Promoting education for all. Exploring school leader‘s contribution to support the development of inclusive communities

Author(s):

Elisabetta Ghedin(presenting / submitting)Giulia Scattolin(presenting)

Conference:

ECER 2014

Network:

04. Inclusive Education

Format:

Paper

Session Information

04 SES 03 A, School Leadership and Inclusive Education

Paper Session

Time:

2014-09-02

17:15-18:45

Room:

B013 Anfiteatro

Chair:

Jo Rose

Contribution

In addressing the future agenda of educational change, this paper focuses on school leaders’s perspectives about inclusion and the actions they undertake to foster this process. Inclusion is about creating appropriate learning environments and opportunities so that students can reach their full potential in their school community. To lead this transformation, it is important that school leaders (SL) are able to support teachers and other actors as they continue to build their capacity to develop skills and understand methods that can support the development of an inclusive learning environment (Fullan, 2006). Even severa International Organisms stated the contribution offered by the SL to promote the inclusion process, coming to understand that they have an essential role in translating and refining cultures policies and practices that promote the quality of inclusion process in schools (European Agency, 2009; OECD, 2003, 2011; UNESCO, 2003, 2009; ONU, 2006). However, while the instructional responsibility for inclusion certainly lies with classroom teachers, its leadership responsibility ultimately rests with principals (Firestone & Riehl, 2005). Considering the abundant evidence regarding the significant difficulties that teachers constantly face as they navigate inclusion, and considering the high positive impact that SL can have on teachers’ instructional effectiveness, it is time that educational leaders’ roles in the lives of the teachers who enact inclusion is clearly examined and delineated. It is only by such carefull delineation that educational leaders, can proactively facilitate inclusion (Hargreaves & Fink, 2005). Leadership for inclusion means seeking out an understanding of the fundamental tenets of inclusion and constructing an administrative approach that complements the execution of those tenets by teachers (Edmunds and MacMillina, 2010). Without the aforementioned understandings and an active and carefully directed administrative approach, the facilitation of inclusion will occur more by happenstance than by professional design.

In particular in Italy, the model of education of students with disabilities is evolving towards inclusive paradigm. In the last years the national legislation (Ministry Guidelines for the inclusion of persons with disabilities, 2009,and other school documents, 2012, 2013) has extended the subject of the right to drawback and also the fragility, no longer solely to disability. In this way, Italy is in line with the proposal of the OECD in relation to SEN, and to international recommendations (UNESCO, European Agency on Inclusive Education) . These shares are also included in the Europe 2020 Strategy, which aims to smart, sustainable and inclusive growth (EU, 2010, Moos and Gray, 2013). In Italy , each school has administrative autonomy; it has a design capacity in the definition of policies for the protection of all students and the organization of an education that develops the full potential of the students.

The SL, through its function, have the ability to address and support the choices distinctly inclusive within the school. The Ministry Guidelines give to the SL a crucial role in the promotion of inclusion and SL’s actions have a great influence on the nature, size and quality of change for the acceptance of educational reforms on the part of school community ( TreeLLLe 2011). It becames, therefore, significant to understand how the actions of SL are looming for the promotion of education for all in the Italian context , in order to be able to promote inclusive values, policies and practices to set up school inclusion process.

In the face of this important passage the reaserch questions are : what are the SL's competencies that can accommodate this change of perspective? What are the personal and professional skills needed to develop a school for everyone? What are the inclusive actions promoted by SL within the schools? What are the strengths and weaknesses that SL meet in the educational context to promote full inclusion of all students?

Method

The data were collected by interviewing 14 SL (9 women and 5 men, 7 with career teaching at primary and secondary schools, 7 to 4 in the first year of service, 6 with 10 years of service and 4 with more than 10 years). Semi-structured interview was the tool chose to deeply investigate knowledge and beliefs and systems of values which SL own concerning the fundamental tenets of inclusion. Semi-structure interview was articulated considering the three dimensions of the process of inclusion stated by Index for Inclusion (Booth & Ainscow, 2002, 2006, 2011) creating inclusive cultures, producing inclusive policies, evolving inclusive pratices. In the first moment of the research, privileged witnesses have been interviewed to receive a feedback about the interview such as it was built and they have offered some suggestions useful to have a clearer comprehension. The supplied interviews have been analysed with the Atlas.ti software which let us identify “families” (management skills; leadership skills; pedagogical skills; decision-making skills; networking skills; barriers and obstacles to inclusion; inclusive perspectives: cultures; inclusive perspectives: policies; inclusive perspectives: practices, actions to reduce exclusion) which became container of united codes (132). These results are discussed through comparison with scientific literature about this theme.

Expected Outcomes

The SL are taking an inclusive perspective as a mean to meet the needs/wishes of all students. The transition from an integration perspective to an inclusive perspective is gradually patchy being realized (Leithwood, Day, Sammons, 2006). The novelty is the growing affirmation of the connection to the social model of disability (UN, 2006) and the conscious idea of the limits of the assimilationist paradigm (integration) in favour of the dissemination of the diversity paradigm. In the Italian model currently inclusion and integration are intertwined; a future goal in the educational research will be to regain from the past (integration) and to connect with the future (inclusion) by taking advantage of the best documented experiences to promote the life design for all students (Hallinger and Heck) . The expected results are reflected in the directions promoted by the project RA4AL : the need to share and strengthen inclusive culture, to enjoy qualified professionals, to share responsibility through the establishment of policies and projects of communication, to promote participation of all members of the community(European Agency, 2009). The promotion of inclusion for SL is strongly connected to personal skills as orientation of values, respect, fairness and appreciation of the uniqueness of each person. It also requires a strong personal investment in terms of commitment, willingness and trust (Booth, 2011). The professional skills are related to the ability to create shared network and to enhance human potential through rich human relationships and widespread atmosphere of well –being. To conclude, achieving inclusive communities is possible by promoting and training the totality of professional resources (leadership, management, communicative, decision-making, pedagogical) of the SL and focusing on setting directions; developing people; redesigning the organization; and managing the instructional program (Leithwood and Jantzi, 2006) .

References

Agency for Development in Special Needs Education (2009). Principi Guida per promuovere la qualità nella Scuola Inclusiva. Raccomandazioni Politiche. Odense, Danimarca: European Agency for Development in Special Needs Education. Associazione TreeLLLe, Caritas Italiana & Fondazione Giovanni Agnelli (2011). Gli alunni con disabilità nella scuola italiana: bilancio e proposte. Trento: Erickson. Booth, T. & Ainscow, M. (2002). Index for inclusion. Bristol: Centre for Studies on Inclusive Education. Booth, T. (2011). The name of the rose: Inclusive values into action in teacher education, Prospects, 41, pp. 303-318. Edmunds A. L. & Macmillan R. B. (2010). Leadership for Inclusion. A Practical Guide, Boston: Sense Publishers. European Agency for Development in Special Needs Education (2012). Raising Achievement for All Learners. Quality in Inclusive Education. Odense, Denmark: European Agency for Development in Special Needs Education. Firestone, W. A., & Riehl, C. (Eds.). (2005). A new agenda for research in educational leadership. New York: Teachers College Press. Hargreaves A., Fink D., Sustainable Leadership, San Francisco, Josey-Bass, 2005. Hallinger P., Heck, R., «Exploring the Principal’s Contribution to School Effectiveness: 1980-1995», School Effectiveness and School Improvement, Vol. 9, pp.157-191. Leithwood K., Day C., Sammons P., (2006), Successful School Leadership: What It Is and How It Influences Pupil Learning. Research report. Nottingham, National College for School Leadership. Leithwood K., Jantzi D., (2006), «Transformational School Leadership for Large-Scale Reform: Effects on students, teachers, and their classroom practices». School Effectiveness and School Improvement, vol. 17, n. 2, , pp. 201-227. Moos L. & Gray P., EERA's Agenda for Horizon 2020 http://www.eera-‐ecer.de/about/projects-‐partnerships/eera-‐and-‐horizon-‐2020/ OCSE (2003). Diversity, inclusion and equity: insights fron special needs provision. Chapter 1. Paris: OECD. OCSE (2011). PISA in focus 2011/2 (March) Improving Performance, Leading from the Bottom. Paris: OECD. UE, (2010). Quinta relazione sulla coesione economica, sociale e territoriale. Lussemburgo: UE. ONU (2006). Convenzione sui diritti delle persone con disabilità. New York: ONU. UNESCO (2003). Overcoming Exclusion through Inclusive Approaches in Education. A challenge and a vision. Paris: UNESCO. UNESCO (2009). Policy Guidelines on Inclusion in Education, Paris: UNESCO

Author Information

Elisabetta Ghedin (presenting / submitting)

University of Padova

FISPPA

Padova

Giulia Scattolin (presenting)

University of Padova, Italy

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