Developing Inclusive Teacher Education

Inclusive Educational Practice: Results of an empirical study

“…What becomes obvious is that inclusive activities do not imply a fixed and static condition, something that can be attained once and for all. Inclusive activities can only be understood in terms of a continuous developmental process, some kind of vision to be reached for (Emanuelsson, 1995) or something that is on the move (Booth, Nes & Strømstad, 2003).…”

“…Others focus on factors that may support or hinder inclusive education (Flem & Keller, 2000), on legislation, regulation and funding (Pijl & Meijer, 1997), on leadership in policy and implementation (Porter, 1997), on resources available for the implementation of inclusive education (Labon, 1997), on the organisation of special education (Pijl & Meijer, 1997), on which kind of support is needed if inclusive practice is to be developed within schools (Dyson, 2000), on different versions of inclusiveness across various levels in the school educational system (Norwich, 2000) and on inclusive teaching and teacher education (Booth, Nes & Strømstad, 2003;Garm, 2003).…”

Inclusive and exclusive education in Sweden: principals' opinions and experiences

“…This is connected with encouraging parental choice, which detaches schools from particular local communities and redirects their social purposes (Booth, Nes, and Strømstad 2004). Thus, both Swedish and international research points to increased segregation in schools, which seems to be in direct conflict with both the political aims and the debate on inclusive education (Farrell et al 2007;Skidmore 2004;Gustafsson and Myrberg 2002).…”

“…In Sweden these groups are furthermore often extremely heterogeneous, consisting of students with, for example, various forms of learning disabilities, intellectual disabilities and social problems, a fact that strengthens these negative effects (Heimdahl Mattson and Roll Pettersson 2007). Booth, Nes and Strømstad (2004) stress that inclusion is about respecting diversity; inclusive education involves the idea of schools supporting all learners within a local community. It is a matter of reducing exclusion not only for students with disabilities and/or those categorised as having special educational needs.…”

Reaching for the dream: quality education for all

“…The White Paper on Special Education was launched in July 2001. Booth, Nes, and Stromstad (2003) point out that inclusion involves consciously and actively introducing values based on equity, entitlement, community, participation and respect for diversity. Inclusion is concerned with reducing inequalities in the economy and social settings, and in barriers to learning so that all learners may participate meaningfully.…”