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Co-Creating the “In” of Inclusion

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Thesis(22.79 MB)

Date

2026

Authors

Echsel, Angelika

Supervisor

Jones, Margaret
Hocking, Clare
Schulze, Christina

Item type

Thesis

Degree name

Doctor of Philosophy

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Volume Title

Publisher

Auckland University of Technology

Abstract

Despite global commitments to inclusive education as a human right, understanding of how inclusive education functions as a contextual, situated process within everyday school settings remains limited. Drawing on human rights frameworks, occupational science perspectives, and Dewey’s transactional philosophy, this study examined how two Swiss primary school communities collectively created inclusive education through shared occupational situations. The study employed a two-phase, sequential design. Phase one began with an international scoping review to answer the research question: “How is inclusive education in mainstream education at primary school level created?” Analysis of 26 studies from 14 countries, revealed that inclusive education unfolds through shared occupational situations, with emphasis on the extent to which these situations can be changed (their changeability) and the ways the social context shapes children’s experiences of inclusive schooling. The findings suggest the need to shift to a more nuanced understanding of inclusive practices, while acknowledging the diversity of such practices within specific cultural contexts internationally. Phase two sought to answer the question: “How is inclusive education created in mainstream schools in Switzerland for children aged between 8 and 12 years?” This phase comprised embedded case studies of two Swiss primary school classes, guided by Stake’s case study methodology and Dewey’s transactional theory. Multiple stakeholder perspectives were explored, including children, teachers, parents, assistants, therapists, and school leaders, through participant observations, interviews, and document analysis, Data were analysed using Stake’s strategies of direct interpretation and categorical aggregation, with findings synthesised into case-specific assertions. Representation of all stakeholders' actions and experiences from both the Oak and Village School cases provided nuanced, holistic, situated, and contextualised understanding of two distinct communities. The findings revealed that inclusive education develops through collective co-creation of shared occupational situations where all stakeholders engage in ‘doing together’. Children themselves identified doing together as essential to their school experience. Multiple perspectives illuminated how inclusion unfolded differently across contexts: intentional structuring of collaborative and individualising occupations, through sustained teaching partnerships generating creative freedom, allocation of resources to classes rather than individuals, and democratic leadership cultivating inclusive cultures. The findings call for a paradigm shift in inclusive education. The concept of individualising class communities bridges the individual-collective dichotomy, demonstrating how social collective aspects and academic individualised learning integrate to address needs of ‘all’ children rather than ‘some’ with special needs. Critically, tensions function as generative forces when engaged through reflective dialogue, while therapists’ external positioning creates paradoxes requiring examination. This study demonstrates that the ‘in’ of inclusion lies not in placement within given systems, but in collective co-creation of spaces where all engage in ‘doing together’. This study provides epistemological foundations and empirical evidence for transforming inclusive education practice, research methodologies, and policy frameworks.

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http://hdl.handle.net/10292/20890

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Doctoral Theses