• CHAPTER ANNOTATION

1. INTRODUCTION TO INCLUSION:
2. INCLUSION IN INTERNATIONAL DOCUMENTS 1945 - 1999:
3. INCLUSION IN INTERNATIONAL DOCUMENTS 2000 – PRESENT:
4. INTEGRATION OR INCLUSION?
5. MEDICAL VS. SOCIAL MODEL OF DISABILITY
6. PRINCIPLES OF INCLUSIVE EDUCATION
7. THE CURRENT CONCEPT OF INCLUSIVE EDUCATION
8. INCLUSION BEYOND EDUCATION
9. AUTHORS, SOURCES AND LITERATURE

7. THE CURRENT CONCEPT OF INCLUSIVE EDUCATION

The emergence of inclusive education was influenced by various factors: professionals (pressure on the quality of education, improving the quality and efficacy of education), international governmental and non-governmental organizations and movements and foreign experiences. These effects rarely operated simultaneously, but they all in some way influenced the formation of the concept of inclusion.

As is evident from the above mentioned, it is not possible to provide one single all-encompassing definition of inclusive education. Definitions vary in different countries and in the different interpretations of experts and organizations, and also depending on the area on which they place the highest emphasis.

Traditionally, the term inclusion applied to pupils with special educational needs. At present, the approach rises an interest in the successful education of all students, not just students with disabilities or disadvantages. 
UNESCO considers inclusion to be a process of creating optimal conditions for the diverse needs of students through a greater involvement of pupils in education, cultural and social life and minimizing exclusion from education or the educational process. This process, which requires changes and modifications of content, approaches and strategies, must be applied to all children of a particular age group and must be based on the belief that the education of all children without distinction is the responsibility of mainstream schools.

A similar focus can be found in the Czech definition (Nikolai 2008), which sees the basic idea of inclusive education as an attempt to provide all students with the best quality of education regardless of the extent of their special needs and also to ensure the availability of the highest forms of education.

The central principles of inclusive education are availability and participation. Education should prepare all students for life and help to develop their potential. It emphasizes the positive perception of individual differences in education. Inclusion does not and should not mean assimilation. Students must have the opportunity to participate fully in education, not only to simply be physically present in the classroom. It is the real social isolation of pupils with special educational needs in mainstream education because of insufficient or excessive attention which is one of the most frequent targets of criticism of integration / inclusion.