Using research to promote inclusion and equity in education

The underpinning research

Over the last 25 years, Professor Ainscow has led a series of studies that have explored how education systems can be made more inclusive and equitable. These have been conducted with partners in many diverse contexts, such as in the favelas of Sao Paulo, Brazil, an isolated rural district in Zambia, post-conflict Bosnia and the State of Queensland, Australia. Together, these experiences led to the development of an improvement model that involves stakeholders in generating and engaging with evidence in order to inform their efforts to educate all children effectively.  

Accounts of this earlier programme of research can be found in: 

Ainscow, M. (2016). Struggles for equity in education: The selected works of Mel Ainscow. London: Routledge World Library of Educationalists series 

The findings of the research were used to design a framework for thinking about how to promote inclusion and equity within education systems, that is now used as part of UNESCO’s strategy. In summary, the framework is based on the following propositions: 

  • Policies should be based on clear and widely understood definitions of what the terms equity and inclusion mean. 
  • Strategies should be informed by evidence regarding the impact of current practices on the presence, participation and achievement of all students. 
  • There should be an emphasis on whole-school approaches in which teachers are supported in developing inclusive practices. 
  • Policies should draw on the experience and expertise of everybody who has an involvement in the lives of children, including the children themselves. 
  • Education departments, locally and nationally, must provide leadership in the promotion of equity and inclusion as principles that guide the work of teachers in all schools. 

Accounts of more recent research based on the use of the framework internationally can be found in: 

Ainscow, M. (2020) Promoting inclusion and equity in education: lessons from international experiences. The Nordic Journal of Studies on Educational Policy, 6(1), 7-16