Forewords

The purpose of this staff development material is to distribute to teachers, parents and support services elements of successful practices of inclusive schooling. It was produced during the years 1998-2001 by a collaborative team from Austria, Iceland, Portugal and Spain as part of a Leonardo da Vinci project named Enhancing Teachers’ Ability in Inclusion (ETAI). It is based on several case studies of successful efforts towards inclusive education in compulsory schools in the four countries.

The material is divided into four parts. Part one is introductory. It introduces the context of the ETAI project and methodology the research was based on. Part two contains the Conclusions of the study. It discusses the findings in nine thematic chapters. Each chapter states the main findings for the corresponding theme from all the cases and draws these together in summary form with useful suggestions for schoolwork. This part ends with a short discussion of the general implications of the study.

Part three contains the Handbook for staff development. It is divided into nine chapters corresponding to the themes from the case studies:
1. Preparation for schooling
2. Curriculum planning
3. Classroom practice
4. Collaboration and co-ordination
5. Pupils’ social interaction
6. Home-school collaboration
7. Evaluation and assessment
8. Support services
9. Staff development

Each chapter contains objectives, summary of the findings from the study, suggestions for implementation in schoolwork, training activities and a short list of useful readings related to the content. The fourth and final part is a video tape: Ways to inclusion, that has the purpose of introducing various aspects of inclusion. It is based on the case studies and gives some insight into the views of participants in the research, such as pupils, parents, teachers and experts from support services.

The material is designed to be used in regular group sessions at schools led by a consultant, a fellow teacher or someone else familiar with the material. Each part and each chapter can stand independently as discussion material for staff development work, for groups of parents and experts from support services. Together the material could constitute an extensive continuing education programme for staff of schools working towards inclusive education.

June 2001
Rósa Eggertsdóttir
Gretar L. Marinósson