Margins of manoeuvrabiity for inclusive education

This chapter explores the policy-practice nexus, specifically how policy mandates on inclusive education and additional learning support are enacted in school settings during a time of educational reform. Through a focus on the role of the learning support coordinator, we consider inclusive practice as an assemblage and the entangled nature of conditions that make it a viable option within a school. In particular, we describe coordinators’ sense of connectedness within the system and what they saw as possible in terms of action. We outline how learning support coordinators felt compelled both to comply with new statutory arrangements, but also to resist them in important ways, with the backing of leaders and local networks. Our analysis reveals considerable degrees of freedom in enacting policy mandates, underpinned by the principle that ‘no child is left out’ within conditions of increased accountability. What is less clear is whether practices being developed served to include children or further marginalise them.