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Schools are critical spaces for young men from refugee backgrounds. They play an integral role in literacy development, educational attainment, and providing a sense of belonging. Inclusive education practices for this group are largely absent in Australian schools. Research shows focusing on these young men from a non-deficit position assists with inclusivity. There is a lack of research exploring the agentic practices of young men from refugee backgrounds within schools. This paper explores the symbolic value of swagger for a group of young men from refugee backgrounds at a high school in Australia. A Bourdieusian theoretical framework guided critical awareness of power in schools. This research shows how a group of young men found a meaningful way to acquire social and cultural capital. Despite the school's constraints, this group developed a group identity reflected in their clothing and embodied dispositions referred to here as swagger. Our findings demonstrate the complex power relations at work, including the opportunity for the young men to resist and be included. In the spirit of Bourdieu's concern for reflexivity our findings point to the need for schools, teachers, and education policy makers to consider the workings of power in schools in more considered ways. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Universities often struggle to translate theory of inclusive education into real life practices for pre-service teachers (PSTs). In this paper, we evaluate an innovative partnership between Australian secondary school teachers and university academics where they co-designed and co-taught an undergraduate inclusive education course. We used a quasi-experimental design where 67 PSTs were grouped into two cohorts: one co-taught by the team of school educators and university academics (n = 26), the other taught only by university academics (n = 41). PSTs' scores on teaching efficacy, attitudes and intentions to teach in inclusive classrooms were measured at the pre and posttest stages of the course. Our evaluation showed significant increases in positive attitudes and teaching efficacy skills, decreased concerns and higher intentions to teach in inclusive classrooms among PSTs who were co-taught. The co-teaching team also identified various professional and personal benefits of collaborating. We further discuss the implications of our research for teacher education programmes and the usefulness of including school educators' expertise in bridging the gaps between theory and practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Refugee-background youth in the Australian context have long been confronted with a series of challenges surrounding their living and educational conditions. However, limited research has been conducted to examine the underlying factors of such problems. This paper critically explores possible factors that contribute to or intensify the challenges that refugee-background children and youth face in Australia by scrutinising related legal documents and education policies (e.g. inclusive and language transition policies). It is argued that the living and learning crisis among refugee-background youth in Australia is a result of: (a) restrictive refugee law; (b) incomplete education policy; and (c) deep-rooted political and historical views on refugees. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Access to educational opportunities is instrumental for social integration of refugee youth. This paper reports on a qualitative case study of educational aspirations and experiences of refugee-background African youth (RAY) in Melbourne, Australia. Guided by a capability approach to social justice, in-depth interviews were conducted with two groups of RAY: those who have transitioned to higher education (HE), and those who have not transitioned to HE after completing high school. The findings show that: (a) RAY share a firm belief in the value of HE; (b) but they are differently positioned to convert opportunities into achievements – e.g. only the refugee youth with high levels of navigational capacity take advantage of the available flexible pathways to HE; (c) the stress of racism pervades the educational experiences of both groups; and (d) some African refugee youth have shown a considerable level of resilience in that, despite the challenges of racism, a history of disrupted educational trajectories and a lack of scholarly resources at home, they have transitioned to and thrived in HE. In light of these findings, the paper draws some implications for equity policies and practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Australia was an early signatory to the Salamanca Statement, and it espouses inclusive education (IE) as the overarching philosophy of education for all. A 2015 critique of IE in Australia [Anderson and Boyle 2015. "Inclusive Education in Australia: Rhetoric, Reality and the Road Ahead." Support for Learning 30 (1): 4–22. doi:] found that while some gains had been made, particularly in the recognition of the needs of some of the nation's minority groups, the lack of a nationally accepted understanding of IE meant that it was transpiring in fundamentally distinctive ways across the eight education jurisdictions, with different outcomes for different groups of students. This paper reflects upon why Australia has struggled to enact the recommendations outlined in the Salamanca Statement a quarter of a century ago. The impacts of current education reforms, including the current model of educational provision, the understanding of disability and educational need, and the neo-liberal concepts of standardisation, measurement, and choice are explored. It challenges the idea that IE is the work of schools, and instead argues the need for a national approach to IE. Governments must acknowledge the barriers that their current policies and structures erect and shift towards a more inclusive model of educational delivery – for the benefit of all children and young people in Australia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The education of students with disability has changed dramatically over the past 50 years. Universal declarations and conventions have underpinned many of these changes at both an international level and within Australia. In the early 1970s, the philosophy of John Rawls provided a theory of justice to preserve social justice and individual liberty within communities. This mirrored attempts to advance education to ensure social justice, rights and access to education for learners with disability. This micro-historical ethnography provides a review spanning the past half century in Australia of changes to the education of students with disability. Underpinned by an ethnographic epistemology through interviews with the presentism of eight educators involved in Western Australian education for learners with disability, and viewed through an interpretivist lens, major elements of change are identified. An analytical framework deduced from the work of Rawls is used to reflect upon the changes and discuss the degree that Rawls' justice as fairness has been enacted in education for learners with disability from 1970 to 2021 in Australia. Key words: Australia, learners with disability, special education, inclusion, Rawls, equity, social justice [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Given the urban dominance of inclusion literature, it is germane to explore issues pertaining to including students with disability in the rural school. As such, this paper uses a qualitative research methodology to examine how 20 teachers experience including students with disabilities in their rural secondary classrooms. As a mother of an adult with disabilities and as a former teacher in both rural primary and secondary schools, the first author and the person responsible for the field-work was an insider researcher. Teachers in the study described having students with disabilities as a relatively new phenomenon. Although they tentatively supported the philosophical ideals of inclusion, many expressed mixed feelings about including students with a disability in their rural classrooms due to a perceived lack of support, high staff turnover, difficulties accessing professional development and the prohibitive constraints of providing for a diverse range of needs within a rural context. Data analysis indicates the need for a more multidimensional approach to rural issues. Despite negative urban comparisons, rural social representations using minor theory can be shown to be dynamic and continually adapting to fresh circumstances in ways that are relevant and anticipatory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper focuses on adults with disability and their inclusion in Australian society by examining various outcomes: community living, community participation and inclusive social roles such as open (competitive) employment, participation in university education, as well as use of generic community services like public transport. Australian disability services legislation provides clear support for inclusion, but implementation is inconsistent and segregated services remain common. Available outcomes data indicate that Australian disability service users are more to likely experience greater inclusion if they live in more normalised and less segregated settings. Australia has a history of segregated disability services and inaccessible community services that it is working to overcome. There is a growing but still a limited inclusion for adults in key adult roles such as open employment and university education. Significant progress has been made in areas as diverse as deinstitutionalisation and increased accessibility to public transport, but much remains to be done. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the social and historical formation of 'successful' refugee students' learning practices utilising in-depth, critical incident interviews with primary school aged, refugee-background students in Australia. Employing a practice lens, this article firstly explores the informal learning practices the students identify from their past; secondly, examines the arrangements which hold these learning practices in place, and thirdly, explicates the ways in which these practices may enable students' educational achievement in their current host country. We conclude that despite difficult starting points and educational gaps, many refugee students find ways to learn and succeed in school, but such achievement should not be a matter of serendipity. Inclusive schools must acknowledge not only the challenges in refugee students' learning, but also the resources they bring into their education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Schools have the potential for significant impact on the lives of Australian students with a refugee background. Many of these young people speak at least one language other than English, have previous histories of interrupted schooling or have experienced trauma during times of displacement and forced migration. Combined with the further challenges of settling within an unfamiliar cultural frame, these students experience a range of circumstances which are not present for many of their Australianborn peers. Australian students with a refugee background have diverse skill and abilities, with many showing independence and resilience. Opportunities for academic learning and development of social capital within the school context can be enhanced with relevant pedagogy and policy which draws upon and highlights the positive individual qualities that these students exhibit. Australian school practices are shaped by both state and federal education policies, which are interpreted and applied by individual schools within their own frameworks. This review considers recent literature on the experiences of Australian students with a refugee background as they participate in schooling, with a focus on the ways in which schools provide either opportunities or barriers to engagement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]