Inclusive education in a strengths-based era: changing attitudes and practices

Abstract

In this article, we examine the past, present, and future of special and inclusive education, with a focus on highlighting the changing context of education, worldwide, and the need to adapt special and inclusive education practices to meet the challenges of the future and to prepare students with disabilities to become self-determined learners. We examine how changing disability paradigms require a response from education and what practices will support strengths-based approaches to inclusive education. We briefly review what we know about what works with regard to strategies to promote inclusive education and its impact on students with and without disabilities, and provide a framework for inclusive education in the 21st century.