School of Law, Politics and Sociology

Sussex staff Professor Judy Sebba (middle) and Dr Joanna Stephens (right, who chaired the salon discussion) listen carefully as Professor Alan Dyson from the University of Manchester makes a point about educational inclusion.

Educational inclusion is a human right, decided the audience at the latest Sussex Salon debate, held at Brighton’s Pavilion Theatre last night (Tuesday 7 February).

The assembled gathering of local teachers, parents, students and elected councillors were able to share their views on this and other key questions about inclusion using an electronic voting system.

The reality, they agreed, is that pupils with learning or physical disabilities can be educationally excluded because of a lack of political will, a shortage of resources, or the inexperience of hard-pressed teachers – or a by a combination of all of these factors.

The Sussex Salon series of round-table discussions, organised by the School of Law, Politics and Sociology, offers a chance to hear academic opinion on hot topics of current public interest.

A number of the panellists at this Salon, though, spoke from personal experience as well as from an academic standpoint. Judy Sebba, Professor of Education at Sussex, recalled the days when her cousin, born in the 1950s with a degenerative condition, was deemed “unsuitable for education at school”. And Jacqui Shepherd, who teaches trainee teachers at Sussex, compared the experiences of her nine-year-old autistic son in mainstream and special schools.

All of the panellists set the issue of inclusion within a wider framework. “Inclusion should not be an approach to teaching, but a guide to life,” urged Professor Sebba. And Professor Alan Dyson, from the University of Manchester, argued the case for looking at inclusion within the broader context of inequality (including socio-economic factors, ethnic differences, gender and so on).

The discussion also took in issues around diversity, social exclusion, attainment, parental choice and teacher training.

Given these issues, the panel asked, what can be done? Where can we go? John Parry, a Lecturer in Inclusion at the Open University, concluded: “This salon is the start of where to go. This is the big society. Keep the conversations going.”

And there was consensus about the value of identifying and building on good practice where it already exists. “Schools are wanting to get it right,” said panellist Tara Flood, who heads the Alliance for Inclusive Education.

The aim of the Sussex Salon series is to highlight research at the University of Sussex that engages with contemporary issues in a way that will appeal to a wide audience. The next one, about assisted dying, takes place on Tuesday 6 March.

Back to news list