How are teachers promoting social inclusion : A study of teachers' contribution to social inclsuion in Georgian school

The purpose of this study was to describe teachers’ practice in social inclusion in Georgian school. It tried to find out current situation regarding social dimension of inclusion. The study intended to reveal the effort teachers put in developing and improving this topic at school and find activities they use for better interaction among pupils in general and between regular students and students with special needs. The main question was how are teachers promoting social inclusion? Apart to this, the study asked what teachers know about inclusion in general and what kind of understanding of social inclusion they have. Research was conducted in the capital of Georgia, Tbilisi. The study chose qualitative approach for answering those questions. Two semi-structured interviews were conducted with teachers and two observations were done in the same classes. The interpretational approach that was based on hermeneutics was used for the analysis of gained results. The data revealed that teacher’s knowledge in inclusive education was not very clear and based more on subjective impressions and judgments. The term social inclusion appeared to be a concept they were not familiar with, although the practice that was held by one teacher was corresponding to the ideas of social inclusion. Moreover, the practice teachers provided for helping interaction between students revealed an equal approach to all students and not specifically arranged activities for influencing the participation and interaction of students with special needs. What is more, the data showed a link between teacher’s knowledge and practice because the one who new more did more. The enthusiasm and creativity of teachers was also a component that affected the observed practice a lot. In whole, the observed data was reflecting the spoken one. There was no gap between those two sources. Based on the findings the research formulated further implications for teachers. Firstly, because the knowledge both in inclusive education and in social inclusion appeared to be low and secondly, because there was a link between knowledge and practice, it was suggested to raise teachers’ awareness regarding inclusion. In addition, it was also suggested to support enthusiasm and creativity as a determinant of teacher’s fruitful practice. Key words: social inclusion, interaction, cooperation, teacher’s practic