How to adopt an "inclusion as process" approach and navigate ethical challenges in research.

Abstract

This case study explores how Mary Quirke aimed to engage in Inclusionary Research for her doctoral research project and how her “Inclusion as Process” approach depended on and related to an “Ethics as Process” approach. The case study explains “Inclusion as Process” as an approach to research and discusses ethical implications of particular relevance to educational and other researchers in current times. In particular, it examines the application of Universal Design (UD) and Universal Design for Learning (UDL) thinking in research and how these approaches relate to these individual yet interdependent themes. Finally, the case study outlines an “Inclusion as Process” framework to guide inclusive research. Mary Quirke is currently engaged in doctoral research exploring UDL, Inclusion and Career Guidance and developed these guidelines over the course of her project. Dr Patricia McCarthy, whose ontological position as a disabled researcher and whose experience in the field led the development of her own inclusive research agenda, contributed to the philosophy, inclusive practices and most importantly the necessary but subtle difference between inclusive researcher and inclusive research espoused in the guidelines. These “Inclusion as Process” guidelines enabled the doctoral research programme to continue its engagement in an inclusive manner despite of challenges of the pandemic and moreover to realize outcomes associated with sustainable development goals.