Meaning & use
mainstreaming
Last updated
Meanings
noununcountabletechnical
The practice of teaching children with special needs in ordinary classes alongside other pupils.
Grammar: No plural: mainstreaming has changed schools.
Patterns
- the mainstreaming of someone
- mainstreaming in schools
The school supports mainstreaming and has trained all its teachers.
Parents debated whether mainstreaming would help or harm their daughter.
Mainstreaming requires extra staff and careful planning.
noununcountable
The process of making an idea, product or group part of normal, widely accepted society.
Grammar: Usually followed by of: the mainstreaming of organic food.
Patterns
- the mainstreaming of something
The mainstreaming of electric cars has changed city streets.
Critics worry about the mainstreaming of extreme views online.
The mainstreaming of yoga happened in less than twenty years.
Common combinations
- the mainstreaming of
- The mainstreaming of vegan food surprised restaurant owners.
- policy of mainstreaming
- The district follows a policy of mainstreaming.
- gender mainstreaming
- Gender mainstreaming aims to include women's needs in every policy.
- mainstreaming programs
- The mainstreaming programs were praised by parents.
- support mainstreaming
- Most teachers support mainstreaming.
Synonyms and how they differ
- inclusion
- Inclusion is a broader educational term about belonging, whereas mainstreaming focuses on placing pupils in regular classes.
- integration
- Integration is the general word for bringing groups together, not specific to schools.
- normalization
- Normalization means making something seem ordinary and can have a critical tone that mainstreaming lacks.
Opposites
Word family
- mainstream noun
- the ordinary, accepted majority
- mainstream adjective
- belonging to the ordinary majority
- mainstream verb
- to place in ordinary classes or make normal
- mainstreamed adjective
- made part of the mainstream
Commonly confused: mainstreaming or inclusion?
mainstreaming vs inclusion
Inclusion means a fully shared school experience, while mainstreaming may only mean attending regular classes.
Practice
A school that teaches children with learning differences in ordinary classrooms practices ___.
Choose one answer.
Mainstreaming means placing pupils in regular classes. Streaming groups pupils by ability, and segregation separates them.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “mainstreaming”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.