Children and Practitioners as Truth Seekers and Truth Tellers: Innovative, Counter-Hegemonic Approaches to Evaluating National Inclusion Policies

This paper presents a counter-hegemonic research approach applied to the evaluation of an Irish policy for inclusion in the early years, the Access and Inclusion Model (AIM). AIM seeks to enable the inclusion of children with disabilities in mainstream Early Childhood Education and Care (ECCE). The study was commissioned by a department of the Government of Ireland, and investigated implementation, impact, the extent to which AIM had increased the capacity of the ECCE workforce for inclusive practice, and potential expansion of the policy. Mixed methods were used, and the study engaged over 2,000 participants. Notably, the study integrated two counter-hegemonic elements, involving Practitioner Researchers (PRs) as co-researchers and lead researchers in constructing case studies, and the use of an inclusive elicitation method which facilitated young children’s own accounts of their inclusion in pre-school. We claim that our research design aligns with Fraser's three elements of social justice: redistribution of power to PRs, recognition of children as inclusion experts, and representation of children's voices on their terms. The paper will be of interest to researchers in the field of social justice, and to policy-makers who are seeking to evaluate policy progress and impact in socially just ways.