Description:
This chapter begins a conversation about the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the concepts of rights, diversity, equity and inclusion that underpin them, and the ways in which they are enacted in a variety of contexts. There is a specific focus on SDG4 “Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all”. Based on examinations of the SDGs, the conversations throughout the book give voice to those who work at times within and sometimes outside mainstream education discourse people who use inclusive approaches to teach early childhood, primary and secondary school and higher education students, parent-educators, parents and carers, academics teaching and researching in the field of inclusion and teachers and academics who themselves have impairments and disabilities. In this chapter, we investigate the policies, discourses and epistemologies that are foundational for the concepts of rights, diversity, equity and inclusion. To examine issues of social justice, epistemic injustice, equity and equality, the authors describe a framework of discourse and intersectional analysis.
Description:
This chapter begins a conversation about the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the concepts of rights, diversity, equity and inclusion that underpin them, and the ways in which they are enacted in a variety of contexts. There is a specific focus on SDG4 “Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all”. Based on examinations of the SDGs, the conversations throughout the book give voice to those who work at times within and sometimes outside mainstream education discourse people who use inclusive approaches to teach early childhood, primary and secondary school and higher education students, parent-educators, parents and carers, academics teaching and researching in the field of inclusion and teachers and academics who themselves have impairments and disabilities. In this chapter, we investigate the policies, discourses and epistemologies that are foundational for the concepts of rights, diversity, equity and inclusion. To examine issues of social justice, epistemic injustice, equity and equality, the authors describe a framework of discourse and intersectional analysis.
Description:
In this chapter, we investigate the ways in which academics’ identity factors can impact their work experiences and pedagogies in two Australian tertiary institutions. While there is a body of literature that interrogates the concept of diversity in higher education, most of the research focuses on diverse student populations rather than examining academic diversity. Current research does not explore in depth the ways in which intersections of identity factors such as gender, race, class, and able-bodiedness might impact academics’ experiences in the chiefly middle-class-institutions that comprise the Australian Higher Education landscape. The authors employed a mixed methods approach. To collect data for the project, we constructed an anonymous online Qualtrics survey and invited participation from academics working at one regional and one urban university. The survey consisted of a mixture of open and closed questions concerning the relationship between identity and teaching approaches within universities. Responses were coded, and common themes were examined by the researchers using an intersectional approach. The survey findings reveal that academics who identify as equity group members see these identities as a strength in teaching and interactions with students, however, these identities sometimes give rise to tensions with colleagues and can be seen as a barrier to career progression.
Description:
The chapter offers a road map that charts the key issues raised in this edited collection that contributes to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) series. Throughout the book, questions are raised, tensions observed, and practices highlighted, often through passionate discussion, regarding the ways in which considerations of equity, inclusion, and social justice are configured, challenged, observed, or ignored in a range of educational settings. All chapters address the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 4: Quality Education which advocates for the provision of inclusive and equitable education and the promotion of lifelong learning for all. This chapter extends the focus of diversity, inclusion, and social justice to examine the inclusive approaches embedded in the production of the book. Rejecting potentially exclusionary publication processes, the editors mobilized inclusive approaches to selecting, reviewing, and editing chapters and the development of edited scholarship. Focusing on connections and capacity building, a diverse range of authors, reviewers, and editors worked together in a supportive, inclusive, and encouraging framework to produce an interwoven contemporary narrative about the state of diversity and inclusion in mainstream education settings.
Description:
In this chapter, we synthesise the interwoven narrative presented in this edited collection that interrogates discourses and policies of inclusive education, foregrounds the lived realities of diverse cohorts, and offers new ways of thinking and acting through a process of capacity building. Through thematic analysis, we analyse emergent themes pertaining to diversity and inclusion to illuminate the divergence between rhetoric and practice where the provision of quality education is concerned. Ultimately, we question whether the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 4 of quality education for all is being actualised in the twenty-first century and offer provocations on the possibilities of actualising a sustainable, responsive, inclusive, and diverse education future globally.