Educating All Teachers for Inclusion

Abstract

This chapter aims to identify and explore those critical factors in relation to teacher education and development that may hinder or support the wider implementation of policy for inclusive education in practice. The chapter considers key issues related to initial teacher education (ITE) and in-service teacher education and continuing professional development (CPD) that appear to be relevant albeit in differing degrees across most European countries.

The chapter builds on initial work completed in the European Agency project on Teacher Education for Inclusion (TE4I). The project concluded that the role of core values for inclusion (particularly in ITE) can be a critical factor in ensuring more inclusive education systems overall (European Agency, 2011, 2012).

A number of policy questions in relation to preparing teaching staff for inclusive education were highlighted in this work, but two critical issues are the focus here:

• 1. How all relevant policies can support flexible education opportunities in initial and continuing professional development for all teachers.

• 2. How all teachers can be supported to develop the skills to meet the diverse needs of all learners, including a clear understanding of effective learning strategies, such as learning to learn and active learning approaches.

Citation

Watkins, A., De Vroey, A. and Symeonidou, S. (2016), "Educating All Teachers for Inclusion", Implementing Inclusive Education: Issues in Bridging the Policy-Practice Gap (International Perspectives on Inclusive Education, Vol. 8), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 63-87. https://doi.org/10.1108/S1479-363620160000008005