Abstract

Following Zygmunt Bauman, this article argues that the discursive shift to inclusive schooling is just that: a shift in language. The drive for school performance measurement according to a narrow band of student test results has a reductive effect. Students are seen as the bearers of results. Accordingly, students with disabilities present challenges to risk averse institutions. This article argues that some approaches to inclusive schooling have had perverse effects that further marginalize vulnerable student population groups. There exists a greater drive to calibrate and divide school populations. In effect, while the calls to value diversity and difference ring out, the range of tolerance for difference narrows.