Chapter 17: Barbadian and Vincentian Students’ Perspectives of Difference, its Tensions, and Student Inclusion

The pursuit of inclusion and inclusive education by governments around the world has created more diverse school populations. It is therefore important for teachers to understand how to respond effectively to the needs of all students in their classrooms. The nature of student diversity is recognized in international frameworks like the Salamanca Framework for Action for Children with Special Needs, which states that “schools should accommodate all children, regardless of their physical, intellectual, emotional, social, linguistic, or other conditions. They should include disabled and gifted children, street and working children, children from linguistic, ethnic or cultural minorities and children from other disadvantaged or marginalized areas or groups” (Ministry of Education and Science, Madrid Spain, United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, 1994, p. 15).