Mapping inclusive education 1980 to 2019: A bibliometric analysis of thematic clusters and research directions

Michael Methlagl
University of Vienna, Austria, and University of Applied Sciences Wiener Neustadt, Austria

The importance of inclusive education receives global acceptance. The current paper presents a bibliometric analysis of 8398 papers dealing with inclusive education between 1980 and 2019. The research aim is to gain information on scientific productivity, international collaboration activities, and the conceptual structure of this research field. Descriptive analyses, co-authorship collaboration analysis and co-word analysis were conducted to obtain a comprehensive knowledge map of inclusive education research. The results show a fast growing body of research in inclusive education over the years with intensive international collaboration patterns. Six research clusters could be identified. Major and intensively studied research themes are disability issues, teacher professionalisation, teacher practices, attitudes towards inclusive education, social processes, support, curricular issues, student perspective, parent perspective, intercultural education, policy, etc.. Research addressing inclusive education from a queer perspective, bullying, stigmatisation, digital education and emerging technologies in inclusive settings are under-represented and should be intensified in future studies.
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Author: Michael Methlagl PhD is a lecturer in the Department of Sport Science at the University of Vienna and a scientific staff member at the University of Applied Sciences Wiener Neustadt, Training and Sports Sciences. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5110-4473 Email: michael.methlagl@univie.ac.at Please cite as: Methlagl, M. (2022). Mapping inclusive education 1980 to 2019: A bibliometric analysis of thematic clusters and research directions. Issues in Educational Research, 32(1), 225-247. http://www.iier.org.au/iier32/methlagl.pdf