Justin J.W. Powell has been Professor of Sociology of Education in the Institute of Education & Society at the University of Luxembourg since 2012. His comparative institutional analyses of educational systems chart persistence and change in special and inclusive education, in vocational training and higher education, and in science and research policy. His research—bridging sociology, political science, and education—has been widely published in English and German and received numerous international awards. Recent books include Barriers to Inclusion (Routledge, 2011/2016), Comparing Special Education: Origins to Contemporary Paradoxes (Stanford UP, 2011), The Century of Science: The Global Triumph of the Research University (Emerald, 2017), and European Educational Research (Re)Constructed: Institutional Change in Germany, the United Kingdom, Norway and the European Union (Oxford: Symposium Books). In 2017, he co-founded the Luxembourg Educational Research Association (LuxERA).

Deborah Gallagher is Professor of Education at the University of Northern Iowa. She received her PhD in Special Education at the University of Virginia in 1992. Her research interest centers on the philosophy of science as it pertains to research on disability, pedagogy, and policy in education and special education. Among numerous articles and book chapters, she is the lead author of a book entitled Challenging Orthodoxy in Special Education: Dissenting Voices (2004). In 2006, this book was selected by the European Educational Research Association as one of three key texts for the conference’s inclusion strand. She has presented invited papers on research methodology at both international (Norwegian University of Sport and Physical Education’s NYTT Seminar Program, Oslo Norway; Exeter University, Exeter, England and Leeds University, Leeds, England) and national conferences. She also served as an international advisory board member of the British Educational Research Journal and is a founding member of the Disability Studies in Education Special Interest Group at the American Educational Research Association where she has served as its co-chair and program chair.

Professor Chris Forlin is a Research Fellow at the University of Notre Dame Australia.  She is also an international education consultant specializing in supporting governments and school systems to implement effective and quality inclusive education. She has worked in the field of education for more than 40 years as a teacher, university lecturer and government advisor. Her extant research and publications focus on policy development for education reform and systemic support for children and youth with disabilities; and development of inclusive curriculum and pedagogy with a particular emphasis on inclusion in developing countries. Her most recent book, published by Emerald (2022), is on transition programs for children and youth with diverse needs published in the International Perspectives on Inclusive Education series that she edits.

Srikala Naraian is Professor of Education in the Department of Curriculum and Teaching at Teachers College, Columbia University. She locates herself in the disability studies tradition and is interested in qualitative inquiry in inclusive education and teacher preparation for inclusive education. Alongside her research in US public schools, Dr. Naraian has also prepared teachers for inclusive education in international contexts; she has served as a Fulbright Specialist in Germany and in India. She has published widely in many journals including International Journal of Inclusive Education, Teachers College Record and Curriculum Inquiry. Her recent books include Narratives of Inclusive Teaching: Stories of Becoming in the Field (2021), co-authored with Sarah Schlessinger and Teaching for Inclusion: Eight Principles for Equitable and Effective Practice (2017). 

My guest this week is Professor Suzanne Carrington who is a Research Professor in the Centre for Inclusive Education QUT Australia. She has over 27 years of experience working in universities including teaching, research, international development, and various leadership roles. Her areas of expertise are in inclusive education, ethical and transformative leadership for inclusive schools, disability and teacher preparation for inclusive schools. Suzanne is currently the Program Director of the School Years Program for The Cooperative Research Centre for Living with Autism (Autism CRC). http://www.autismcrc.com.au/.

James M. Kauffman is Professor Emeritus of Education, University of Virginia, where he joined the faculty in 1970. His Ed.D. (1969) is from the University of Kansas, and in 2011 he received the distinguished alumni award from the University of Kansas School of Education. He is a past president of the Council for Children with Behavioral Disorders and a former teacher of both general elementary students and special education for students with emotional and behavioral disorders. He is author or co-author and editor or co-editor of more than 30 books, many book chapters, and many journal articles. Garry Hornby and he edited a special issue of Education Sciences, which is to be published as a book in 2021 and titled Special and inclusive education: Perspectives, challenges and prospects. In 2020 he edited a volume titled On educational inclusion: Meanings, history, issues and international perspectives; He is also editor of a forthcoming book to be published in 2022, Revitalizing special education: Revolution, devolution, and evolution. 

My guest this week is Professor Johan Malmqvist, Professor of Education at Linnaeus University Department of Pedagogy and Learning in Sweden. His work focuses on issues around school context and pedagogical approaches in inclusive education with a particular focus on the conditions and adaptations required for inclusive education. Johan is an expert for the Swedish National Agency for Education.

This week I speak with two guests, Drs Susan Gabel and Amanda Miller, on the topic of inclusive education from the US perspective. Susan and Amanda work in the College of Education in Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan. In this podcast we talk about their research which focuses on how school systems, policies, and practices impact girls of color, including girls who identify with or have been labeled with disabilities.

Ines Alves is a Lecturer in Inclusive Education and the Programme Leader for the MEd in Inclusive Education at The University of Glasgow. She holds a PhD in Education from The University of Manchester, UK; a MA in Special Education (Inclusion and Disability Studies), Institute of Education, London; and a MA in Language, Ethnicity and Education from King’s College London. Ines is a co-convenor for the European Educational Research Association Network on Inclusive Education. She has been involved in a number of European projects such as Walk the Global Walk, EDiTE (European Doctorate in Teacher Education), and MURINET (Multidisciplinary Research Network on Health and Disability), and has worked as a consultant collaborating with schools in disadvantaged areas within a Portuguese Ministry of Education area-based intervention (TEIP). Ines Alves’ research interests are in the fields of inclusive education, equity and social justice, Human Rights and disability, and Autism.  She is also interested in exploring conceptualisations of diversity and difference within educational settings, and in comparative research in education.

Professor Dr. M. Tariq Ahsan has been working at the Institute of Education and Research of University of Dhaka since 2001. Tariq did his PhD in 2015 at Monash University, Australia on teacher preparation for inclusive education. Tariq has vast experience in the areas of equity and inclusion, ECCD, Education in Emergency, Adolescent Skill for the 21st Century and National Curriculum Framework Development. Tariq conducted a significant number of researches and published more than 100 papers in the forms of national and international journal articles, books, conference proceedings, and reports. He is the Secretary General of the “Asian Centre for Inclusive Education” and founding editor of “Asian Journal of Inclusive Education”. Dr. Ahsan received Australian Government’s “Australian Alumni Excellence Awards 2014”; Venus International Research Award 2017 from Chennai, India and Jiddu Krishnamurti Awards 2018 from the Annapurna Memorial College of Education & Jadavpur University, Kolkata, India for his contributions.

This week I talk to Sally Tomlinson, Emeritus Professor at Goldsmiths London University and an Honorary Research Fellow in the Department of Education, University of Oxford. She has spent nearly forty years teaching, research and writing about special and inclusive education, the politics of education, and race, ethnicity and education. Her most recent books are" A Sociology of special and inclusive education" (Routledge 2017) and "Education and Race from Empire to Brexit" (Policy Press 2019). She is currently writing a book on 'Ignorance' (Agenda Press).

Umesh Sharma is a Professor in the Faculty of Education at Monash University, Australia where he is the Associate Dean (Equity and Inclusion). Umesh’s research programs in the area of disability and inclusive education span India, Pakistan, China, Bangladesh, Fiji, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu and Samoa as well as Australia, Canada, USA and New Zealand.  He is the chief co-editor of the Australasian Journal of Special Education and the Oxford Encyclopedia of Inclusive and Special Education.  He has authored over 175 academic articles, book chapters and edited books that focus on various aspects of inclusive education. His co-authored book “A Guide to Promoting a Positive Classroom Environment” was the recipient of the International Book Prize Award from the Exceptionality Education International. He was (2019) named the top Special Education Researcher in Australia based on the impact of his work locally and internationally by the Australian Chief Scientist. More recently he was identified as the ‘most prolific author’ in the field of inclusive teacher education (ITE) and inclusive education respectively based on systematic bibliometric reviews which examined the work of highly cited inclusive education researchers in the last 25 years.    His main areas of research are positive behaviour support, inclusive education for disadvantaged children and policy and practice in special and inclusive education.