The focus of this paper is initial teacher education (ITE) at the University of Iceland, School of Education (UIE) and the opportunities student teachers had to prepare themselves to work in inclusive practices. The research was a part of a project called Teacher Education for Inclusion (TE4I) conducted by the European Agency for Development in Special Needs Education 2009-2012. The TE4I project considered what kind of teachers are needed for inclusive society in a 21st century school, the whole teacher training continuum, and teacher competences for inclusive education (European Agency for Development in Special Needs Education, 2012b). Participants who came from 25 European countries collected information of how student teachers are prepared in the initial education to work in inclusive settings in their country. The information from each country was used for the project and provided information on policy and practice in supporting all teachers to be inclusive teachers. This paper addresses the findings from Iceland.

The research goal was to gain insight into the opportunities student teachers had at IUE to strengthen their competences to teach in inclusive schools and was conducted on the three year B.Ed. offered for teacher education in 2009–2011. The research question was: What are the possibilities student teachers have to strengthen their abilities and knowledge to work in inclusive settings and respond to all pupils?

Changes in societies place demands on teachers to continuously internalize new knowledge and skills and to further their capabilities to respond to diverse groups of students in appropriate ways (European Parliament, 2008). Inclusive education is an example of social and political changes that in the last decades have effected teachers’ work around the world. It is an ongoing act directed towards a quality education for all and builds on individual presumptions of learning and schools that assure that every pupil receives proper education. Responding to individual differences, changing attitudes and establishing schools that educate all children together are all factors that matters (UNESCO, 2008). Although interpretation and implementation differ between countries, ideas of inclusive education have effected law, regulation and curriculum around the world (Booth, Nes & Strömstad, 2003; Meijer, 2003; Meijer, Soriano, & Watkins, 2003). Icelandic law on comprehensive schooling and the national curriculum builds on theories of inclusion that ensure all pupils have equivalent opportunities during their comprehensive education. However, results from TALIS 2009 indicate that teachers request more support to develop their work and abilities to respond to students with disabilities and behaviour problems (Ragnar F. Ólafsson & Júlíus K. Björnsson, 2009). According to research findings teachers claim that they attend to pupils with special needs but that they don´t have the time, preparation, resources or competences necessary (Forlin, Jobling og Carroll, 2001; Lambe og Bones, 2006). They claim that during the teacher education there isn´t enough preparation for teaching pupils with special needs (OECD, 2009).

Booth, T., Nes, K. og Stromstad, M. (Eds.). (2003). Developing inclusive teacher Education. London: Routledge/Falmer. European Agency for Development in Special Needs Education. (2012a). Profile of inclusive teachers. Odense: European Agency for Development in Special Needs Education. Retrieved from http://www.european-agency.org/publications/ereports/teacher-education-for-inclusion-profile-of-inclusive-teachers/teacher-education-for-inclusion-profile-of-inclusive-teachers European Agency for Development in Special Needs Education. (2012b). Teacher education for inclusion. International literature. Odense: European Agency for Development in Special Needs Education. Retrieved from http://www.european-agency.org/agency-projects/Teacher-Education-for-Inclusion European Parliament. (2008). Resolution on improving the quality of teacher education 23.09.2008. Retrieved from http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=TA&reference=P6-TA-2008-0422&language=EN. Forlin, C., Jobling, A. og Carroll, A. (2001). Pre-service teachers’ discomfort levels toward people with disabilities. Journal of International Special Needs Education, 4, 32–38. Korthagen, F., Loughran, J., og Russell, T. (2006). Developing fundamental principles for teacher education programs and practices. Teaching and Teacher Education, 22(8), 1020–1041. Lambe, J. og Bones, R. (2006). Student teachers attitudes to inclusion; implications for initial teacher education in Northern Ireland. International Journal of Inclusive Education, 10(6), 511–527. Meijer, C. (2003). Inclusive Education and Classroom Practices. Middelfart: European Agency for Development in Special Needs Education. Meijer, C., Soriano, V., & Watkins, A. (2003). Special needs education in Europe. Middelfart: European Agency for Development in Special Needs Education OECD. (2009). Creating effective teaching and learning environments – first results from TALIS. Retrieved from http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/17/51/43023606.pdf Ragnar F. Ólafsson og Júlíus K. Björnsson. (2009). TALIS Staða og viðhorf kennara og skólastjórnenda. Reykjavík: Námsmatsstofnun. UNESCO. (2008). Education. Retrieved from http://www.unesco.org/en/inclusive-education/