Inclusion and Interdependence: Students with Special Needs in the Regular Classroom

Abstract

MOVING BEYOND ARGUMENTS from social justice or human rights as a basis for inclusive classrooms, this paper advances a ‘theology of interdependence’ as a rationale for creating the classroom ethos desired in Christian education. A theology of interdependence provides insight into the culture of inclusive classrooms and forms the mainstay for an inclusive education and an inclusive worldview that stress community. Rather than discussing the how-to of inclusion, emphasis is on how-to-be inclusive. True collaboration between general and special education can best be accomplished through a theology of interdependence which communicates that disabled and able-bodied persons can learn from one another.