Inclusion can be defined as “a process of systemic reform embodying changes and modifications in content, teaching methods, approaches, structures and strategies in education to overcome barriers with a vision serving to provide all students of the relevant age range with an equitable and participatory learning experience and environment that best corresponds to their requirements and preferences” [General Comment 4 adopted by CRPD-UN, 2016§6] (Graham, 2020:24). Inclusive education requires new thinking and practices, changes in the policies, perceptions, values, and principles in terms of schooling, curriculum, pedagogy, and assessment (Vlachou, 2004). Thus, it is inextricably linked to inclusive leadership which presupposes acceptance, respect, listening, clarifying language, being comfortable with diversity and ambiguity (Armstrong et al., 2011; MacRuairc et al., 2013).

Inclusive educational leadership leads to positive outcomes for the achievement of all students in inclusive schools (Donnelly et al., 2016; MacRuairc et al., 2013), “based upon alternative views of the world and the nature and form of schooling that will build that world” (Slee, 2011:25). In fact, committed school-principals introduce and embed through their values, the culture, policies, and practices that promote inclusive education at all levels (Graham, 2020; Lazaridou, 2019; Pregot, 2020). So, their values establish and influence school culture (Carrington, 1999), teachers’ attitudes and beliefs (Hess & Zamir, 2016), and therefore, play an important role in implementing and promoting inclusive education (Irvine et al., 2010). However, there has been little focus on the role of their values in promoting positive attitudes towards the education of disabled students and/or with s.e.n., and inclusive education in general (Hess & Zamir, 2016; Lazaridou, 2019; Pregot, 2020).

Attitudes constitute the readiness for action containing cognitive-emotional-behavioral elements (Bailey, 2004). School-principals’ attitudes shape teachers’ attitudes on various issues, as school-principals are the most basic link between the community and the school. In particular, the promotion of school-principals’ positive attitudes regarding the education of disabled students and/or with s.e.n., towards the whole educational community is essential for the effective education for all students (Bailey, 2004; Hess & Zamir, 2016; Lazaridou, 2019). 

Values are conceptions of the desirable which influence one’s selection from available modes, means and ends of action (Begley, 2003). School principals’ values influence their attitudes (Bailey, 2004; Lazaridou, 2012) and by extension their educational practices (Irvine et al., 2010; Pregot, 2020) which shape the culture of the school unit (Carrington, 1999). Therefore, changing educational practices does not only require the acquisition of new skills or knowledge, but also the right values and positive attitudes towards inclusive education (Wakeman et al., 2006).

Both Greek and international research highlights school-principals’ attitudes towards the education of disabled students and/or with s.e.n., as a decisive factor in promoting their education (Bailey, 2004; Hess & Zamir, 2016). However, there is limited research regarding school-principals’ attitudes towards the education of disabled students and/or with s.e.n.. in Greece (Platsidou & Tsiolpidou, 2019). To the best of our knowledge, there is no prior research on the intercorrelations between school-principals’ values and attitudes regarding the inclusion of disabled students and/or with s.e.n. in primary and secondary education.

 Considering the above, this paper focuses on the intercorrelations between the values of school-principals and their attitudes towards the education of disabled students and/or with s.e.n. in Greek regular schools. Specifically, it aims to examine the following questions:

1. Do school-principals’ values and attitudes regarding inclusive education show statistically significant differences depending on the demographic and professional information?
2. Can school-principals be classified into groups (clusters) according to their values?
3. Do school-principals’ attitudes regarding inclusive education show statistically significant differences depending on their value profiles?   
4. To what extent school-principals’ values predict their attitudes?

This research adopts a transformative and constructivist worldview, combining the joint investigation of school-principals’ values and attitudes regarding the inclusion of disabled students and/or with s.e.n, with a political agenda to amend the status quo through a deeper understanding of the role of school-principals’ values in shaping their attitudes towards inclusive education. This can contribute to the wider discourse on educational leadership for inclusion, enhancing the education of disabled students and/or with s.e.n., and generally inclusive education. As the present research results come from an extended study, the original survey instrument consists of three research instruments. All are presented below for the sake of accuracy; however, the present results relate only to the research instruments that measure the values and attitudes of school-principals. So, three survey instruments have been selected: a) “Principals' Knowledge of Fundamental and Current Issues in Special Education” (PKISE), by Wakeman et al., (2006), which examines school-principals’ knowledge (22 statements), beliefs (7 statements), and practices (6 statements), regarding special and inclusive education; b) "Portrait Values Questionnaire” (PVQ), by Schwartz et al., (2001), which focuses on the examination of school-principals’ goals, aspirations or desires and thus, implies the degree of importance of a value based on Schwartz’s theory of values (1992;2010;2012) (40 statements), and c) “Principals’ Attitudes Towards Inclusive Education” (PATIE) by Bailey (2004), which aims to investigate their attitudes towards inclusive education (29 statements). The resulting questionnaire consists of these sections plus an opening section on their demographic/professional information (19 statements). These instruments (PKISE/PVQ/PATIE) were all adapted and validated for the Greek context. The instrument was electronically administered and validated for a total sample of 582 school principals from 334 primary and 248 secondary Greek schools that was extracted with a two-stage stratified sampling procedure. One confirmatory factor analysis was conducted for PVQ―as it has been previously adapted for and used in the Greek context―and two exploratory factor analyses were conducted for PKISE and PATIE respectively. The validated instruments feature high reliability scores: the “PKISE” has Cronbach a=.943; the "PVQ", has a=.844 (10 values), a=.831 (4 higher-order values); and PATIE accordingly a=.851. A two-step cluster analysis led to grouping school-principals into four distinct clusters, depending on their value profile (Ambitious, Conciliators, Conservatives, Sophisticated), before conducting a hierarchical regression analysis and a pathway analysis. Among other results, these corroborated the study’s proposed theoretical model, highlighting the predictive strength of values on school-principals’ attitudes towards inclusive education.

From the research results, four values emerged (benevolence, universalism, self-direction & stimulation) that positively correlate with the attitudes of school-principals regarding the education of disabled students and/or with s.e.n., and which can be characterized as inclusive values. These four values correspond to two of Schwartz’s higher order values (HOVs) “Self-transcendence” & “Openness to change” (Schwartz et al., 2001), indicating that inclusion is linked to both, which translates as a need for radical change, educational reform and social justice (Graham, 2020; Slee, 2011). In short, values play a catalytic role in shaping attitudes and by extent school-principals’ inclusive practices and policies. Both the results of the hierarchical multiple regression analysis and the pathway analysis show that the school-principals’ values strongly predict their attitudes regarding the education of disabled students and/or with s.e.n.. which are crucial towards the promotion of inclusive education. This research results are discussed in terms of their implications in capturing school-principals’ values and their attitudes regarding inclusive education filling in a gap in international literature regarding studies that contribute to the discourse on the educational leadership for inclusion. Simultaneously, this research aspires to broaden the respective research field and contribute to the international quest for understanding the factors influencing the implementation of inclusive education as well as the factors that can shape and determine educational leadership for inclusion. Thus, focusing on the role of school-principals and exploring their values jointly with their attitudes regarding inclusive education, can yield useful insights and inform respective policies and practices as well as recommending “PVQ” as an indispensable evaluative instrument for investigating school-principals’ values with the aim of strengthening them through more targeted training. All the above essentially mean that “efforts to develop inclusive schools should focus on building a common consensus around inclusive values within school communities" (Graham, 2020:179).

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