‘Remember that at the core of it are young people and families who, you know, deserve access to opportunities and support that’s going to enable them to thrive and flourish…’ Inclusion practitioner experiences of enacting inclusion and social justice in academised secondary schools as told through stories shared in a Community of Practice.

Narratives of English inclusive education (IE) present a broken, adversarial system that deviates from social justice (SJ) and espoused notions of educational equity, constructing a reality of exclusion, segregation, and spiralling financial and human costs. Teachers are often responsibilised for the failure of inclusion, and yet the voices of those who enact inclusion are lacking from research. This research sought to hear the narratives of practitioners in academised high schools to understand how inclusion and SJ are maintained, by sharing stories of the triumphs and tensions of delivering inclusion and SJ through a Community of Practice (CoP). Findings from this study reconceptualise inclusion as a relational, contested, contextually driven and negotiated process that is shaped and constrained by neoliberal education systems. Inclusion is grounded in key values of equity, advocacy, and rights, often provided at the individual child level. Competing systems frustrate and contradict inclusion and SJ endeavours, including accountability pressures, resource allocation and policy frameworks informed by neoliberal priorities. Practitioner narratives reveal resistance and conflict, often targeted at mesosystem and decision-makers rather than at the wider macrosystem policy. Exploration of the usefulness of engaging in a Community of Practice as a mechanism for collective coping, social learning and practice development is considered.