A case study of the interaction between identity, power and inclusive practice in a minority-language school

Abstract

This study is an ethnographic case study of one school as it developed over the period of a year, in its early years of implementing an inclusion policy as set out by the provincial government. Through interviews, participant observation, and document analysis, data was gathered, and analyzed continuously using the “constant comparative method” of Glaser and Strauss (1967). This grounded theory approach led to a theory elaboration of sociologist Pierre Bourdieu’s theory of social organization (1996, 1992, 1986, 1982). Bourdieu’s notions of habitus, capital, and field were applied to inclusion, and the results brought new insight into the relationship between individual and group experiences of school for all stakeholders involved in inclusion.