The architecture of inclusion: What renders a learning place into an inclusive learning place in the public space of lifelong learning?

Abstract

Abstract The paper raises the question of how inclusion, in the sense of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, is operationalized in institutional learning settings for adults. It presents findings of a qualitative pilot study. Based on a relational theory of space, the findings elicit a conceptual model of the architecture of inclusion at public places of learning for adults. The model illuminates the way social space is constituted in and by the actions of professionals, and the resulting consequences for access to public learning places and order/ings of participation there, in particular regarding “dis/ability”. Thus, places of learning act as a magnifying glass on the daily arena of (contested) negotiations on belonging to the community of learners.

Keywords

• Inclusion
• Space
• Löw
• Public adult education
• Professionals
• Participation