Inclusive Education: Is It a Real Option?

By Phillipa J Eagle, M.Ed | Literacy specialist and educator, 40+ years teaching across primary, secondary and tertiary | Published 29 Oct 2026

In this article
What inclusive education really means, and why placement alone isn’t inclusion.
Neurodiversity vs neurodivergent: the difference
Whether inclusion is realistic, including what’s changing in WA
Eight practical commitments for an inclusive classroom

Inclusion in education is one of the more significant conversations of our time. The word appears in policies, mission statements and professional discussions, yet the meaning, in an educational setting, remains vague. Does inclusion simply mean placing every learner in the same classroom? Does it require everyone to receive the same teaching? Or is it a deeper commitment to ensuring that each person can access learning, participate meaningfully and experience genuine belonging?

A helpful starting point is this: inclusion is not merely where a student is educated, but whether that student is welcomed, able to participate, supported to learn and treated as a valued individual and member of the community. It is both an educational aim and an ongoing practice, which places the learner at the top and the centre of teaching practice.

Many students struggle to fit in without understanding why. In my case, whilst I may have given the appearance of managing, I was deeply stressed. My teachers interpreted my inconsistent performance as the result of lack of effort. In those teacher centred classrooms teachers simply assumed I was not working hard enough.

What Is Inclusive Education?

Inclusion means designing education so that learner difference is expected rather than treated as an exception. It concerns presence, but also participation, progress, voice and belonging. A learner may be physically present in a mainstream classroom and still be excluded: by an inaccessible task, inflexible assessment, sensory overload, social isolation, low expectations or a lack of appropriate support.

True inclusion therefore asks more than, “Can this student enter the room?” It also asks:

Can the learner access the environment, information and activities?
Can the learner participate in ways that are meaningful?
Can the learner communicate needs and exercise choice?
Are differences respected rather than merely tolerated?
Are barriers removed without making support conditional on fitting a narrow norm?
Does the learner experience dignity, safety and belonging?

Inclusion vs Integration: Why a Seat in the Classroom Isn’t Enough

The United Nations draws a clear line here. Its guidance on the right to inclusive education separates integration, placing students with disability in mainstream schools on the condition that they adapt, from inclusion, which changes teaching, content, environments and structures so every learner can take part on equitable terms (UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, General Comment No. 4). In other words, a seat in the room is the starting point, not the finish line.

Neurodiversity vs Neurodivergent: What’s the Difference?

The distinction between these terms helps sharpen the discussion. Neurodiversity describes the natural variation in human minds across a population. In that sense, a classroom, and humanity as a whole, is neurodiverse. Neurodivergent generally describes a person whose cognitive, sensory, attentional, communicative or learning patterns differ from what society treats as typical. The terms are related but not interchangeable: a group can be neurodiverse, while an individual may be neurodivergent.

This language shifts attention away from the idea that there is one correct kind of mind. It does not deny disability, difficulty or the need for support. Rather, it invites educators to recognise both strengths and barriers, and to consider how environments can disable people when they are built around a single assumed way of learning.

Is Inclusive Education a Realistic Goal?

Yes, if inclusion is understood as a direction, a discipline and a shared responsibility rather than a claim that every need can always be met by the same method or in the same setting. Perfect inclusion may be unattainable because needs can conflict, resources are finite and educational environments are complex. Yet these limits do not make inclusion unrealistic. They make honest planning, prioritisation and collaboration essential.

The unrealistic version of inclusion assumes that goodwill alone is enough, that one teacher can meet every need without specialist support, or that treating everyone identically will produce fairness. The realistic version recognises constraints while refusing to use them as a permanent excuse. It asks what barriers can be removed now, what additional expertise or resources are required, and how the learner and family can participate in decisions.

Inclusion also does not mean that every learner must do the same activity, in the same way, at the same pace, in the same place. Sometimes a quiet space, assistive technology, an alternative mode of communication, targeted instruction or a different pathway enables fuller participation. The central question is not whether provision looks identical, but whether it preserves dignity, opportunity, connection and meaningful learning. Facilitating an oral assessment for a learner with severe dysgraphia is not creating advantage but providing a fair opportunity for that learner to demonstrate their knowledge.

There will be tensions. One learner’s sensory need may conflict with another’s need to move or vocalise. Safety, workload, curriculum requirements and available expertise all matter. Inclusion requires these tensions to be addressed transparently and creatively, not ignored and not resolved by automatically excluding the person whose needs are less convenient.

A student I worked with, a smart boy diagnosed ADHD and dyslexic was repeatedly excluded because he was misunderstood. At school he was repeatedly punished and sent to the principal’s office because he was an impulsive talker. Undoubtedly, it was disturbing for others, especially his teacher. However, discipline did not fix the problem, in fact it created a new problem whereby this child became oppositional, uncooperative and a reluctant participant. Neither the teacher nor her team leader understood that his behaviour was not intentional misbehaviour but an impulse control problem. His brain needed him to move and articulate to learn. Ultimately this conflict was only resolved when the child was transferred to a new classroom environment where teaching and learning was more child directed, and where movement between tasks was not only enabled but encouraged. Rather than imposing a one-size-fits-all learning experience, teachers moved amongst the students, working with small groups or individuals, each of whom was working on their chosen activity or project. This previously uncooperative boy was immediately transformed back to his characteristic happy, enthusiastic and energetic self.

Where Australia and WA Stand

Inclusion isn’t only an ideal in Australia; parts of it are already required. Under the Disability Standards for Education 2005, schools must enable students with disability to participate on the same basis as their peers, and make reasonable adjustments. The Australian Professional Standards for Teachers also expect every teacher to “differentiate teaching to meet the specific learning needs of students across the full range of abilities” (Standard 1.5) and use “strategies to support full participation of students with disability” (Standard 1.6).

In Western Australia, the State Government released an independent review of the School Education Act 1999 in October 2025 to strengthen access and inclusion for students with disability. First steps include aligning the Act’s definition of disability with the social model of disability, the idea that environments can disable people, and creating a dedicated disability reform unit in the Department of Education (WA Government).

Nationally, the 2023 Disability Royal Commission affirmed the right to inclusive education, though its commissioners were divided on the future of special schools (UNSW / The Conversation). That disagreement is itself a reminder of how real the tensions described above are.

Six Principles of Inclusive Education

Inclusion becomes practical when broad values are translated into decisions about environments, teaching, relationships and resources. Six connected concepts provide a useful framework.

Concept	Meaning in practice	Questions for educators
Access	Physical, practical and technical access to spaces, communication, curriculum, assessment and school life.	Can every learner enter, understand, use and participate without avoidable obstacles?
Diversity	Different identities, minds, experiences, approaches and choices are anticipated and valued.	Does teaching permit more than one legitimate way to engage, learn and demonstrate understanding?
Culture	Respect and belonging are evident in relationships, language, expectations and routines.	Whose needs and ways of ‘being’ are treated as normal, and who is expected to adapt continually?
Equity	Adjustments, accommodations and resources remove barriers and enable participation.	What does this learner need to have a genuine opportunity, not merely the same offer?
Equality	Every person has equal worth, rights and entitlement to impartial consideration.	Are rules applied fairly, and are relevant differences considered rather than erased?
Justice	Advocacy and active support address disadvantage so that needs are met with care and accountability.	Who is still excluded, who carries the burden of change, and what must the institution do differently?

Equity vs Equality vs Justice

These ideas are complementary. Equality establishes equal human worth and entitlement. Equity recognises that fair opportunity may require different support. Justice goes further by examining why barriers exist and requiring that not only individuals, but systems must change.

How to Create an Inclusive Classroom: 8 Practical Commitments

No single strategy creates inclusion. Progress depends on a connected set of commitments:

Listen to learners. Include students in decisions about goals, support, communication and what meaningful participation looks like for them.
Design flexibly from the outset. Offer multiple ways to access information, engage with ideas and demonstrate learning, while retaining clear educational purpose. This approach is often called Universal Design for Learning (UDL).
Make adjustments ordinary. Normalise tools such as additional processing time, visual supports, movement opportunities, quiet spaces, captions, accessible materials and alternative response formats.
Build staff capability. Give educators time, training, specialist collaboration and realistic class-level support. Inclusion cannot depend on that one individual.
Protect high expectations. Adapt pathways and supports without confusing difference with inability or reducing a learner to a diagnosis.
Strengthen belonging. Address bullying, stigma and deficit language; explicitly teach respectful interaction and cultivate relationships in which help can be requested without shame.
Review systems, not only students. When participation fails, examine timetables, environments, assessment, communication, disciplinary practices and resource allocation before concluding that the learner is the problem.
Measure what matters. Consider attendance, participation, progress, wellbeing, voice and belonging, not results alone.

What This Looks Like for Students With ADHD and Dyslexia

Common barrier	Inclusive response
Long written notes or instructions on the board	Instructions given one step at a time, spoken and printed notes, with a quick verbal check for understanding
Reading-heavy tasks in any subject	Text-to-speech, audio versions or read-aloud options so content understanding isn’t unfairly challenged by decoding
Sitting still for long periods	Planned movement breaks and flexible seating, offered to the whole class
Timed written tests only	Extra time, a quiet space, or an oral option to show the same knowledge
Being singled out for “special” help	Supports made available to everyone, so using them carries no stigma. Interventions to not
Intervention sessions mean missing core subjects (e.g. maths)	Where possible, timetable interventions during non-priority sessions – for example where a dyslexic is not required to study a second language
Anxiety when having to ‘present’ their assignment to the class	Allow to present to teacher only, or small group of trusted people (classmates)

Commitment 4 is where most schools get stuck. Inclusion can’t rely on individual teachers’ heroics. Staff need practical, low-prep strategies that work in a real classroom. Teachers’ lack of understanding frequently leads them to respond negatively to their neurodivergent students. I can workshop teachers through some helpful activities to build understanding and provide some strategies that can help in the classroom. Enquire about staff professional development | Book Phillipa to speak

Inclusion Is a Shared Responsibility

Teachers are central, but they cannot carry inclusion alone. Leaders must allocate resources and shape culture; policymakers must align expectations with funding and workforce capacity; specialists must collaborate rather than operate at the margins; families must be treated as partners; and students must have credible ways to influence the conditions in which they learn.

Nor should inclusion be reduced to a project for a labelled minority. Flexible communication, clear routines, accessible technology and varied ways of learning often benefit many students. At the same time, broad design must not replace individual accommodation. What helps most people may still be insufficient for a particular learner.

What Inclusion Should Look Like for Your Child

If you’re a parent, you don’t need to know every policy to ask good questions. Be alert for signs that your child is not just present but actively taking part: are their adjustments being used consistently across teachers, are they included in decisions about their support, and do they feel comfortable with the support they are getting? If the answer is no, the school must consult with you about reasonable adjustments, and a written plan can help. Read Does Your Child Need an Individual Education Plan (IEP)?

Conclusion: Inclusion as a Continuing Practice

Inclusion in education cannot mean sameness, unrestricted placement or a promise that every conflict will disappear. It must be the deliberate creation of conditions in which human difference is anticipated and accepted, barriers are challenged and each learner has a genuine opportunity to participate, progress and achieve something worthwhile.

Is it realistic? Yes, provided it is pursued honestly. Schools cannot become perfectly inclusive through a slogan or a single policy, or that one teacher, and not every solution will suit every learner. But they can become more inclusive through repeated, accountable choices: widening access, valuing diversity, cultivating a respectful culture, providing equitable support, protecting equal worth and acting for justice.

Perhaps the most useful question is therefore not, “Have we achieved inclusion?” but rather “Who is unable to participate fully today, what is getting in the way, and what can we change?” That question turns inclusion from an abstract ideal into an intentional and rational responsibility.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the difference between inclusion and integration?

Integration places a student in a mainstream class and expects them to fit in. Inclusion changes the teaching, environment and expectations so the student can genuinely participate and learn.

Is inclusive education a legal requirement in Australia?

Under the Disability Standards for Education 2005, schools must enable students with disability to participate on the same basis as other students, consult with families, and make reasonable adjustments. The Standards don’t require a specific setting, but they do require schools to remove barriers to participation.

What are examples of inclusive teaching strategies?

Giving instructions in more than one format, offering different ways to show learning (written, oral, visual), building in movement and quiet spaces, using assistive technology, and making these supports available to the whole class so no one is singled out.

What does neurodivergent mean?

Neurodivergent describes a person whose thinking, learning, attention or sensory processing differs from what is considered typical, for example people with ADHD, dyslexia or autism. Neurodiversity describes the natural variation of minds across a whole group.

About the author Phillipa J Eagle is a literacy specialist, educator and author based in Perth, Western Australia. With a Master’s in Education, over 40 years of teaching across primary, secondary and tertiary education, and her own late-recognised ADHD, she helps schools build practical, workload-conscious inclusion for neurodivergent learners. She is the author of A Life Misunderstood. Planning staff PD or an event? Talk to Phillipa about a workshop or keynote.

Inclusive Education: Is It a Real Option in Australian Schools?