Foundation Phase teachers’ understandings and enactment of participation in school settings in Wales

This chapter focuses on inclusive education in terms of practitioners’ perceptions of child participation within the classroom and school. Following analysis of survey responses, we make visible teachers’ perspectives of children’s participation rights within Foundation Phase settings in Wales, in order to explore how these rights translate into practice, and to chart associated tensions and opportunities. The findings suggest that practitioners’ perceptions of participation are varied and context-specific. The rights-based terminology utilised in this study caused practitioners to reflect on their perceptions; some respondents were unaware of participation as part of their pedagogy and others were acutely aware and reflective of the role of participation in their daily pedagogical decision making. This chapter provides examples and practical illustrations of how participation is and can be embedded in pedagogical decision making to support children’s inclusion in classroom spaces.