Internationally, inclusion has become a fundamental principle of modern education systems (Ainscow, 2020). While policies and legislation are necessary to begin the process of inclusion, they do not necessarily provide sufficient guidance about how inclusive education can be achieved (Woodcock & Hardy, 2022). Our research and that of our colleagues has found that in order for inclusive education to be successful, it is dependent on school educators’ collective attitudes, commitment, and intention to teach learners with diverse abilities, and the availability of support for educators to include all learners (Leyser et al., 2011; Sharma et al., 2012; Skaalvik & Skaalvik, 2007). We believe that an individual teacher’s attitude, efficacy, and the availability of support to the teacher may not fully predict how likely it is that the school will implement inclusive practices. The school’s overall collective efficacy to include learners with diverse abilities may also be equally critical. Surprisingly, not much research has examined how the combination of factors i.e. individual educator’s intentions, individual teacher’s efficacy, and a school’s collective efficacy for inclusive education can have impact upon the school’s implementation of inclusive practices. While it may be difficult to measure the effectiveness and use of inclusive practices, teachers’ intentions to teach inclusively may be a basis to predict the inclusive practices (Sharma & Jacobs, 2016). Awareness of these factors that relate to the effectiveness and use of inclusive practices, including teachers’ intentions to include all students, can allow policy makers to understand where the resources and supports need to be applied to in order to make schools and classrooms more inclusive, and what types of resources and supports those should be. For example, if the majority of teachers in a school have lower sense of teaching efficacy to teach in inclusive classrooms, not much progress can be made unless all educators are adequately prepared to teach all learners through well designed professional learning programs. On the other hand, if a school lacks collective efficacy to include all learners, intervention will be needed by the leadership team to enhance a school’s overall commitment and confidence to include all learners (Wilson et al., 2020). Research of this nature can also move our theoretical and conceptual understanding of important aspects that relate directly to employment of effective inclusive practices.

This symposium consists of three presentations. The first presentation acknowledges the importance of parents’ involvement in their child’s education. It focuses on school leaders of highly inclusive schools and examines the ways in which they engage with parents towards making the school highly inclusive. The second presentation highlights the importance of the challenges that teachers face in being inclusive as well as support mechanisms that are in place for them. It also focuses on teachers’ intentions towards inclusive education and how these relate to the challenges and supports that teachers experience. The third presentation examines the relationships between teachers’ self-efficacy and collective efficacy with regard to inclusive practices and their attitudes towards inclusion. It argues the importance of the interrelations between them in working towards more inclusive schools.

The aim of this symposium is to bring together important elements of inclusive practices to support policymakers, school leaders, educators, and parents. We will share these findings from a global perspective.

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