Intentional Inclusion: Investigating Equitable Education and Intersectional EdTech.

Abstract

This study investigates how schools can become more inclusive through an ethical participatory Action Research intervention with school leaders, using educational technology (EdTech) within an intersectional, data-led approach. It draws on the theoretical foundations of lived experience, intersectionality, and social capital. Capturing lived experience at scale in schools has been labour-intensive, inconsistently designed, and ethically problematic—often lacking psychological safety for those with protected characteristics under the Equality Act (2010). Current datafication logics tend to measure inclusion without fostering it, reducing complex identities to narrow categories. Given that most senior leaders hold privileged lived experiences that differ from those of their students and staff, schools risk reproducing exclusionary practices and relying on deficit-focused metrics rather than generating intersectional insights. This gap in understanding is evident in persistent challenges around attendance, staff recruitment and retention, and school climate. The research examines how DEI-focused EdTech might disrupt entrenched inequalities and embed organisational inclusion at scale. The study introduces Kaleidoscopic Data, a third-level data framework that humanises educational data by combining quantitative and qualitative insights to reveal dynamic, intersectional experiences. Positioned as ‘data for inclusion,’ it challenges conventional metrics by foregrounding psychological safety, ethical participation, and the surfacing of hidden voices. Supported by EdTech, Kaleidoscopic Data enables leaders to identify cultural gaps, build social capital (bonding, bridging, linking), and embed inclusion in sustainable and systemic ways. By critically engaging with data ethics, participatory design, and leadership practice, this thesis contributes a new conceptual and methodological framework for intentional inclusion in education.