National policies present rights, duties, and measures for policy action through messages framed by particular concepts. Research has shown how understandings of policy conceptualizations have changed over time with shifting policies and premises (Stenersen & Prøitz 2020). One of these concepts is the powerful movement towards inclusive schooling. Although countries have different historically developed educational contexts, resembling regulations for inclusive schooling have been implemented, and stakeholders have interpreted regulations leading to many variations (Badstieber & Moldenhauer, 2016). School principals play a major role in this chain of international guidelines, national and finally local implementation (Abrahamsen & Aas, 2019). However, due to different understandings of inclusion and variations in local contexts, the role of school leaders in this high-stake policy issue is unclear (Wermke & Prøitz, 2019). The first paper of this symposium analyses inclusion policies in Norway, where especially school leaders play a significant role in reform implementation (Moos et al., 2016).

Article 24 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities requires signatory states to ensure ‘an inclusive education system at all levels’ – there are, however, variations in the wording of this article: The version ratified by Switzerland in 2014, for instance, replaces ‘inclusive’ with ‘integrative’. This means that children with disabilities are granted equal access to free, high-quality education in the primary and secondary schools in their community, but not necessarily in mainstream classrooms alongside their peers. Previous research has identified a lack of transparency regarding the implementation of national integration policy by the cantonal departments of education (Kronenberg, 2021) as well as significant differences among Swiss cantons in the legal regulations governing the structure and financing of integrative measures (Wicki, 2020; Wicki & Antognini, 2022). The second paper of this symposium explores the strategies employed by German-speaking cantons in Switzerland to redesign their school system in compliance with Swiss national integration policy and assesses their inclusiveness.

Educational policy and legislation in Portugal have been, since the 70s, on a path to developing a more inclusive education system for all. The development of inclusive education systems requires a joined-up approach that includes not only a focus on “special” groups, but on developing inclusive curricula and pedagogies (including assessment), designed with learner diversity as a starting point, aiming at realising the rights of all learners to education in terms of access to, participation, and success in education. The third paper focuses on the legislation and policy developments in Portugal which intended to develop a national inclusive education system and presents an overview of the development of educational public policies towards inclusion.

Recent research has increasingly focused on students’ and teachers' attitudes, perceptions, beliefs, and self-efficacy regarding diversity and inclusive education. The fourth paper focuses on the national application of questionnaires to teachers in Portugal, exploring their attitudes toward diversity, inclusive cultures, and practices, and identifying correlations and differences in attitudes considering various personal and professional variables. It draws on the broad definition of attitudes, encompassing perceptions, views, beliefs, feelings, and predispositions, as put forth by Van Mieghem et al. (2020). The research is situated within the context of Portuguese TEIP school clusters associated with the Includ-Ed Community Learning Program. This study, part of the LC4Inclusion project (PTDC/CED-EDG/4650/2021), aims to understand the development processes of Learning Communities and strategies used to combat inequality and promote inclusion and success.

By bringing together four perspectives on the development and implementation of national educational policy in three different European countries, we hope to gain new insights into the challenges and opportunities regarding the promotion of inclusive education in Europe.

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