Becoming an Inclusive Teacher at the Interface of School and Teacher Education

Abstract

The aim of this study is to assess how the pedagogical solutions of the inclusive teaching practice in class teachers' adult education programme support the development to become an inclusive teacher. What kind of interpretations do the students make of inclusion and inclusive school? How does the participation in school community with reflective support by teacher education community enhance inclusive professional orientation? The research material consists of qualitative network material written by 22 adult students: teaching practice plans, reflective practice stories and teaching practice feedback. The analytical approach was thematic text analysis. Inclusion was interpreted as pupils' right to study with their peers but also as a professional challenge or ideal. The social exclusion was elicited only in a few stories. The meta-consciousness of developing an inclusive school was sparse. The experiences gained from the school's communities of practice combined with the theoretical and reflective tools offered by teacher education community formed meaningful learning.

Tensions in the New Millennium: Inclusion Ideology and Education Policy in the Finnish Comprehensive School

“…In practice, development skills are essential to that process (e.g., Booth & Ainscow, 2002; European Agency for Development in Special Needs Education, 2012; Isosomppi & Leivo, 2015), they lead to genuinely inclusive schools transmitting the inclusive viewpoint by principle of penetrability; such schools are also skilled in using the available evaluation tools for assessing involvement (Isosomppi & Leivo, 2015). For the development of the school, it is essential that teachers commit to advancing inclusiveness and recognize and oppose segregating practices (also Ainscow, Dyson, & Weiner, 2014).…”

“…Several international research projects show that teachers who have experience in teaching pupils with special needs, have a more positive attitude toward inclusivity and teaching a wide range of children in one group compared to teachers who have little or no experience in it (e.g., Avramidis & Kalyva, 2007;Isosomppi & Leivo, 2015;McMaster, 2014). Indeed, the European Agency for Development in Special Needs Education (European Agency for Development in Special Needs Education, 2012) has devised a profile for "an inclusive teacher" that establishes the values and skills that are a part of every inclusive teacher's professional competence (European Agency for Development in Special Needs Education 2012, pp.…”

“…Researchers have highlighted the need for authentic experience in authentic learning environments (i.e., schools) and the communal reflection of these experiences as well as connecting that knowledge to inclusive education's theoretical premises (Heikkinen, Jokinen, & Tynjälä, 2012;Isosomppi & Leivo, 2015;Waitoller & Kozleski, 2013). It has been hoped that there would be more continuing education that would encourage cooperation between special education teachers and other teachers.…”

“…For instance, small groups and special classes are still quite common (e.g., Thuneberg & Vainikainen, 2015). In other words, discriminating structures have diminished on an ideological level (e.g., Isosomppi & Leivo, 2015), but segregating, exclusive institutions, i.e., special schools and classes, still exist (Moberg & Savolainen, 2015, p. 81; see also Mietola, 2014). Moreover, there are still relatively few schools where pupils learn in shared groups.…”

“…Today, integration, as a term that depicts physical repositioning of individuals, has been partly abandoned because it might be understood as stigmatizing or medicalising (e.g., Saari, 2011, p. 15, p. 20). Moreover, so called broad concept of inclusion entails more than just pupils with learning disabilities, it also refers to inclusions and exclusions base on gender, culture and a social status (Waitoller & Artiles, 2013;Isosomppi & Leivo, 2015).…”