The Inclusive Education Series: Talking about Inclusion with David Connor

What does inclusive education actually mean? Is it a place, a practice, a political commitment—or an aspiration we may never fully achieve?

In the first episode of Season 4 and the opening conversation of DiveIn’s special series on inclusive education, Federico talks with David J. Connor, Professor Emeritus at Hunter College and the Graduate Center of the City University of New York, and one of the leading scholars in Disability Studies in Education and DisCrit.

Connor traces the roots of inclusive education beyond legislation and special education policy to the Civil Rights and Disability Rights movements. He reflects on the emergence of Disability Studies in Education, its complicated relationship with traditional special education, and why he believes disability should be understood as a form of human diversity rather than simply a deficit to be fixed.

But this is not a conversation without pushback.

Federico challenges Connor with some of the strongest arguments against full inclusion: Does inclusive education actually have a strong empirical base? Can separate schools provide meaningful disability community and collective identity? What about students with complex support needs? And should families have the right to choose specialized settings?

They also discuss whether research can ever truly be objective, why inclusive education needs a plurality of research methods, the importance of listening to disabled students and adults, and what the next frontier of inclusive education may be.

And, because this is DiveIn, they also find time to discuss the World Cup, dangerous levels of soccer-related couch attachment, and David’s suspicious refusal to choose between England, the United States, and Argentina.

Season 4 starts here.

Are you ready?

Let’s DiveIn.