Inclusion and education

participation, not passive reception of instructions 
and guidelines.
Efforts to build inclusive education systems can easily 
be undermined when majority populations stereotype 
minority and vulnerable groups because of a predisposal 
to categorize, simplify and impose group identities, which 
contributes to negative attitudes and discriminatory 
actions. Children can ostracize disadvantaged peers 
through jokes or intentional aggression. Parents can block 
efforts to form inclusive classrooms, whether because 
they belong to a privileged group and do not want their 
children’s progress negatively affected or because they 
believe their children’s or community’s special needs are 
better served through separate provision. 
Inclusive education is a system in which many 
stakeholders are agents for creating an equitable learning 
experience for all learners. An inclusive school supports 
conditions to promote all students’ achievement, well-
being and sense of belonging and cultivates a culture that 
rejects discrimination and promotes equity (Goldberg et 
al., 2019). Keeping learners at the centre and achieving the 
goal of inclusion in education requires genuinely involving 
parents and families in learners’ school experience and 
making use of the wider community. This chapter focuses 
on how parents, guardians and families as well as the 
community within which the school is based can impact 
on learners’ achievement and wellbeing.
GENUINE PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT 
BUILDS TRUSTING RELATIONSHIPS
The involvement of parents, guardians and families in 
school life builds trust, which ultimately impacts positively 
on learners’ achievement, well-being and sense of 
belonging (Allen et al., 2018; European Agency, 2014, 2016). 
Almost every country in the region supports parental 
involvement in their children’s learning: 28 of the region’s 
education systems have policies supporting parental 
involvement in school governance. In Serbia, a 2020 law 
emphasizes parents’ responsibility to fulfil the right to 
education by enrolling their child, their role in education 
quality through prevention of discrimination and violence, 
and their right to participate in representative bodies, 
such as the parent council and municipal parent council. 
Parents should also have the right to choose their child’s 
learning environment, which is especially important for 
those with children in vulnerable groups.
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C E N T R A L A N D E A S T E R N E U R O P E , C A U C A S U S A N D C E N T R A L A S I A

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Yet only 14 of 30 education systems in the region 
enshrine the latter right in a law or policy (