Struggling for Inclusion

This book describes the struggles in which inclusive-minded administrators find themselveswhen they promote equity initiatives. Administrators routinely struggle when they attempt toinclude all members of their school communities - teachers students and parents - in the variousaspects of schooling. Given the presence of a host of obstacles setting right the injusticesassociated with racism classism sexism ableism homophobia and other exclusive practices isnot an easy thing to do. Resistance from colleagues who fail to recognize exclusive practiceswhen they see them and from others who do recognize them but see no harm too fewresources exclusive policies personal uncertainties or insecurities and conflicted priorities arejust a few of the phenomena that get in the way of these efforts. This book explores these struggles. It looks at the contexts withinwhich these encounters occur the various challenges that inclusive-minded administrators encounter and the strategies that theyemploy to meet these tests.Employing the results of original empirical studies surveys of current research recent theoretical literature and personal experiencesthis book seeks to provide school leaders with a sense of what it is like to promote inclusion and equity in the contemporary neoliberalcontext. Among other things it looks to provide educators of an understanding of the obstacles that stand in the way of inclusion thenature of the struggles that await them and ideas for what they might do. Among other things the book concludes that in relation to thepursuit of inclusion: (1) exclusion continues to be part of contemporary schools and communities; (2) struggles for inclusion transcendindividual educators students and parents; (3) administrators are sometimes part of the problem of exclusion; (4) administrators strugglewith issues of difference; (5) administrators struggle with circumstances they inherit peoplewith whom they work and with themselves; and (6) administrators have resources toemploy in their struggles for inclusion.