"Let's not leave this problem"

"Let's not leave this problem": exploring inclusive education in rural South Africa
(Mitchell, C., De Lange, N., & Xuan Thuy, N. (2008). Prospects, 38, 99-122, UNESCO)

This article presents a participatory video project undertaken among teachers in a rural South Africa as an effective method to bring about inclusive education with bottom-up grassroots policy making in mind. In defining inclusion, the authors interpret Slee's (1998) term, "supported inclusion" to stress making provision for necessary support of learners in the mainstream class, which practically does not exist in rural South Africa. Upon describing the scripts of the short videos (Needy learners and Poverty) produced by the participant teachers and immediate actions taken after the screenings, the authors emphasize video making as a medium for community engagement[how? why?] and list constructedness, reflexivity and collectivity as the most critical components while working with teachers. By constructedness the authors mean the understanding of socially constructed knowledge through nothing-for-granted selection process involved in video making, as explained as "nothing is accidental". Reflexivity is refered to as being aware of their own images and representation in mass media while collectivity is explained as a strong sense of a collective response built through participating in multiple roles such as viewers, actors, technicians, etc. With regard to the importance of collective response, the authors write, "in the case of gender violence, which is social in nature and multi-layered in meaning, the collective response is vital."

As the significance of visual methodologies, the authors affirm that it not only made possible a deeper understanding of the problems but also better informed inclusive education policy by bringing in the insiders' voice inclusively. In stressing inclusive education, the authors argue that inclusion requires new types of research that empower both teachers and students with voice and authority. Inclusion, in this article, is vividly described through the lens of Allan's (2005) "politics of desire": "the only possible way to undertake this process is to actually be attracted to change, to want it, the way we want a lover--in the flesh" (Braidotti).

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Allan, J. (2005). Inclusion as an ethical project. In S. Tremain (Ed.), Foucault and the government of disability. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press.
Slee, R. (1998). The politics of theorizing special education. In C. Clark, A. Dyson & A. Millward (Eds.), Theorising special education (pp. 126–136). London: Routledge.