A Case Study on the Ecology of Inclusive Education in the United States

Overview & Synopsis

Inclusive education is an approach to mixing special education and general education students in classroom settings to promote diversity, lifelong learning and create a more equitable society. An overview of practices in inclusive education can inform stakeholders of the status of inclusive education, describe the contextual factors which affect program implementation, and make recommendations of practical start-up or improvement steps for inclusive education programs. A qualitative approach and phenomenological strategy helps to focus on the ecological aspects influencing the implementation of inclusive education in mainstream general education schools on Long Island, New York, USA. Ecological Systems Theory (EST) (Bronfenbrenner, 1979) was used as the theoretical framework for the study. Observation and semi-structured interviews were conducted with 10 participants from two schools to gather data. The investigation revealed that the implementation of inclusive education is influenced by facilitators across the entire ecological system of the schools.