Inclusive education and disabled students’ genuine right to British higher education

Abstract

Access to general education is perceived to be a positional good and the passport to better paid employment opportunities (EHRC, 2010). Yet, more than ten years on from the adoption of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD), having an equal opportunity to participate in an inclusive education environment remains an unreachable dream for many disabled people. Mainstream education can therefore prove to be a disabling context as well as being enabling for different groups of learners with certain minority characteristics (Riddell, Tinklin, & Wilson, 2005). Drawing on the voices and experiences of a group of disabled international students within a British-specific context, in this article I assess the inclusiveness of university practices, examining the level to which students feel included in university life. The intersectionality of disabled international students’ identities can have a negative impact on their opportunities to access and participate on an equal footing in the university system. The discussion of discriminatory barriers to their involvement in university facilities as a right to full membership to the student body, and its effects on the quality of the education received, will be significant to this article. In conclusion, I will explain that as creative solutions inclusive education practices only require flexible thinking and can transform societal attitudes as well as equalising all students’ experiences.