Over the past decade, wide agreement globally has encouraged the development of inclusive education by advocating the inclusion of learners with diverse educational needs in the same classrooms. Increasingly inclusive education is regarded as the right of every learner to be part of mainstream classrooms.  As a result the achievement of inclusive education systems is a major challenge facing governments around the world and changes in education policies have placed new demands on the teaching profession ( Luckner & Pianta, 2011; Srivastava, De Boer & Pijl, 2013;UNESCO, 2014).

To study the roles of teachers in the implementation of inclusive education and the knowledge and skills teachers could need to be inclusive in school and class-room settings, an international comparative research study has been implemented.  The research project employs a cultural-historical and systems theoretical framework thereby enabling the international research team in two diverse countries,  Finland and South Africa, to understand for example how the perceptions of teachers of inclusive education are constructed in local interactions in their school communities, and also how these perceptions are consistently mediated by institutional and wider political and ideological contexts (e.g. the articulations between forces outside of schools in diverse international contexts e.g. education policies, the way in which they are either reinforced or opposed within specific local school contexts, and how the actions and social interactions of individuals in these school contexts e.g. classrooms are influenced by these forces) (Kozleski, Artiles & Waitoller, 2014). Inclusive education within this project is broadly defined as being about welcoming all children to mainstream schools and classrooms and not segregating them on the basis of ability, ethnic background, gender or any other individual or socio-cultural characteristics.  There is therefore an emphasis not only on access to schools and classrooms but also on acceptance and participation in school and classroom activities.

Using a mixed methods research design for the research project, qualitative and quantitative data collection strategies occurred in sequential form (Cresswell & Piano Clark, 2009).  The quantitative data that was collected and analysed in Phase 1 provides the basis for the collection of qualitative data in Phase 2 that focuses on the way in which teachers enact inclusive education within their own classrooms.  A comparative analysis of the quantitative data  collected in Phase 1 in which a questionnaire containing a scale measuring Sentiments, Attitudes and Concerns in implementing inclusive education as well as a scale measuring Teachers Self Efficacy in implementing Inclusive Practices (Savolainen et al., 2012) was used indicated that whereas the overall sentiments towards disabilities are positive in both countries, teachers have several concerns on the consequences of including children with diverse learning needs including those with disabilities in their classrooms. 

We therefore realised that in order to develop a deeper understanding of Finnish and South African teachers’ personal interpretations and understandings about inclusive education and how these understandings relate to their consequent actions in their classrooms a more in-depth exploration is needed.   As a result this phase in the research project focused on a small group of South African and Finnish teachers who also participated in Phase 1 of the project with as research question the following:

What do teachers do in their classrooms to make meaning of the concept of inclusive education in their classroom practises and how do they enact inclusive education?

The primary purpose of this study was therefore to encourage teachers through interviews to articulate their views of what is happening in their own classrooms and by reconstructing their recalled experiences to reflect their beliefs about their roles and responsibilities. 

Cresswell, J.W & Piano Clark, V.L. 2007. Designing and conducting mixed methods research. New York: Sage Publications. Friese, S F 2012. ATLAS.ti 7 Quick tour. Berlin: ATLAS.ti Scientific Software Development GmbH. Kozleski, EB, Artiles, A & Waitoller, F 2014. Equity in inclusive education: A cultural historical comparative perspective. In L Florian (Ed). The handbook of special education (pp. 231-249). New York: Sage Publications. Leatherman, JM & Niemeyer, JA 2010. Teachers’ attitudes towards inclusion: factors influencing classroom practice. Early Childhood Teacher Education, 26 (1), 23-36. Luckner, AE & Pianta, RC 2011. Teacher-student interactions in fifth grade classrooms: relations with children’s peer behavior. Journal of Applied Psychology, 32 (2011), 257-266. Merriam, S. 2009. Qualitative Research: a guide to design and implementation. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. Savolainen H, Engelbrecht P, Nel M & Malinen O 2012. Understanding teachers’ attitudes and self-efficacy in inclusive education: implications for pre-service and in-service teacher education. European Journal of Special Needs Education, 27: 51–68. Srivastava, M, De Boer, A & Pijl, SJ 2013. Inclusive education in developing countries: a closer look at its implementation in the last 10 years. Educational Review, DOI: 10.1080/00131911.2013.847061. Terzi, L. 2008. Justice and Equality in Education: a capability perspective on disability and special educational needs. London: Continuum International Publishing Group. UNESCO, 2014. Teaching and Learning: achieving quality for all. EFA Global Monitoring Report. Paris: UNESCO.