Teacher Education in Scotland: Mapping Inclusive Practice

This symposium presents a project commissioned by the Scottish Council of Deans of Education, being carried out by the Scottish Universities Inclusion Group. The research project is based on the Scottish National Framework for Inclusion (STEC, 2009 and updated 2014) and on the ‘Tool to Upgrade Teacher Education Practices for Inclusive Education’ (Hollenweger, Pantic and Florian, 2015) and aims to map inclusive teacher education practice and to identify and record how the principled approaches of the Framework for Inclusion are evident in initial teacher education across Scotland. The tool uses an activity model that can be applied to examine the activities that are taking place on our courses, and the intended outcomes. Inclusive education is a major topic for both policy and practice and it is important that robust information about philosophy and practice is available in the light of ongoing Scottish Government and media engagement with the issue. The eight Scottish Universities (University of West Scotland, University of Dundee, University of Glasgow, University of Strathclyde, University of Aberdeen, University of Stirling, University of Edinburgh, University of the Highlands and Islands) have collected data within their own context choosing the most appropriate methods for each context. This involved the use of questionnaires, interviews, focus groups and documentary analysis of course documentation. This symposium presents an opportunity for research teams to share their findings and to discuss similarities and differences amongst universities and consider whether a similar mapping exercise could be useful to other Universities in the UK. Preparing teachers for work in inclusive classrooms at the University of Glasgow This paper presents the results of a research study conducted in the School of Education of the University of Glasgow, aiming to gather information about how student teachers in initial teacher education (ITE) and practising teachers, doing continuous professional development (CPD), are being prepared to work in inclusive classrooms, and supported to develop their inclusive practices. The data presented refer to the findings from the documentary analysis of course documentation