Space, Place and Inclusive Learning

This collection explores ways in which theories of space and place can be used in understanding processes of exclusion and inclusion in education. The contributions foreground how the ‘spatial turn’ and geographical knowledges can inform:

• debates on the relationships between learning, space and place
• understandings of the ways in which space and place affect education and learning
• ‘familiar’ research agendas through the application of conceptual perspectives from different disciplines

The ten chapters which make up this book are by contributors from Australia, Italy and the United Kingdom who draw, in very different ways, on spatial theory as a means of exploring processes of inclusion and exclusion in education. Each one of the authors not only seeks to challenge growing orthodoxies in their respective field but is interested in cross-disciplinarity and spatial theory in education.

This book provides key readings for experienced and beginning teachers studying for bachelors, masters and research degrees or professional qualifications. It will be particularly useful to equality and diversity post-holders, lecturers, researchers and policy makers working in all education establishments which take issues of inclusion seriously. The international content of the diverse papers in Space, Place and Inclusive Learning will be of interest not only to those practising in the United Kingdom but to educationists working in other countries who seek to understand how space and place modulate opportunities for inclusion.

This book was originally published as a special issue of the International Journal of Inclusive Education.

Judy Hemingway was a research fellow at the Institute of Education, University of London, UK; leader of the Learning, Space and Place special interest group; and director of the B.Ed.(Hons) programme. Her research interests lie in the fields of geography education and sex and relationship education. Judy worked on the ESRC-funded project No Outsiders: Researching Approaches to Sexualities Equality in Primary Schools (2006-7) and Engaging Places funded by DCMS/DCFS/CABE (2008-9).

Felicity Armstrong is Emeritus Professor of Education at the Institute of Education, UK. She has a wide range of experience of working as a teacher, adviser and researcher across a range of different sectors in Education. Her research and teaching interests focus on geographies of inclusion and exclusion in education; disability studies; inclusive education and the nature and practice of policy making; structures and practices in education; and cross-cultural and cross-disciplinary research. She is a member of the editorial boards of the journals: ALTER; Disability and Society; International Journal of Inclusive Education.