusion <strong>of</strong> various<br />
forms can be combatted. Within this broad<br />
framework, which is essential to bring together<br />
children <strong>and</strong> youth from diverse social backgrounds<br />
<strong>and</strong> provide some common bases <strong>of</strong><br />
experience <strong>and</strong> underst<strong>and</strong>ing, there remains<br />
scope to meet more specific community <strong>and</strong><br />
individual needs. Two levels <strong>of</strong> policy intervention<br />
are critical. At the foundational level, public<br />
funding for schooling must be maintained<br />
<strong>and</strong> priority given to ensure that quality educational<br />
services are made accessible <strong>and</strong> responsive<br />
to all children, youth, <strong>and</strong> adult learners.<br />
At a more targeted or strategic level, special<br />
attention, investment <strong>and</strong> programs must be<br />
available for learners who experence particular<br />
difficulties during key life course transitions.<br />
<strong>The</strong> research <strong>and</strong> data collation tasks outlined<br />
above can be useful in documenting the relative<br />
success <strong>of</strong> existing programs <strong>and</strong> identifying<br />
further needs.<br />
Flexibility <strong>and</strong> targeting within universality<br />
- Several specific policy initiatives can be<br />
employed in education <strong>and</strong> other areas to promote<br />
social inclusion among children <strong>and</strong> their<br />
families. It has already been observed that<br />
schools can <strong>of</strong>ten ensure greater flexibility <strong>and</strong><br />
responsiveness to the communities they serve<br />
through even minor modifications to curricula,<br />
programming, <strong>and</strong> organizational arrangements,<br />
without sacrificing quality. <strong>Education</strong><br />
ministries need to balance their rush to gauge<br />
educational quality through elusive <strong>and</strong> incomplete<br />
indicators <strong>and</strong> st<strong>and</strong>ardized testing with<br />
innovations that allow schools to reflect a<br />
“sense <strong>of</strong> place.” Schools that are concerned to<br />
prepare citizens <strong>and</strong> workers for a global world<br />
must be given latitude <strong>and</strong> incentives, as well,<br />
to contribute to the viability <strong>and</strong> development<br />
<strong>of</strong> the local populations <strong>and</strong> the communities<br />
in which they are located (Wotherspoon,<br />
1998a: 133). <strong>The</strong> most successful b<strong>and</strong>-controlled<br />
schools in First Nations communities<br />
constitute notable examples <strong>of</strong> how these tasks<br />
can be accomplished with the cooperation <strong>of</strong><br />
local <strong>and</strong> external agencies.<br />
Schools that are sensitive to these needs<br />
have been able to foster inclusion <strong>and</strong> participation<br />
in a variety <strong>of</strong> ways. <strong>The</strong>y have, for<br />
instance, instituted alternative arrangements<br />
for the use <strong>of</strong> school time, classroom organization,<br />
<strong>and</strong> facilities; <strong>of</strong>fered programs <strong>and</strong> services<br />
to accommodate special needs students
PERSPECTIVES ON SOCIAL INCLUSION<br />
21<br />
like teen parents or youth without homes or<br />
familial support; <strong>of</strong>fered students direct opportunities<br />
for peer mentorship <strong>and</strong> voice in<br />
school planning; introduced programs to counteract<br />
discrimination <strong>and</strong> violence; <strong>and</strong><br />
engaged students in the community, <strong>and</strong> community<br />
members in the classroom on a regular<br />
basis. Provisions to increase effective community<br />
input into <strong>and</strong> involvement in schooling<br />
(not simply during school hours or in school<br />
facilities) has the dual advantage <strong>of</strong> enabling<br />
schools to benefit from <strong>of</strong>ten-overlooked community<br />
resources <strong>and</strong> counteracting the criticism<br />
that public schools do not allow for the<br />
kinds <strong>of</strong> parental choice that market-based<br />
solutions <strong>of</strong>fer.<br />
Linkages between education <strong>and</strong> the<br />
wider policy environment – It is necessary to<br />
acknowledge in educational policy the context<br />
within which public schooling operates <strong>and</strong> the<br />
limitations <strong>of</strong> what schooling can accomplish<br />
on its own. <strong>The</strong>re are limited benefits to<br />
increased levels <strong>of</strong> educational credentials, for<br />
instance, in the absence <strong>of</strong> macroeconomic policy<br />
strategies that promote a target <strong>of</strong> full<br />
employment either nationally or regionally.<br />
<strong>Public</strong> funding for, <strong>and</strong> universal access to, a<br />
full range <strong>of</strong> health care, education <strong>and</strong> training,<br />
income support, <strong>and</strong> social programs <strong>and</strong><br />
services is necessary to ensure equitable entitlements<br />
for all members <strong>of</strong> these populations,<br />
with guarantees that comparable services will<br />
exist across provinces, territories <strong>and</strong> regions.<br />
<strong>The</strong>se measures require both a political commitment<br />
to core principles <strong>and</strong> cooperation<br />
among federal, provincial, municipal, <strong>and</strong><br />
Aboriginal governments.<br />
It should be emphasized, finally, that a<br />
strong base <strong>of</strong> support for these kinds <strong>of</strong> recommendations<br />
already exists in many academic,<br />
policy, educational, <strong>and</strong> community bodies.<br />
Participants at a National Conference on<br />
Investing in Children, sponsored by Human<br />
Resources Development Canada (1999: 43) to<br />
examine findings from the National<br />
Longitudinal Survey <strong>of</strong> Children <strong>and</strong> Youth,<br />
for instance, point to the need for “an interdisciplinary,<br />
holistic approach to social <strong>and</strong> educational<br />
policy,” integrating services both within<br />
the education system <strong>and</strong> in areas like familyfriendly<br />
workplaces, supportive neighbourhoods,<br />
<strong>and</strong> support for low-income families.<br />
Policy-makers <strong>and</strong> educational planners who<br />
are inclined to heed periodic cries <strong>of</strong> crises <strong>of</strong><br />
confidence in public education <strong>and</strong> the need to<br />
“fix a broken system” need also to recognize<br />
that parents <strong>and</strong> others with close experiences<br />
tend to hold relatively high levels <strong>of</strong> satisfaction<br />
with their children’s schools (Livingstone <strong>and</strong><br />
Hart, 2001: 8-9; Wotherspoon, 1998: 136-<br />
137). Clearly, educational changes are necessary,<br />
though not as drastic as the most ardent<br />
critics maintain. In this, it is important to<br />
ensure that open public discussion is initiated<br />
<strong>and</strong> sustained in order to consider broadly how<br />
processes <strong>of</strong> social inclusion <strong>and</strong> exclusion<br />
operate within education <strong>and</strong> related social systems.<br />
Commitment to the achievement <strong>of</strong><br />
socially inclusive societies <strong>and</strong> institutions is a<br />
political, as well as a moral <strong>and</strong> technical, issue.
22<br />
<strong>The</strong> <strong>Dynamics</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Social</strong> <strong>Inclusion</strong>: <strong>Public</strong> <strong>Education</strong> <strong>and</strong> Aboriginal People in Canada<br />
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26<br />
<strong>The</strong> <strong>Dynamics</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Social</strong> <strong>Inclusion</strong>: <strong>Public</strong> <strong>Education</strong> <strong>and</strong> Aboriginal People in Canada
PERSPECTIVES ON<br />
SOCIAL INCLUSION WORKING<br />
P A P E R<br />
S E R I E S<br />
PUBLISHED IN 2002<br />
Clyde Hertzman —<br />
Dow Marmur —<br />
Andrew Jackson <strong>and</strong><br />
Katherine Scott —<br />
Michael Bach —<br />
Martha Friendly <strong>and</strong><br />
Donna Lero —<br />
Meg Luxton —<br />
Leave No Child Behind! <strong>Social</strong> Exclusion <strong>and</strong> Child<br />
Development<br />
Ethical Reflections on <strong>Social</strong> <strong>Inclusion</strong><br />
Does Work Include Children <strong>The</strong> Effects <strong>of</strong> the Labour<br />
Market on Family Income, Time, <strong>and</strong> Stress<br />
<strong>Social</strong> <strong>Inclusion</strong> as Solidarity: Re-thinking the Child<br />
Rights Agenda<br />
<strong>Social</strong> inclusion for Canadian Children through<br />
Early Childhood <strong>Education</strong> <strong>and</strong> Care<br />
Feminist Perspectives on <strong>Social</strong> <strong>Inclusion</strong> <strong>and</strong><br />
Children’s Well-Being<br />
Terry Wotherspoon — <strong>The</strong> <strong>Dynamics</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Social</strong> <strong>Inclusion</strong>: <strong>Public</strong> <strong>Education</strong><br />
<strong>and</strong> Aboriginal People in Canada<br />
Peter Donnelly <strong>and</strong><br />
Jay Coakley —<br />
<strong>The</strong> Role <strong>of</strong> Recreation in Promoting <strong>Social</strong> <strong>Inclusion</strong><br />
Andrew Mitchell <strong>and</strong><br />
Richard Shillington — Poverty, Inequality, <strong>and</strong> <strong>Social</strong> <strong>Inclusion</strong><br />
Catherine Frazee —<br />
Anver Saloojee —<br />
Ratna Omidvar <strong>and</strong><br />
Ted Richmond —<br />
Thumbs Up! <strong>Inclusion</strong>, Rights <strong>and</strong> Equality as<br />
Experienced by Youth with Disabilities<br />
<strong>Social</strong> <strong>Inclusion</strong>, Anti-Racism <strong>and</strong> Democratic<br />
Citizenship<br />
Immigrant Settlement <strong>and</strong> <strong>Social</strong> <strong>Inclusion</strong> in Canada<br />
<strong>The</strong> full papers (in English only) <strong>and</strong> the summaries in French <strong>and</strong><br />
English can be downloaded from the Laidlaw Foundation’s<br />
web site at www.laidlawfdn.org under Children’s Agenda/<br />
Working Paper Series on <strong>Social</strong> <strong>Inclusion</strong><br />
or<br />
ordered from workingpapers@laidlawfdn.org<br />
Price: $11.00 full paper; $6.00 Summaries<br />
(Taxes do not apply <strong>and</strong> shipment included).