Inclusion is a contested concept (Woodcock & Hardy, 2022). Research has shown the importance of teachers’ perceptions of school as well as leaders’ support for inclusion (Woodcock & Woolfson, 2019). Understanding those school systems where leaders effectively support teachers in carving out a community-based inclusive culture is vital for an equitable inclusive school for all. In this paper, we present the results of inclusive school principals’ perceptions and understandings of factors that facilitate inclusive policies and practices in their own school community. The study is an exploratory qualitative research design, collecting interviews and focus groups with 12 principals of highly ranked inclusive schools from Australia, Greece, Switzerland, Italy. The principals were selected through recognition of highly effective inclusiveness throughout the school community. The selected schools reflected a varied range of characteristics, including in relation to size (catering from approximately 100 to 750 students), class (low socio-economic situation to wealthy situation) and ethnicity (mostly white to multiracial and multiethnic schools). Interviews and focus groups were approximately 45-60 minutes each and were recorded and transcribed. T An iterative process of thematic content analysis was carried out manually from a group of three independent researchers (Saldana, 2013). They agreed to work individually and separately in a first cycle of the analysis, following a strongly inductive and “in-vivo” approach. The initial coding phase generated several inductive codes derived from the transcripts. Then, in a second phase, the three researchers confronted each other and identified the axial categories of the content analysis. Finally, in a third phase, categories were read, and additional inductive codes were generated to further compare principals’ perceptions and actions. The findings revealed five broad, key factors that affect and impact on school inclusivity. Those factors regard family cooperation, students’ engagement, commitment to inclusive practices, collaboration among peers (students, teachers, administrative staff), and inter-institutional network. We adopted the framework offered by communities of practices (Wenger et al., 2002) to depict a community-based approach to school inclusion that could encompass these key factors. While previous studies made clear that principals confront numerous challenges in creating inclusive schools, some of which are beyond their control, this study formalizes a community-based approach to school inclusion identifying key facilitation factors on which principals can rely on to navigate material, social, and political challenges.

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