Inkludering och särskild begåvning. Förutsättningar och dilemman i rådgivande policydokument

Abstract

Inclusion and Giftedness. Prerequisites and Dilemmas in Advisory Education Policy. This article aims to increase knowledge about central tensions regarding the educational policy of inclusion. We do this using giftedness as an example. Our analysis of advisory policy documents shows that gifted students are represented as being at risk, suffering, and alienated from other students. This has three consequences: first, it reproduces a polarisation between “normal” and “different” students, second, giftedness becomes a problem in schooling; and third, paradoxically the exclusion of the students is made a prerequisite for their inclusion. We conclude that the formulation of giftedness in the documents analysed illustrates central tensions within inclusion as policy, both regarding who is in focus, how inclusion is organised, and its inherent relationship to special education. We argue that more coherent policy-visions of inclusion are needed to address the needs of all students.