Changing Conceptions of Inclusion From an African Perspective

Abstract

African-level debates on inclusion have focused on meeting the individual needs of learners with special education needs that manifest from disability or learning difficulty. Until recently, inclusion has been understood as meeting the diverse and unique needs of this category of learners within regular and not separate special educational contexts. Discussions surrounding specialist-segregated services provision, integration, and mainstreaming underpin the conceptualisation of inclusion in African countries. This chapter presents the divergent and continually changing conceptions of inclusion in African countries. It draws on studies that identify developments in policy and practice related to inclusion, revealing a shift in paradigm from special educational needs to special needs education, from inclusive education to inclusive systems of education.