Inclusion by Design, Not Default
Rethinking how mainstream schools can create environments where every learner can flourish.
Moving Beyond “Default Inclusion”
Inclusion in mainstream schools often happens by default rather than design. A neurodivergent learner, for example, is placed in a mainstream classroom because “that’s where they belong,” but without the structures, relationships, and intentional planning that ensure they thrive.
When inclusion is done by design, it starts with listening: listening to children about what helps them learn, listening to families about what matters at home, and listening to teachers about what they need to make classrooms safe and supportive for everyone. It recognises that learning environments must be shaped with equity at the centre—proactively planned, co-created with students and families, and sustained by whole-school cultures of belonging.
Why Design Matters
Every child is different. Equity means noticing what each child needs to grow and responding to it.
Intentionality over assumption. Belonging comes from being invited in, encouraged, and supported.
Flourishing is the real goal. Exams and grades matter, but so does confidence, friendship, joy, and the sense that school is a place where you can be yourself.
Designing for Inclusion in Schools
Universal Design for Learning (UDL):
Embed flexibility into teaching practices so learners can engage, express, and represent their learning in diverse ways. Teachers plan lessons so children can join in in different ways, drawing, talking, writing, moving.Ecological Agency:
Teachers are deliverers of curriculum and they shape relational, cultural, and systemic contexts. When schools support teacher agency through coaching, collaboration, and reflection, teachers are better equipped to design inclusive classrooms.Transitions with care:
Schools must intentionally scaffold micro and macro transitions —between lessons, across school years, and into adulthood. Teachers create small routines, visual supports, or a friendly check-in make those moments smoother.Coaching cultures:
Embedding coaching skills—listening, questioning, and building self-awareness—into school culture empowers teachers and students alike, creating a more inclusive ethos. Coaching conversations between staff mean teachers feel supported, not judged, when they’re figuring out how to respond to difference.Partnership with families:
Families hold invaluable expertise about their children. Inclusion by design recognises them as partners in shaping strategies.
The Risk of “Default Inclusion”
When schools rely on default inclusion:
Learners often experience exclusion within inclusion—present in the classroom and unable to participate fully.
Teachers feel unsupported and may fall back on deficit narratives (“the student can’t cope here”).
Policies appear inclusive on paper however in reality are widening inequities rather than closing them.
Families may feel like their voices are lost in the system.
A Call to Action
Inclusion by design is an ongoing commitment: to reflect, to adapt, and to listen to the voices of students themselves. It requires courageous leadership, creative teaching, and a willingness to see diversity as the very fabric of education.
If we want schools where every learner can flourish, we must move beyond default inclusion and embrace inclusion by design—where belonging is intentional, equity is embedded, and flourishing is the shared goal.