Inclusion Dialogue Dr Joanne Banks

Justin J.W. Powell has been Professor of Sociology of Education in the Institute of Education & Society at the University of Luxembourg since 2012. His comparative institutional analyses of educational systems chart persistence and change in special and inclusive education, in vocational training and higher education, and in science and research policy. His research—bridging sociology, political science, and education—has been widely published in English and German and received numerous international awards.

Recent books include Barriers to Inclusion (Routledge, 2011/2016), Comparing Special Education: Origins to Contemporary Paradoxes (Stanford UP, 2011), The Century of Science: The Global Triumph of the Research University (Emerald, 2017), and European Educational Research (Re)Constructed: Institutional Change in Germany, the United Kingdom, Norway and the European Union (Oxford: Symposium Books).

In 2017, he co-founded the Luxembourg Educational Research Association (LuxERA).

Deborah Gallagher is Professor of Education at the University of Northern Iowa. She received her PhD in Special Education at the University of Virginia in 1992.



Her research interest centers on the philosophy of science as it pertains to research on disability, pedagogy, and policy in education and special education. Among numerous articles and book chapters, she is the lead author of a book entitled Challenging Orthodoxy in Special Education: Dissenting Voices (2004). In 2006, this book was selected by the European Educational Research Association as one of three key texts for the conference’s inclusion strand. She has presented invited papers on research methodology at both international (Norwegian University of Sport and Physical Education’s NYTT Seminar Program, Oslo Norway; Exeter University, Exeter, England and Leeds University, Leeds, England) and national conferences.

She also served as an international advisory board member of the British Educational Research Journal and is a founding member of the Disability Studies in Education Special Interest Group at the American Educational Research Association where she has served as its co-chair and program chair.

Professor Chris Forlin is a Research Fellow at the University of Notre Dame Australia.  She is also an international education consultant specializing in supporting governments and school systems to implement effective and quality inclusive education. She has worked in the field of education for more than 40 years as a teacher, university lecturer and government advisor.

Her extant research and publications focus on policy development for education reform and systemic support for children and youth with disabilities; and development of inclusive curriculum and pedagogy with a particular emphasis on inclusion in developing countries. Her most recent book, published by Emerald (2022), is on transition programs for children and youth with diverse needs published in the International Perspectives on Inclusive Education series that she edits.

Srikala Naraian is Professor of Education in the Department of Curriculum and Teaching at Teachers College, Columbia University. She locates herself in the disability studies tradition and is interested in qualitative inquiry in inclusive education and teacher preparation for inclusive education. Alongside her research in US public schools, Dr. Naraian has also prepared teachers for inclusive education in international contexts; she has served as a Fulbright Specialist in Germany and in India.

She has published widely in many journals including International Journal of Inclusive Education, Teachers College Record and Curriculum Inquiry. Her recent books include Narratives of Inclusive Teaching: Stories of Becoming in the Field (2021), co-authored with Sarah Schlessinger and Teaching for Inclusion: Eight Principles for Equitable and Effective Practice (2017). 

My guest this week is Professor Suzanne Carrington who is a Research Professor in the Centre for Inclusive Education QUT Australia. She has over 27 years of experience working in universities including teaching, research, international development, and various leadership roles.

Her areas of expertise are in inclusive education, ethical and transformative leadership for inclusive schools, disability and teacher preparation for inclusive schools. Suzanne is currently the Program Director of the School Years Program for The Cooperative Research Centre for Living with Autism (Autism CRC). http://www.autismcrc.com.au/.

James M. Kauffman is Professor Emeritus of Education, University of Virginia, where he joined the faculty in 1970. His Ed.D. (1969) is from the University of Kansas, and in 2011 he received the distinguished alumni award from the University of Kansas School of Education. He is a past president of the Council for Children with Behavioral Disorders and a former teacher of both general elementary students and special education for students with emotional and behavioral disorders.

He is author or co-author and editor or co-editor of more than 30 books, many book chapters, and many journal articles. Garry Hornby and he edited a special issue of Education Sciences, which is to be published as a book in 2021 and titled Special and inclusive education: Perspectives, challenges and prospects. In 2020 he edited a volume titled On educational inclusion: Meanings, history, issues and international perspectives; He is also editor of a forthcoming book to be published in 2022, Revitalizing special education: Revolution, devolution, and evolution.