Structural Isolation within Formal Inclusion: Multilayered Experiences of Inclusive Education in Small Elementary Schools without Special Classes

This study aims to examine how inclusive education is practiced in a small elementary school in Korea that does not meet the criteria for establishing a special class. By engaging the voices of teachers, students, and parents, the study investigates how inclusion is formally maintained while everyday practices reveal persistent structural isolation. Making use of a qualitative case study design and reflective thematic analysis, the study identifies a core dynamic characterized as “Emotional Isolation and Cyclical Burnout within Formal Inclusion.” Three interrelated mechanisms shaped this dynamic: the discontinuity of professional support that intensified teacher role overload;the erosion of individualized instruction that contributed to students’ withdrawal from learning and peer interactions; and unequal communication between school and home, coupled with absent transition support, which amplified parental anxiety. These mechanisms collectively gave rise to a condition of structural misalignment in which institutional responsibilities for inclusive education shifted disproportionately onto individual teachers. Guided by Disability Studies in Education (DSE) and UNESCO’s Inclusive Education framework, this study interprets these challenges as structural rather than individual. It suggests pathways toward substantive inclusion, including the development of sustained professional support systems, the cultivation of an inclusive school culture, and the institutionalization of transition support to ensure continuity. The study is expected to contribute a conceptual model that explains why small schools without special classes remain confined to formal inclusion and identify structural conditions necessary to strengthen meaningful participation.