Inclusion paradigms and perspectives: A stepping stone to accepting learner diversity in physical education

Learner diversity is the focus of this paper. Parallels are among attempts to integrate children with disabilities (who have unique motor needs), less skilled learners, and/or disinterested learners. Paul and Ward (1996) prop ose that debates over inclusion are paradigmatic in that ethical inclusion paradigm proponents (all children should be included) are at odds with comp arative inclusion studies (determining whether or not inclusion really work s). Application of Paul and Ward's idea about: paradigm conflict and other special education perspectives are discussed to draw attention to low skill ed and/or disinterested. learners as well as to children with disabilities so that the needs of all children ape uniformly addressed. When conducting research about learners without disabilities that are currently not fitting into physical education classes, paradigm dilemmas must be avoided. Future studies in physical education should focus on how diverse learners can be accommodated more than on how diverse learners affect other children. Furth er, physical educators may be better able to serve the needs of all student s through cultural/social minority models (Paul, 1998; Sherrill, 1998) and infusion-based curricula (Rizzo, Broadhead, & Kowalski, 1997).