As the educational and cultural landscape is in constant evolution in different countries, there is an increasing recognition that school communities need to not only address academic achievement but also cultivate a sense of belonging and inclusivity for every student. This paper addresses this challenge related to diversity and discuss the key components of an educational project designed to enable and support the co-creation of sustainable school communities in seven countries in Europe and North America. For this reason, “inclusion and diversity” became a key priority for the Erasmus+ funding period of 2021-2027. This emphasis on inclusion and diversity became crucial as the goal of building an inclusive society still remains distant. Public schools, in particular, are called to play a vital role but they still struggle in addressing challenges posed by an ever-increasing diversity in the student population. In the paper, we position the concept of inclusion as both guiding principle and a practical approach that can foster the participation of all irrespective of their backgrounds or individual characteristics (e.g., culture, religion, gender, ability, SES; Grace & Gravestock, 2008; Göransson & Nilholm, 2014). This, as a goal, involves an active cultivation of an environment that not only embraces but also celebrates diversity as well as fostering a sense of belonging and equal opportunities for all. Inclusion involves valuing and facilitating the full participation and belonging of everyone in all aspects of the school communities (Cologon, 2019). These kinds of school communities respect their members and provide a safe learning environment for everyone, including the adults working in the school. Further, in these communities everyone can learn and is allowed to express their opinions, raise awareness, and develop their skills.

The points made in the above discussion laid the grounds for an initiative carried out through an Erasmus+ project: Co-Creating Inclusive School Communities (2021-2024). The primary objective of the project was to create tools that could be used to effectively support schools in their co-creation of sustainable inclusive school-communities where every member is welcomed, respected, valued, and given a voice, and where diversity in culture, religion, gender, ability, and socio-economic background is embraced and appreciated. Achieving this goal necessitated fostering an inclusive community in which all stakeholders—teachers, learners, parents, school leaders, and external partners—actively engage and share responsibility for creating inclusive school cultures. However, several schools in Europe and Canada still struggle with establishing inclusive pedagogical, organizational, and institutional practices that help school communities to embrace diversity across cultural, religious, gender identity, ability, and socio-economic spectrum. 

To assist schools in developing more inclusive school communities, the project aims to create a toolbox designed to help stakeholders within schools enhance their awareness and understanding of inclusiveness. This toolbox is designed to support schools in evaluating the current state of inclusiveness within their communities and assist them in identifying, selecting, and implementing actionable steps for improvement. Through the application of the toolbox, schools are guided to address four key questions related to the level of inclusiveness within their community:

• What are the defining characteristics of inclusive school communities?
• What are inspiring examples of inclusive school communities, and how are they realized in practice?
• How inclusive is our own school community?
• What actions can we take to enhance the inclusiveness of our school community?

A preliminary status of the project was already presented at the ECER Conference 2024, this submission presents the final result

This implementation project toward inclusion was grounded in a change methodology centered on co-creation processes involving members of school communities and universities from seven different countries. This international partnership (Coburn & Penuel, 2016; Enikö & Datnow, 2024; Farrell, 2022) and collaboration resulted in the co-creation of a toolbox of strategies and resources that bridged the gap between theory and practice while highlighting the importance of connecting each component of the toolbox to key areas of school community life such as pedagogical practices, curriculum development, professional development, and community engagement. More specifically, in our development project, the use of a methodology of co-creation (Jones, 2028) involved the activation of several key methodological components. It emphasized collaborative design process (Penuel, 2019) bringing together diverse stakeholders such as teachers, (in)formal school leaders, and external experts resulting in the co-creation of a toolbox reflecting the needs and perspectives of various school communities. Such a process was highly iterative involving continuous feedback loops where stakeholders were each contributing to shaping and refining the toolbox’s content and structure. Workshops, focus groups, and surveys were used to gather input about the effectiveness of the tools and resources from toolbox that were used in schools. Overtime, a shared conceptual and practical understanding of inclusiveness emerged among partners through on-going joint reflection sessions on key principles such as diversity, equality, equity, and collaboration. Practical applications of these principles were then translated into actionable new tools or strategies which were added to the toolbox. This methodology of co-creation ensured that the toolbox became a living resource that evolves within school communities in their journey toward inclusivity. As integral part of our co-creation methodology, we included the notion of first- and second-order change that we consider as essential as it helped us to address and identify both outcomes of immediate and practical adjustments along with the more transformative shifts required for sustainable changes. First-order changes refer to practical adjustments like modifying teaching practices, curricula, and classroom environment to accommodate diverse learners. These are often incremental and implemented within existing structures. Second-order changes, however, require a deeper transformation in beliefs, values, and organizational culture such as shifting mindsets about diversity and equity, fostering collaborative and distributive leadership (Levy, 1986) and promoting a more inclusive school ethos.

The project outcome is a comprehensive set of tools aimed to support school leaders, educators, and stakeholders in creating and developing inclusive environments. The first set of conceptual tools are designed to help educators and (in)formal school leaders to deepen their conceptual understanding of inclusiveness while providing them with a framework with practical and actionable strategies for an effective implementation and development of inclusive school communities. These tools consist of two parts: one addresses various interpretation of inclusiveness within school communities while the other provides guidelines for planning effective processes and strategies fostering inclusive school communities. The inspirational tools are designed to motivate and guide school leaders and teachers by providing practical examples and vignettes showcasing successful inclusive school communities. The reflective tools offer a structured approach to help schools assess their current level of inclusiveness, identify strengths, pinpoint areas for improvements, and plan accordingly. A set of supportive tools complements the toolbox focusing on specific aspects of inclusiveness and specific levels of the school community. All of these tools are integrated into an online toolbox presented in a user-friendly format (https://www.developinginclusiveschoolcommunities.org). It includes introductory videos and a comprehensive use guide to help schools get started, assess their current level of inclusiveness, and navigate the change process effectively. The website is free to access and available in multiple languages. As mentioned earlier, the toolbox was developed through and iterative co-creation process involving researchers and members of school communities. We now aim to disseminate and assess the final version of the toolbox in collaboration with schools in various national contexts. Collecting data on its effectiveness and usability in schools will help us refine the toolbox content and contribute valuable new research on the success of change processes in achieving inclusiveness in a school context.

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