Education for all: The Good Inclusion Game
The Good Inclusion Game lifts academic engagement and cuts disruption in mixed-ability classes.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Dillenburger et al. (2019) tested the Good Inclusion Game in nine classrooms.
The classes held 93 students with and without special needs.
Teachers ran the game like a team contest for inclusion and fewer disruptions.
What they found
After the game started, inclusive academic work rose in every room.
Disruptive behavior also dropped across the same classes.
How this fits with other research
Gulboy et al. (2025) ran a similar contest called the Good Behavior Game.
They saw the same drop in disruption for mixed-ability middle-schoolers.
Douma et al. (2006) review shows the classic game has worked since 1969.
The new GIG keeps the old rules but adds an inclusion focus.
Why it matters
You can copy the Good Inclusion Game on Monday.
Split the class into teams, set clear inclusion goals, and award the winning team.
It costs nothing and helps every learner take part while you gain calmer rooms.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
The term “education for all” in the context of inclusive schooling describes the aim that children with identified special/additional needs are fully included in education together with their typically developing peers. However, this is easier said than done as there are few easy‐to‐use methods that teachers can use while at the same time teaching the approbate curriculum to children with a full range of different abilities. The Good Inclusion Game (GIG) is a group contingency‐based tool to create inclusive classrooms that utilizes principles of the applied branch of the science of behavior analysis (applied behavior analysis) and can be used across settings and academic subjects. The GIG was evaluated across nine classrooms including 93 boys and girls aged between 9 and 15 years of age, including 20 children with identified special educational needs. Findings show that the GIG reliably led to a significant increase of inclusive curriculum‐focused activities with the collateral effect of decreasing disruptive behaviors for all children. Findings are discussed in the context of inclusive schooling and evidence‐based education.
Behavioral Interventions, 2019 · doi:10.1002/bin.1671