Inclusive education remains a contested concept (Woodcock & Hardy, 2022), despite being driven by a strong social justice agenda. In this context, school leaders play a critical role in the support and direction of the school’s inclusive practices (Subban et al., 2022). Research reveals the significance of both teachers’ and school leaders’ perceptions to facilitate inclusive practices (Woodcock & Woolfson, 2019), however collaboration with parents is increasingly regarded as a vital component to supporting inclusion, and successful outcomes for students with disabilities (Wilson, 2016). This study examined approaches that leaders of highly inclusive schools utilised to engage parents into the daily functioning and operations of their school. As an exploratory qualitative study, it drew on collective data from 12 highly ranked inclusive schools from Italy, Switzerland, Australia, and Greece. The schools were acknowledged in each country as being highly inclusive within the school community. Schools varied across a number of characteristics including size (ranging from 100-750), socio-economic status and cultural context. Semi-structured focus group discussions and interviews were conducted each lasting approximately 60 minutes. Group discussions and interviews were conducted with school leaders specifically, with these then recorded, transcribed, and professionally translated. Subsequent to data cleaning, Miles, Huberman, and Saldana’s (2019) thematic analysis approach, involving multiple cycles of data coding, reflecting on connections and identifying themes within the data was applied to probe the data set. Three predominant findings emerged from the data. Firstly, the interviewed leaders explicitly acknowledged parents as integral stakeholders to be drawn into decision-making regarding inclusive practices for students with disabilities. Secondly, they noted that while schools maintained an open-door policy regarding parental involvement, they found that parental engagement may often be limited to advocacy with many parents, delegating weighty decisions to school staff and leaders. Thirdly, leaders recognised that concerted programs, which embedded parental input more intentionally, were likely to contribute more authentically to successful inclusion. The study reiterated the need for collaboration between schools and parents to drive inclusive practices, inviting all stakeholders to occupy active roles to support the success of students with additional learning needs.

Subban, P., Woodcock, S., Sharma, U., & May, F. (2022). How can school leaders create an inclusive culture and commitment? Monash Education Teach Space, Accessed from: https://www.monash.edu/education/teachspace/articles/how-can-school-leaders-create-an-inclusive-culture-and-commitment. Wilson, J. (2016). Reimagining Disability and Inclusive Education Through Universal Design for Learning. Disability Studies Quarterly (DSQ), 37. Woodcock, S., & Hardy, I. (2022). 'You're probably going to catch me out here': principals' understandings of inclusion policy in complex times. International Journal of Inclusive Education, 26(3), 211-226. https://doi.org/10.1080/13603116.2019.1645891 Woodcock, S., & Woolfson, L. M. (2019). Are leaders leading the way with inclusion? Teachers’ perceptions of systemic support and barriers towards inclusion. International journal of educational research, 93, 232-242. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijer.2018.11.004