Electronic Journal for Inclusive Education
Abstract
This edition marks the beginning of the second volume of this journal. We continue to provide research concerning the inclusion of students with disabilities. However, the journal’s role has expanded to include research into the inclusion of students regardless of race, creed, color, exceptionality, or sexual orientation.
We are pleased to realize that the journal has become a voice for international research; the conversations concerning inclusive education are now placed in a global framework.
As I begin the final editing and review of each of the articles for this edition, I am involved in a research project here at the university. This project is investigating the use of inclusive pedagogies and strategies in university/college classrooms. One of my colleagues, Dr. Tracy Snipe, remarked not long ago, “Inclusion is struggle.” His comment caught me off guard and made me smile for it is so true.
Inclusion represents meaningful social change, as Norm Kunc reveals in his lectures. Meaningful social change is never easy. In education meaningful social change calls into question the very essence of education. What we believe about schools and schooling; how we as educators define our tasks and efforts to teach all students.
As I read these articles, I am once again touched by this struggle and by the need for research concerning the efficacy of the approaches being taken. The articles included in the beginning of this second volume contribute to this knowledgebase and provide additional insight into areas not discussed in previous issues.
Drs. Fore, Blankenship, and Boone discuss inclusion and special education law.
Dr. Hipsky researches aspiring teachers perceptions of inclusion prior to their preparation coursework.
Dr. Naidoo looks at issues of sexuality, race, and power in the classroom.
Drs. Miller and Burden provide insight into the issues of teacher collaboration.
Dr. Prather-Jones looks at the issues of retention for teachers of students with emotional disabilities.
Drs. Timor and Burton look closely at the inclusion of students with disabilities in the actual curriculum of schools.
It is our hope that the journal continues to provide its readers with insight and research into this struggle for meaningful social change called inclusive education.
Dr. Patricia. R. Renick, Ph. D.
Editor
Repository Citation
Renick, P. R.
(2007).
Welcome,
Electronic Journal for Inclusive Education, 2
(1).
