Session Information
Contribution
This paper attempts to shed light to one important dimension of inclusive education: teacher training. It tackles the issue of contextualizing teacher training to suit the trainees' profiles. As Reynolds (2001) argues, this dimension is often neglected by published work on teacher training which over-emphasizes inclusive practice and disregards the groups' shared values. In Cyprus, like many other countries, the primary school teacher is supposed to have the main responsibility for facilitating differentiated education in class and maximize inclusion. This statement, however, remains only a theoretical acknowledgement. Interestingly, despite the local literature calls for teacher training as a fundamental step towards inclusion (Phtiaka, 2006) and the existing safeguards of the Education for Children with Special Needs Law N.113(I)/99 regarding teacher training, substantial teacher training in Cyprus is non-existent. Teacher training for inclusion takes the form of occasional presentations held at school level, usually by the support teacher. Consequently, the majority of teachers form a superficial view of inclusive education and they seem reluctant to respond to their new role as facilitators of inclusion (Symeonidou, 2002).The research findings presented in this paper are part of a greater project funded by the Cyprus Research Promotion Foundation and the University of Cyprus. This two-year project focuses on: (a) identifying what primary school teachers think about inclusion and the nature of an ideal training program for inclusive practice, and (b) developing, delivering and evaluating a training program for inclusive practice based on the ideas, difficulties, misconceptions and expectations of primary school teachers. The project takes the form of an action research and it adopts the paradigm of critical theory. Thus, it seeks to link research practice and to develop reflective practice on behalf of the participants. However, a variety of methods are employed (individual and group interviews, research diary and questionnaire) to serve different stages of the research, giving the project both a quantitative and a qualitative nature.As this research is still in process, this paper will focus on a critical analysis of the findings regarding teachers' awareness about inclusive practice, their perceptions about their role in an inclusive school, their values regarding education for all children and their stated needs for training. The discussion will finally focus on how a training program for inclusion can be academically adequate and professionally useful, while at the same time it takes into consideration what teachers want. Resolving this dilemma is a challenging task as it necessitates the removal of all the implications arising.Research findings are expected to make a contribution at local and international level. At local level, the Ministry of Education and Culture, which has agreed to receive and consult the project upon its fulfillment, is expected to make use of the critical analysis regarding teachers' views about inclusive practice and promote the proposed training program. At international level, this research aims to enrich the existing literature as it is an example of a teacher training program for inclusion which is closely related to the identified needs of the participants, while at the same time it respects and promotes the well-established principles of inclusion.Phtiaka, H. (2006) 'From separation to integration: parental assessment of State intervention'. International Studies in Sociology of Education, 16 (3): 175-189. Reynolds, M. (2001) 'Education for inclusion, teacher education and the Teacher Training Agency Standards'. Journal of In-Service Education, 27(3): 465-476. Symeonidou, S. (2002) '? critical consideration of current values on the education of disabled children'. International Journal of Inclusive Education, 6(3): 217-229.Papers presenting research findings and analysis regarding the theme of this paper will be presented to national and international journals. They will also be submitted to the Cyprus Ministry of Education and Culture.
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