Unseen ethical paradoxes of inclusive education in the age of artificial intelligence
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 22422147 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Magdalena Kohout-Diaz (0000-0003-3838-1470, Université de Bordeaux, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2026 |
| Pages | 1-16 |
| Publication date | 2026-06-18 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | International Journal of Inclusive Education (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1360-3116 • E-ISSN: 1464-5173 |
| Publisher | Informa UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/13603116.2026.2691584 |
| OpenAlex | W7165160824 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 27 |
The rapid expansion of artificial intelligence (AI) in education is frequently presented as a means of enhancing accessibility, efficiency, and personalisation. Yet its implications for educating inclusively remain conceptually underexplored. This article addresses how AI-driven logics of standardisation, optimisation, and prediction reconfigure the ethical, epistemological, and professional foundations of inclusive educational practices. Adopting a critical–interpretive conceptual approach, the analysis draws on international policy discourses, peer-reviewed academic literature, and ethical debates at the intersection of inclusive education and digital governance. Through an iterative analytical process, the paper identifies three structural paradoxes that emerge when AI is mobilised in inclusive contexts: tensions between universality and singularity, control and uncertainty, and professional reflexivity and managerial constraint. The findings show how these paradoxes reshape policy rationales and educational practices, increasingly reframing inclusive education as a technocratic process of optimisation rather than an ethical and relational endeavour. The article argues that engaging AI in inclusive educational contexts requires sustained critical reflexivity rather than adaptation to algorithmic rationalities. It concludes by outlining implications for teacher education, ethical governance, and educational technology design, emphasising the need to preserve professional agency, epistemic plurality, and uncertainty as conditions for democratic educational futures.
Cognitive reframing · Democracy · Higher education · Philosophy of education · Reflexivity · Technocracy · Digital Education and Society · Educational Theory and Curriculum Studies · Global Educational Policies and Reforms
What counts as evidence of inclusive education?
The education debate
Promoting inclusion and equity in education
Deep learning goes to school
Teacher professionalism
ChatGPT for good? On opportunities and challenges of large language models for education
AI4People—An Ethical Framework for a Good AI Society
Discipline and Punish
Naming and Claiming
Pandemic politics, pedagogies and practices
Artificial intelligence and education in China
The datafication of teaching in Higher Education
Inclusive education for all
Practical and ethical challenges of large language models in education
L’éducation inclusive
The Agency of Difference in Chilean School Policies and Practices
École inclusive, redéfinition du fait collectif et fonctions de l’accessibilité
Initial teacher education
A critical exploration of inclusion policies of elite UK universities
Exploring inclusive pedagogy
The End of the Cognitive Empire
Decolonising (through) inclusive education
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |