Inclusive education is an issue that is becoming increasingly relevant in everyday school life, with the range of ways to deal with it being wide. Teachers and other experts in schools are trying to figure out what works best but are faced with challenges on different levels since inclusion – in its different understandings – is a topic which is discussed controversially within educational politics (Ainscow 2024; Ainscow and Messiou 2025). The obligation to develop inclusive education (UN 2015) is reconstructed differently at the level of nation-states as it is contextualized by divergent policies, regulations and structures of educational systems which are meaningful for the institutionalization of (inclusive) school cultures (Douglas, 1991). Here research comes in and plays a crucial role in how to handle these demands, providing evidence-based data (Ainscow 2020). This data can in the best case be a relevant factor to influence school practices but not automatically (Knigge 2020) which is why we ask: How can research contribute to foster inclusive education?

In this symposium we present different research projects on inclusive school improvement. We focus on different approaches to how research can be used to foster inclusive education.

On a meta-level we address the following questions: How does research contribute to inclusive school improvement? Which functions can research take on in inclusive school improvement? What is the motivation to apply different accesses to investigate inclusive education? What are the consequences for methodological realization? What kind of results can be created and how can they be used?

We will discuss how results of research are used to stir dialogue with decision-makers and practitioners and what impact the different approaches can have.

The presented research projects stem from Italy, Finland and Switzerland. They all focus on inclusive education but are based on different legal backgrounds when it comes to inclusion. Currently there exist different legal foundations and approaches for inclusive education, which lead to varying implementations, such as integrative approaches, which include children in mainstream schools as far as possible, but often still allow special school (Switzerland), to truly inclusive systems (e.g. USA, Canada, Finland, Italy) that promote joint learning for all children in mainstream schools from the outset and abolish special schools.

Also, the individual main foci are different:

The Italian concept of a formative process evaluation focuses on how inclusive teaching can be realized. The contribution from Finland investigates the role of leadership in inclusive education. The Swiss project evaluates the implementation of Learning Support Teams in schools.

Ainscow, Mel. 2020. „Promoting inclusion and equity in education: lessons from international experiences“. Nordic Journal of Studies in Educational Policy 6 (1): 7–16. https://doi.org/10.1080/20020317.2020.1729587. Ainscow, Mel. 2024. Developing Inclusive Schools: Pathways to Success. Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group. 7625 Empire Drive, Florence, KY 41042. Tel: 800-634-7064; Fax: 800-248-4724; e-mail: cserve@routledge-ny.com; Web site: http://www.routledge.com. Ainscow, Mel, und Kyriaki Messiou. 2025. „Developing Inclusive Education Systems: Pathways and Barriers“. In Resilienz.Inklusion.Lernende Systeme. Jahrestagung Der Inklusionsforscher*innen 2024 Graz, herausgegeben von Edvina Bešić, Daniela Ender, und Gasteiger-Klicpera Barbara. Verlag Julius Klinkhardt. https://doi.org/10.35468/6149-01. Douglas, M. (1991). Wie Institutionen denken. Suhrkamp. Knigge, Michel. 2020. „Use of evidence to promote inclusive education development commentary on Mel Ainscow. Promoting inclusion and equity in education: lessons from international experiences“. Nordic Journal of Studies in Educational Policy 6 (1): 21–24. https://doi.org/10.1080/20020317.2020.1730093.