Inclusive Education and Training: Role of State, Teachers, and Students

Running head: INCLUSIVE EDUCATION AND TRAINING
INCLUSIVE EDUCATION AND TRAINING
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Introduction
Panyotis Angelides is an important scholar known for his contributions in the field of
inclusive education. He is currently the professor and rector of University of Nicosia and has
authored numerous books on the themes of inclusive and intercultural education. Angelides
has discussed on the political history and political climate of Greece to make the
understanding on education and inclusive policies in schools a more insightful and engaging
discussion. Greece has maintained a balance between being Euro-centric and ethno-centric.
He argues that the issues of citizenship and geo-politics influence the subjects to be taught at
school, school curriculum and the pedagogical canon. The project of modern education is
largely white, westernized, promotes the values of nationalism and Euro-centrism rather than
adhering to multi-cultural values (Angelides, 2005). Therefore, the knowledge that is
imparted to the students caters to the interests of the mainstream population and excludes the
ethnic minorities. Drawing on the arguments of Ainscow et al., (2006), the paper commences
with the connotations of inclusive education and follows it up with the documentation of
Angelide’s work on collaborative artmaking. It is found that this technique has significance in
reducing the effects of marginalization faced by children. The next section of the paper
discusses on the different literature of Angelides on interculturalism, exclusion and inclusion,
education system in Cyprus and the efforts of the state, teachers, peer-groups and the
concerned students in response to marginalization and exclusion.
What is inclusive education?
The term inclusion has two different connotations. The descriptive connotation of
inclusion indicates that the ways in which inclusion is used in our everyday life. On the other
hand, the prescriptive connotation of inclusion indicates the ways concepts are used. The
term inclusiveness has different implications for different countries. This philosophy is not

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limited to the placement or positioning of children with special needs in the special schools. It
is also concerned with the effective and sustainable education of children under the special
education programs. Special education is understood as the ways in which schools respond to
the students as autonomous individuals who possess the right to education. According to
Ainscow et al., (2006), inclusion embodies a set of values that emboldens all the learners to
overcome the barriers experienced in the attainment of education. These barriers and hurdles
include underachievement, marginalization and exclusion. They are of the view that
traditionally literature on inclusion has a myopic understanding of the concept and are solely
concerned with the special needs of children. However, in the present understanding of
inclusion it has taken on a broader dimension as it addresses the aspects of nationality,
language, ethnicity, gender, class composition and race to elucidate on inclusion. Experiences
of marginalization can also emerge when children of one school do not wish to socialize with
children of another school.
Angelides in his paper with Michaelidou, (2009), conducted an interesting study on
school children to understand the role of art in neutralizing the effects of marginalization. The
universe of study was a multicultural school in Cyprus that comprised of 20 per cent of non-
Greek speaking students. The authors found that art has a cathartic value when it comes to
alleviating the effects of children’s exclusion in school. The study found that drawings
created by children can reveal many unspoken aspects of their lives and help them to release
them their experiences of pain. The use of collaborative art-making in the pre-primary school
teaching techniques can reduce the impact of marginalization. It also has the capacity to
promote participation of children from different cultures. The outcome of this is the access of
children to full curriculum, a feeling of being accepted and included within the classroom and
the empowerment that comes from decision-making. Collaborative artmaking makes children
equal partners alongside their peers. Therefore, collaborative art-making combined with

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different kinds of innovative teaching techniques can reduce the experience of
marginalization for the students from the marginal group. This method brings the students
closer to one another, disintegrates the power structures and helps them see the problems of
the others. In other words, collaborative artmaking is a step in the direction of empathetic
education. The authors believe that this technique has cross-cultural value and can be
replicated in other schools across the globe. This technique has the potential to make the
outsiders feel as part of the group without ruining the core values of the classroom.
Intercultural and inclusive education: Role of state, teachers and students
Despite the popular view that the school are egalitarian spaces, studies have shown
that the school space, pedagogy and the curriculum design can be replete with discrimination
and exclusion. Cyprus has a special law. According to the provisions of this law, children
with special needs should be provided with special education. The authors have explored the
different ways in which the multiple stakeholders treat the children in special unit. Many
governments all over the world have been involved in intensifying the efforts for integrating
children who have special needs in the context of the neighbourhood schools. In Cyprus, the
government has shown a proactive approach in integrating special children with the
mainstream society. This can be manifested in the Education Act for children who have
special needs that outline the statutory framework for the educational needs of children with
special needs. Children with special needs have special unit which is a class that exists in a
mainstream school. These special needs cater to the special requirements of the children with
special needs. The children for whom the program has been devised and implemented are
children with serious problems (Angelides, 2012). Numbers of students who are part of these
special units are five per class. The special units in the classroom address the following
issues. The ways in which special unit function their programmes, children and staff of the