This paper examines how disability related support is organised, enacted, and constrained within school placement, a core and high stakes component of initial teacher education. Rather than focusing on individual beliefs or identities, the analysis examines organisational arrangements, support structures, and coordination mechanisms, framing inclusion as a design and implementation issue at organisational level.
While the study is situated in an Irish context, the issues examined are relevant to European teacher education systems characterised by shared responsibility between higher education institutions and schools (European Agency for Special Needs and Inclusive Education, 2012).
European policy and research literature indicates that several education systems have strengthened inclusive education frameworks, yet the enactment of disability related support during school placement remains uneven across contexts (European Agency for Special Needs and Inclusive Education, 2018; European Agency for Special Needs and Inclusive Education, 2012; OECD, 2012).

School placement emerges as a critical site where rights-based commitments to inclusion are either realised or diluted through fragmented provision across higher education institutions and schools (European Agency for Special Needs and Inclusive Education, 2012). The paper argues that inclusion during placement should be understood as a systemic and organisational issue rather than an individual accommodation problem (OECD, 2012).

The analysis is guided by the following research question, how is responsibility for disability related support during school placement understood and enacted across institutional boundaries in initial teacher education, and what conditions enable or constrain inclusive practice in this space.

The study is grounded in a social model of disability, shifting attention away from individual deficit towards the relational, organisational, and structural conditions that produce disabling practices (Danforth et al., 2016). This is complemented by third space theory, which conceptualises school placement as a boundary space where professional roles, responsibilities, and forms of expertise overlap but are not always coherently aligned (Bhabha, 2004).

Drawing on qualitative interview data and quantitative survey data generated with disability support services and external school placement tutors, the paper examines how inclusion is interpreted and operationalised through everyday support practices, communication routines, and accountability arrangements.

Findings indicate that fragmentation does not arise from resistance to inclusion, but from organisational conditions that obscure responsibility and limit collective action. Unclear role boundaries, confidentiality requirements, time pressures, and competing institutional priorities contribute to uneven and contingent support practices. As a result, inclusion is frequently individualised and negotiated on a case-by-case basis, reinforcing disabling conditions within school placement rather than addressing them systemically. The paper contributes to inclusive education research by conceptualising school placement as a boundary space, where policy intentions are mediated through organisational practice, highlighting the need for clearer structures, shared responsibility, and coordinated support to enable genuinely inclusive initial teacher education across European contexts.

Bhabha, H. K. (2004). The location of culture. Routledge. Danforth, S., Gabel, S. L., Cosier, M., & Ashby, C. (Eds.). (2016). Disability studies meets teaching and teacher education. Peter Lang. European Agency for Special Needs and Inclusive Education. (2012). Teacher education for inclusion across Europe: Challenges and opportunities (Synthesis report). https://www.european-agency.org/resources/publications/teacher-education-inclusion-across-europe-challenges-and-opportunities European Agency for Special Needs and Inclusive Education. (2018). European agency statistics on inclusive education: Key findings. https://www.european-agency.org/news/easie-key-findings Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. (2012). Equity and quality in education: Supporting disadvantaged students and schools. OECD Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1787/9789264130852-en