The concept of inclusive education is related to the principles of democracy, equality and equity within society and educational institutions and focuses on the social participation of all (Porter 2013). The UN-Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UN 2006) sets the legal framework for school development with respect to inclusion of pupils with special educational needs (SEN). However, the conceptual and practical shift from a mainstream-oriented model to an inclusionary one can only be pursued by each individual stakeholder. Hence, it is a question of attitude and the will to challenge and reflect on one’s own practice and routines. Following Eagly & Chaiken (2007), attitudes can be described to have three components: The cognitive component consists of the knowledge about the attitude object, here students with SEN, whereas the affective component refers to the feelings that are connected with them, such as fear or friendship. The behavioural component is concerned with the predispositions of a person to act in certain ways towards pupils with SEN.

Questions on the different aspects of attitudes towards the inclusion of children with special needs in ordinary schools are an important field of research especially for those countries that are actually in the process of transforming their school systems from segregative into more inclusive ones, which is true for the countries represented by papers in this symposium: Belgium, Switzerland and Germany. Teachers, headmasters and peers are supposed to be relevant keypersons in the school context. Several papers are therefore dealing with the question, what impact the attitudes of these groups have on school development processes towards inclusion. Research revealed that teachers with active experience of inclusion possess more positive attitudes than those without (Avramidis & Norwich 2002, de Boer et al. 2011). But still we know little about the impact on inclusive school development processes of headmasters and what role their attitudes toward inclusion play. Another important aspect for successful inclusive schooling is the role of attitudes of other students towards classmates with SEN.

The symposium therefore intends to make a contribution to this research field in different countries. The underlying assumption is that this international exchange can help to gather more different information on the impact of attitudes towards inclusion for the upcoming educational reforms.

The first presentation is focusing on the peer perspective by analyzing the stability of attitudes of typically developing students towards classmates with special educational needs from 7^th grade until 10^th grade in Belgium. The presenters want to identify if there is a difference in the stability of these attitudes between males and females and in the stability of the attitudes towards different subgroups of students with SEN.

The perspective of student teachers as prerequisites is in the focus of the second presentation from Germany. In the study, the authors investigated N=201 primary school teachers` attitudes toward inclusion and their interests in inclusive teaching. As prerequisites the authors regarded the teachers prior experiences in inclusive teaching and their views on inclusion, as well as personal resources such as self-efficacy beliefs.

The third presentation is dealing with the attitudes of principals, teachers and prospective teachers and their role in implementing inclusive models in Switzerland and in Germany. The Opinions Relative to the Integration of Students with Disabilities (ORI: Antonak & Larrivee, 1995) was translated into German and tried out in a large sample (N=588) in Switzerland.

The fourth presentation focuses on the role of headmasters in inclusive school reforms in Germany. A combination of qualitative and quantitative research methods is foreseen for the purposes of collecting diversified and depth knowledge about inclusive reforms in different German states.

Avramidis, E. & Norwich, B. (2002). Teachers' attitudes towards integration / inclusion: a review of the literature, European Journal of Special Needs Education, 17:2, 129-147, doi: 10.1080/08856250210129056 De Boer, A., Pijl, S.J. & Minnaert, A. (2011). Regular primary schoolteachers´attitudes towards inclusive education: a review of the literature, International Journal of Inclusive Education, 15:3, pp. 331-353 Eagly, A. H. & Chaiken, S. (2007). The Advantages of an Inclusive Definition of Attitude. Social Cognition: Vol. 25, Special Issue: What is an Attitude? pp. 582-602, doi: 10.1521/soco.2007.25.5.582 Porter, G. L. (2013). Preface – Connecting Inclusive Schooling to Teacher Support. In: A. Köpfer (Hrsg.): Inclusion in Canada – Analyse inclusiver Unterrichtsprozesse, Unterstützungsstrukturen und Rollen am Beispiel kanadischer Schulen in den Provinzen New Brunswick, Prince Edwards Island und Québec. Bad Heilbrunn: Klinkhardt, pp. 7-8