Empowering Teachers for Inclusion in Schools (ETIS Research). Comparative studies in diverse settings in Europe.

• In Event: Highlighted Session: Teaching Comparative and International Education in Diverse Settings

Proposal

Key EU policy documents emphasise the need to equip teachers to work effectively in a highly diverse classroom context, supporting students with different cultural backgrounds and learning needs and promoting an ethos of inclusion in schools (EASNIE 2021). Most European countries are increasingly aware of the need to provide tailored teacher education programs to support these training needs, and each offers a model unique to its national or local context (Malet & Bian 2021).

This research examines how these various inputs in the transition from initial teacher training (ITE) to continuous professional development (CPD). A comparative approach draws upon qualitative data gathered in England, France, Belgium, Germany and Portugal, analysing results both at the institutional and the individual level. In contrast to most studies, which engage with one aspect only of the teacher preparation continuum, this study examines ITE and CPD programmes, as well as wider policy and school-level strategies (Malet 2020 & 2021). A broader aim of this project is to understand how specific institutional mechanisms as well as teachers’ beliefs and attitudes may promote equity and inclusion in schooling and teaching (Smythe 2021; Waine 2021; Santana & Malet 2021).

In collaboration with universities and schools in London, Brighton, Brussels, Bordeaux, Lisbon, the field research addressed two core areas: how inclusion is addressed in initial and ongoing teacher education, and how different kinds of schools are working with practices of inclusion. During terrain research in diverse cultural & educational settings in the period 2020-2022, a wide range of views and experiences of administrators, educators and experts in inclusive education were gathered : from teachers, teachers educators and leaders in secondary and primary schools.

This presentation will discuss epistemological and methodological dimensions of comparison (Malet 2022; Davidov et al 2018), preliminary findings, comparing how inclusive education is evolving in teacher training schemes and school practices in various contexts, and giving voice to teachers’ experiences of the challenges and successes in working inclusively with diverse pupils in various settings.

In addition to the field data collected within the framework of the ETIS research in the various countries and contexts investigated, institutional data complete the empirical and theoretical elements gathered, among which in particular elements of political, programmatic and curricular framing which are contained in texts, official reports and formal curricula.
On the basis of a reasoned choice of texts in different European countries and the European authorities themselves (Parliament and Commission), these discursive productions are analyzed comparatively on the basis of a qualitative analysis of the speeches, assisted by a data processing software.

The comparative analysis of policies and institutional texts is a complementary element to that of the interviews collected. This comparative and semiotic analytical approach is part of a methodological pluralism (Hantrais, 2009; Bray et al 2014), developing complementary strategies used to study teacher education policies and practices in different (pluri)cultural contexts, combining documentary survey, analysis of available data and local case studies. A multi-site comparative semiotics, as proposed by Marcus (1998), Coleman & Hellerman (2011) for instance, inspires a focus on both policy discourses/narratives and the individual and collective narratives of in situ actors (teachers, trainers, administrators).

Key words: teacher education, school inclusion and diversity, comparative methodology and epistemology, comparing perspectives on teaching and learning.


References

Berman, R.C., Tyyskä, V. (2011). A critical reflection on the use of translators/interpreters in a qualitative cross-language research project. International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 10(2), 178–190.

Bray, M., Adamson, B., Mason, M. (eds) (2014). Comparative Education Research: Approaches and Methods. Hong Kong: Springer.

Davidov, E., Schmidt, P., Billiet, J., Meuleman, B. (eds.). (2018). Cross-cultural analysis. Methods and applications. New York, NY: Routledge.

Hantrais, L. (2009). International comparative research: theory, methods and practice. Basingstoke (England): Palgrave Macmillan.

EASNIE (European Agency for Special Needs and Inclusive Education) (2021). Country Policy Review and Analysis: Key messages for working with and for countries. (A. Watkins, V. J. Donnelly, S. Symeonidou and V. Soriano eds.). Odense, Denmark.

Gazeley, L., Marrable, T., Brown, C. and Boddy, J. (2013). Reducing inequalities in school exclusion: Learning from good practice. A report to the Office of the Children’s Commissioner from the Centre for Innovation and Research in Childhood and Youth. School of Education and Social Work, University of Sussex

Lauchlan, F. and Greig, S. (2015). Educational inclusion in England: origins, perspectives and current directions: Inclusive Education in England. Support for Learning 30(1), Feb 2015.

Malet, R. (2020). From in-service education to teachers’ professional development I. The French case in the light of international comparisons. Journal of Comparative Education, 2020, n°6.

Malet, R. (Ed.)(2021). De la formation continue au développement professionnel des personnels d’éducation. Situation nationale, comparaisons internationales, état des recherches. Paris : Conseil National d’Evaluation des Systèmes Scolaires (CNESCO).

Malet R. (2022). Comparatisme interculturel. in Albéro, B.; Thievenaz, J. (dir.) Traité de méthodologie de la recherche en Sciences de l’éducation et de la formation. Dijon : Editions Raison et Passions.

Malet R., Bian C. (Eds) (2021). Former des enseignants inclusifs. Spirale, vol. 65 1 & 2.

Marcus, George (1998) Ethnography through Thick and Thin. Katalog BPS, Princeton, Princeton University Press.

Coleman, S. ; Hellermann, P. (eds.) Multi-Sited Ethnography. Problems and Possibilities in the Translocation of Research Methods, London, Routledge, pp. 16-32.

Smythe, F. (2022). School inclusion, young migrants and language. Success and obstacles in mainstream learning in France and New Zealand. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development,

Waine, L. (2021). Teacher Education and the Development of Teacher Professional Identity: a comparative analysis of student teachers’ experiences in Germany, France and England. PhD Dissertation, Institute of Education, University College London.

Authors

• Régis Malet, University of Bordeaux

• Fiona Smythe, Université de Bordeaux

• Alice Le Coz, Inspe /université de Bordeaux