Principals' Expectations of Teachers to Implement Inclusive Activities and Teachers' Understanding of Those Expectations

Abstract

A pilot study carried in northern NSW explored the types of expectations that principals have of teachers to implement inclusive activities and what teachers thought their principals expected of them. It also examined whether principals' expectations of teachers to implement inclusive education differed between different schools. The results from the seven school principals and six teachers who completed a survey questionnaire showed that six of the seven principals had high expectations of teachers in their schools to implement inclusive activities. Results also showed that school principals in different schools had different expectations of teachers to implement inclusive activities. Finally, teachers and principals' expectations were not aligned in all schools. However the differences were modest in all but two schools. These implications of these findings for inclusive education and for further, larger scale, research are discussed.