About inclusion and equality

Curriculum for Excellence is an inclusive curriculum from 3 to 18 wherever learning is taking place.

Equalities legislation has been put in place relating to race, gender, age, disability, religion or belief and sexual orientation. The Additional Support for Learning legislation in Scotland also promotes inclusion. There is a duty to provide additional support for learning when any child or young person needs support for whatever reason.

The diversity of learners challenges policy makers, teachers and others to provide education that is able to flexibly respond to that diversity. We need to respond in such a way that barriers to participation, learning and achievement are removed, inclusion and equality are promoted and a high quality education for all is developed and sustained.

An inclusive approach reflects a move away from a deficit model which focuses on aspects of the learner as the problem, where the learner is viewed as deficient in some way. A deficit model also pays inadequate attention to factors such as social expectations, or aspects of the education system or learning environment that could be changed to enable diverse learners to participate and learn. Also, categorising an individual or a group by a single or a few characteristics may be misleading and doesn't recognise the whole person.

Developing inclusion will involve learners, professionals, partners, parents, carers and the wider community.

An introduction to inclusion - professional development pack

This activity is designed to help you reflect on the implications of inclusive education for your classroom practice. You will be able to draw on features of excellence relating to inclusion, illustrations of practice from all sectors and the perspectives of a range of leading national and international educationists.