Ethics of inclusion and the socially sustainable school life

• In Event: Global commitment and policies to inclusive education

Proposal

In this formal paper presentation, the focal point is a theoretical discussion and exploration of social sustainability in school life with an explicit focus on inclusion and ethics of inclusive education. The concept of social sustainability plays a crucial role in understanding the purpose of education, especially in Nordic countries where education is traditionally regarded as a cornerstone of the modern welfare state (Lundahl, 2016). In a Nordic context, inclusion is founded on principles of social justice, equal participation, and democracy, both in policy and practice. The notion of a socially sustainable school life aligns with pedagogical ideas and aims of educational equity and social justice (Kristensen and Engsig, 2024). In contrast to inclusion, exclusion threatens the individual child's well-being, development, participation, and sense of belonging in school. The strategy of improving educational equity and social sustainability, and thereby the individual child's well-being, is challenged by the fact that inclusive education is often ideologically overloaded (Felder, 2022), thus leading to utopian aims of inclusion in school practice.
Based on theoretical discussions of an applied framework of ethics of inclusion the presentation will put forward an attempt to transcend the ideologically overloaded notion of inclusion and thus present a way of understanding the fundamental aspects of an applied notion of inclusion ethics and its practical implications in pedagogy and education. Thus, this contribution serves as a theoretical discussion and exploration of inclusion and inclusion ethics, complemented by a proposed applied and practical framework of ethics of inclusion as a quintessential component in creating a more socially sustainable school life. Kristensen and Engsig (2024) show that there is a need in research as well as pedagogical practice to link the ideas of social sustainability in school life and the notion of inclusion and ethics of inclusive education and that an applied notion of ethics of inclusion is both novel and needed. The development of new digital technologies and communities in school and education only accelerates the need for a more practical framework of ethics of inclusion as a component in creating a more social sustainable school life. Research point to the notion of the emergence of digital technologies, social media etc. as factors contributing to a less social sustainable school life why the theoretical discussion presented above seems even more relevant in the light of education in a digital age (Haidt, 2024).

Authors

• Thomas T Engsig, UC of Northern Denmark

• Lisa Rygaard Frost Kristensen, Professionshøjskolen UCN - læreruddannelsen