The decree of inclusive education and its potential for irritation for the educational system—A system‐theoretical conceptualization of the relationship between education and politics

Abstract

AbstractThe starting point of the argument is the assumption that the decree of inclusive education in Germany has received considerable impetus from national and international political developments, especially through the adoption of the Salamanca Statement and Framework for Action on Special Needs Education in 1994 and the ratification of the United Nations' Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in 2009. The immense pressure for reform, which is triggered by education policy's expectations, essentially means that the decree of inclusive education can be interpreted as an irritation for the specific constitution of the educational system. Against the background of the potential for irritation in the decree of inclusive education, it is shown to what extent the educational system recognizes differences in the sense of irritation and to what extent these are relevant when it observes its relationship to politics. The theoretical work of the article provides important information on how the relationship between education and politics can be conceptualized based on a concrete semantic context such as the decree of inclusive education.