About

The aims of the Centre are:

• to further the understanding and practice of inclusive pedagogy to enhance students’ experiences of learning 

• to develop the pedagogical expertise and efficacy of educators across the range of educational settings 

• to develop and promote evidence-based resources designed for inclusive education

• to critique and inform policy generation relating to inclusive education

The centre will be informed by the following definition of pedagogy:

“… pedagogy is about teaching and learning. It incorporates the following elements: teaching, learning, curriculum, and assessment. It also concerns relationships and values. Pedagogy is fundamentally concerned with what people perceive to be meaningful, important and relevant as they engage in teaching-related activity and develop competence and expertise in a practice.” (Nind et al.,2016)

Inclusive education is defined as:

“ addressing and responding to the diversity of needs of learners through enabling participation in learning, cultures, and communities, and 

removing barriers to education through the accommodation and provision of appropriate structures and arrangements, to enable each learner to achieve the maximum benefit from their attendance at school.” (NCSE, 2010, p39)

The relationships and values and what constitute individually relevant learning impacts at a systems, community, school and classroom level and includes resources and supports that are prerequisites for the realisation of inclusive values in practice. The vision of DCU CIP is to be a recognised centre with an international reputation for research and knowledge exchange leading the advancement of inclusive pedagogy.

Inclusive pedagogy is driven by the international policy context of both the UN Sustainable Goal 4 to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, (UNCRPD) section 24 on the right to inclusive education, which was ratified by Ireland in 2018.

The vision of an inclusive society is greatly enhanced if we can realise the vision of all children and young people learning together in their local schools with inclusive cultures, community and curricula. No country has all the answers to achieving this. It requires a humble stance of collaboration and co-construction with all stakeholders, including young people with disabilities, to design, problem solve, test and retest solutions to dilemmas and problems of practice in a systematic, ethical and critical manner.