Introduction

In the past three decades, the international community has witnessed two simultaneous, albeit contradictory, developments in education. On the one hand, the formation and pursuit of various global education agendas, which establish commitments and goals for all countries, instil educational priorities and aim at promoting values and ideals of social progress and justice, equality, peace, sustainability, and human rights.

On the other hand, a set of globally converging discourses on education that flag opposing views has emerged and been consolidated around the world. Embedded in a neoliberal imaginary, these discourses have narrowed down the purpose of education so as to prioritise its economic function, namely, economic growth and employability, over some equally important objectives like social cohesion and participation. As a result, the very notions of equity and inclusion have been rearticulated under utilitarian principles that entangle equity with quality and excellence in the outcomes of education, thus diluting more robust understandings of equity and inclusion as social justice in which inequality in education is explained by structural factors like widespread poverty, marginalisation and cumulative disadvantage.

Taking equity and inclusion as points of departure, this chapter posits that these foundational principles have implications in terms of the conceptualisation and formulation of education policies, strategies and the governance and financing of education for the most vulnerable populations. In so doing, it explores how participatory policymaking processes may foster dialogue among different groups, allowing for the recognition of difference and diversity and the representation of marginalised groups and their world views, needs, wants and aspirations.

Different conceptualisations of equity and inclusion

Definitions of equity and inclusion vary according to different philosophical traditions. Their conceptualisation has been strongly associated with the development of theories of social justice, ranging from utilitarianism to contractualism. The former identifies justice (the morally right action) with the satisfaction of desire and the search for happiness as ultimate goods. As such, under utilitarianism, the right action is the one that produces the most good. As explained by Jeremy Bentham (2000: 14):