Educational inclusion and belonging: a conceptual analysis and implications for practice

The idea of educational inclusion has become a prevalent approach in school organisation and practice in many international contexts. However, theoretical challenges concerning definitional boundaries of inclusion are frequently noted in contemporary literature. Belonging is one of the concepts that is regularly used virtually interchangeably with inclusion. It is argued in the present paper that the indiscriminate pairing of inclusion and belonging represents a conceptual imprecision, consequently resulting in difficulties when trying to successfully and adequately implement inclusion in practice. The main aims of the present paper are to (1) provide a conceptual analysis of belongingness, (2) identify specific processes that show why pairing of belonging and inclusion might be misleading and (3) outline a framework that might be useful to educational practitioners in dealing with inclusion in concrete situations. The analysis identifies three main processes that obstruct inclusion and should always be considered in practice: (1) diversity, (2) evaluative social categorisation and (3) regulation of closeness and distance. We conclude that awareness about these conceptual nuances is useful for educators in dealing with the challenges of practising inclusive measures.