Alongside the steady increase of bilingual schools, the last two decades have witnessed the need to incorporate inclusive practices within such settings. Notwithstanding, the diversity of needs and multiple learning environments embraced by the term inclusion and the recent generalization of bilingual programs in some contexts have led to limited and heterogeneous research on this matter. This chapter aims to outline the emergent themes in recent literature regarding inclusion and bilingual/plurilingual education. To this end, through the analysis of abstracts in recent research regarding both issues, thematic categories were separated and discussed using MAXQDA 10.0 software. Results show a clear salience of context-bound pedagogical practices, followed by bilingual education of the deaf as a key theme. The emergent themes raised in the current literature can help education stakeholders identify the research trends in this area and reflect upon their potential pedagogical implications.
TopTheoretical Framework
Inclusion is defined by UNESCO as a “process that helps overcome barriers limiting the presence, participation, and achievement of learners” (2017, p.13). This definition and some others with slightly different nuances lead to various interpretations that affect the development of specific national and international policies on this matter.
In general terms, inclusion is currently conceived as a broad understanding of all kinds of barriers (disabilities -as in the recent past-, but also, as Artiles, Harris-Murri & Rostenberg (2006) indicate, of other aspects such as age, gender, ethnicity, language, class, or HIV status). This broad approach involves a shift in the paradigm towards human rights and social justice, further beyond (a) the learners’ needs (therapy, surgery, special treatment, etc.) and (b) the attention to marginalized groups (Dreyer, 2017; Kafia, Ibrahimi, & Ibrahimi, 2023). This comprehensive view “welcomes and celebrates diversity” (Mittler, 2000, p. 10), and “has a significant impact on the transformation of entire educational systems” (Dreyer, 2017, p. 386).
In this respect, within the field of education, numerous actions have promoted inclusive education globally in the last few years. Subsequently, these actions have favored the common acceptance of the term, at least as a nominal idea, as observed by Magnússon, Göransson, & Lindqvist (2019). Notwithstanding, this fact has also provoked inclusive education has become a buzzphrase (Dreyer, 2017), whose implications might occasionally move away from its core meaning.
Inclusive education encompasses principles related to diversity, dignity, entitlement, and individual needs (Price, 2007). More specifically, it involves providing children with disadvantages (and from different communities and cultures) with the right to education (Selimoğlu, 2023), helping learners fulfill their potential (Dreyer, 2017), and reducing exclusion, not only on the practical, but on the political level (Kafia et al., 2023). As observed, inclusive education is a multi-layered and multifaceted term difficult to conceptualize. Thus, the possible interpretations of what the concept involves and the difficulty of complying with its underlying principles result in a heterogeneous implementation of inclusive practices in different school contexts. In this respect, despite the improvements made in the last years (UNESCO, 2017), much remains to be done in this field, as agreed by education stakeholders.
When instruction in two or more languages is included in the equation, the complexity of implementing measures and practices increases. This is in contrast to the consideration of diversity and plurilingualism as key features characterising the current society (Rodríguez et al., 2013; Martín-Pastor & Durán Martínez, 2019). In this respect, it is commonly acknowledged that the educational system needs to address both issues and comply with the corresponding legal frameworks. Throughout this chapter, we will summarize the consideration of inclusive education in educative policies and the current research, within the field of bilingual education.