This working paper examines whether the concept of social exclusion, including educational exclusion, adds values to the understanding of poverty. It focuses on educational exclusion and inclusion in South Africa. The paper states that the issues are complex and that educational inclusion requires careful consideration of every aspect of schooling and societal context. Innovative approaches to educational inclusion will need to address issues at macro, micro, personal, and interpersonal levels. Connections between school and community cultures have to be drawn, as well as connections between educational and community programs of inclusion. The concepts of inclusion and exclusion press for much closer conscious and self-conscious consideration of identity and role: who is doing the excluding and including; who is choosing the excluding and including; how these processes of inclusion and exclusion are facilitated; and what are the dominant views and relations of social, economic, and political power. The paper emphasizes the importance of such interrogation at the levels of research and policy formation to ensure that these processes are aware of ways in which they may implicitly perpetuate injustices. (Contains 45 references.) (Author/WFA)