Teachers make inclusion successful: positive perspectives on inclusion

Abstract

Part I of this book explores the theoretical issues of what inclusion is (also see Boyle et al.2011), and these will not be repeated here. This chapter continues the themes in Part II about the 'how' of inclusion and considers teachers' perspectives of implementing inclusive principles in schools. It uses data from a range of interviews investigating secondary school teachers' attitudes to inclusive education, fully reported in Boyle (2009). Policies of inclusion in schools now transcend national boundaries, but how teachers interact with each other in order to be successful in an inclusive environment is less well known. Studies that have been conducted in this area indicate the influence of teachers over other teachers and how they support each other in order to implement inclusive policies in schools (e.g. Goodman and Burton 2010; Boyle et al.2012a). The decision to create an inclusion policy in a local authority or equivalent will obviously be determined within the current legislation of that country and will be refined to suit local circumstances. However, how much of this decision-making process will include involvement from the ground-level staff who are the de facto implementers of any new initiative? Policy makers can forget that there is a street-level bureaucracy (Lipsky 1980; 2010), and if people at the ground level who have to implement the policy are not in agreement with the philosophy underpinning the change, then the chances of success are naturally diminished. Lipsky's seminal work has been around for over twenty-five years, yet it is still a relevant factor even today.