Brokers of Inclusion: understanding the role of school leaders in the successful implementation of Inclusive Education practices in primary schools in Zambia

The successful implementation of inclusive education for children with disabilities remains elusive in many countries despite ratification and domestication of international inclusive education treaties. This is caused by numerous socio-economic factors like poverty, lack of trained teachers, lack of teaching and learning devices etc. Whereas this is true for IE in Zambia, some school leaders have made commendable strides in implementing inclusive education practices. Through analysing the generational and social relations embedded in inclusion narratives of various IE stakeholders, this study unearths how some school leaders manage to implement IE practices despite operating in unfavourable working conditions. It presents successful school leaders as brokers of inclusion by showing how they outwit the attitudinal and structural barriers they face during IE implementation. This study encourages IE stakeholders in governance, academia, and practice to continue with the plea of ensuring the right to education is exercised by all children. It challenges them to do so exponentially by revealing that it is indeed possible.