Ep 15 - Inclusion to Belonging: Moving Beyond the Buzzwords, with Craig Duggan

In this episode I sat down with inclusion expert Craig Duggan (‘Executive Director of Inclusive Learning and Additional Learning Support’ at Middlesbrough College Group) and discussed how inclusion isn’t just about access or provision, it’s about a genuine commitment to keeping every learner in the system, even when that makes things more complex. I asked him the following: The word ‘inclusion’ is everywhere at the moment: White Paper, OFSTED, strategy documents - but it risks becoming a buzzword. From your perspective, what does genuine inclusive learning actually mean in practice? You’ve recently written an article for FE Week where you argue that when inclusion is done properly, it can actually make things like attendance, progress and safeguarding data look more complex (or even worse in the short term) - because more vulnerable learners are being retained rather than pushed out. Can you unpack that tension for us, and why leaders need to be ready for it? If we walked into a school or college where inclusion is truly embedded and not just stated, what would we see, and what would it feel like for the learners there? In your article for FE week you talked about learners historically being ‘managed out’ of systems. For leaders and teachers listening across all phases, what are the key shifts - in both systems and day-to-day practice, that are needed to genuinely keep learners in, together with helping them thrive? How would you define a real sense of belonging for a child or young person, and why is it so fundamental to their development, behaviour and learning? If belonging is something we want to build, how do we actually know if it’s there, or if it isn’t? What are the signs that a learner genuinely feels they belong, and what are the warning signs that they don’t? In a system still driven by accountability and performance, how do leaders stay true to the fact that belonging should be a moral commitment to all our learners, especially when it’s difficult or uncomfortable?