Introduction

For several decades, inclusion has been a priority for many professionals working with children and young people, but this is usually written about from a leadership or policy standpoint and, almost always, from the perspective of adults – school leaders, teachers, and academics. This book seeks to address two gaps: that which exists between adult-centric views of inclusion and those of learners and young people, and the contrast between the academic notions of inclusion and what this means in practice for children’s real-life learning experiences (Allan, 2022). Both these identified gaps will be explored in different ways across the chapters of this book, with a focus on how children and young people’s voices can be more effectively championed in practice. At this point, it is important to note that as a starting point for this book, inclusion is interpreted as widely as possible to cover a range of experiences and situations beyond special educational needs (SEN), whereas in the past it had been a narrower definition.