Inclusive Education: Implications for Teacher Education

• In Event: 45.093 - MTCC Roundtable Session 18
  In Roundtable Session: 45.093-2 - Inclusive Teacher Education Practice Across Contexts

Abstract

This paper is about the inclusion of pupils with disabilities and special educational needs in mainstream education and the implications of inclusive education for teacher education. While influenced by empirical research, the paper is theoretical in focus. It addresses topics such as the elusive definition of inclusive education, requisite teacher knowledge for teaching pupils with special educational needs in mainstream classes, and the characteristics of an inclusive teacher. It is theoretically informed by the psychosocial model of disability and the Organisational Psychology paradigm. It emphasises, in addition to mastery of subject knowledge for graduate teachers, an inclusive mindset, awareness of one’s assumptions about disability and the capacity to contribute to school development around the issue of inclusion.

Author

• William Patrick Kinsella, University College Dublin