One of the important responsibilities that advocates of inclusion need
to continually practise is that of self-criticism. This includes
examining and re-examining the assumptions informing our perspectives,
the concepts that we use including 'inclusive education' and our
intentions, especially in relation to the question of change. We need to
beware of the danger of unexamined orthodoxies, the possibilities of
ado- ing inclusive language with little, if any, changes in our thinking
and practice and a sterile and insensitive position with regard to the
pursuit of new or alternative ideas. In this very important book, Allan
powerfully reminds us of the necessity and centrality of these concerns
and provides a direct, perceptive and thoughtful, exami- tion and
critique of the varied barriers to the task of how to make inclusion
happen. Allan challenges the reader to step back and re-examine the
rationale for inclusion through an alternative mindset. She challenges
the varied attacks upon inclusion including those in the education
business to stop using economic (it costs too much) and pedagogical (it
is bad for the other children in the class and traumatic for the
disabled children) and social (just too much for the teacher's workload)
reasons for closing the door and doing the right thing, and those who
argue that inclusion was an experiment that did not work.