Is the ‘School Inclusion Model’ a pathway to inclusion in Irish schools?
An analysis using the theoretical perspective of Bowe, Ball and Gold (2017)
Keywords:
Inclusion, Full inclusion, SIM, BoweBallGold, Policy, autonomy, access, needs of all the studentsAbstract
In this article, there is an overview of the development of the policy of a new School Inclusion Model (SIM) recently piloted in an Irish context. The paper is essentially an analysis using the theoretical perspective of Bowe, Ball and Gold (2017) and the framework developed to support that perspective of the policy on moving towards full inclusion for all students in Irish schools. The analysis uses the Policy Cycle providing both national and international examinations of ‘context of influence’, ‘context of production of text’, ‘context of practice’ to examine the effects of the policy in the Irish context. The argument is made that all stakeholders voices need to be heard in an evaluation of the policy while the areas of autonomy, access, accountability and the needs of all students ought to be forefront in an assessment of the scheme.
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