Buen vivir: an indigenous vision of inclusive education

Inclusive education is a main part of the global human rights agenda promoted within the SDG’s call for access to, and equity in education. An inclusive education system would welcome diversity along with support the wellbeing of everyone within the system. However, most education systems are increasingly shaped by market-driven practices, accountability measures and rapid reforms that act in contradiction to what an inclusive education should be and seek to achieve. Thus, there is a pressing need for alternative visions of inclusive education. This paper introduces, buen vivir, an Andean indigenous region philosophy that offers a holistic representation of people within their own social and natural environment. I argue that inclusion through the framing of buen vivir embodies a collective, spiritual and ecological dimension of life through its promotion of social and environmental justice. Thus, buen vivir used as a framework would serve to evaluate inclusive education practices and policies.