Adult Narrated Perspectives on Childhood Marginalisation in Everyday School Life in Denmark

Educational exclusion and inclusion generate additional insights when they are theorised as different kinds of relationships. This chapter explores such relationships from neurological, psychological, anthropological and communicative perspectives, focusing respectively on synapse connections, object relations, artefacts and language. The rationale for this exploration is to identify the specific understandings of exclusion and inclusion afforded by these particular constructions of relationships.

This identification is illustrated by selected excerpts from an extended narrative by Nanna, a Danish woman with special educational needs. Nanna’s experiences of educational fringe dwelling are analysed through the four relationship lenses highlighted above. In doing so, the chapter demonstrates the empowering potential of narrative as a research method that can contribute directly to building resilience and enhancing equity in educational settings.