Running Head: TEACHERS AND INCLUSION 1

A Shared Responsibility: Teachers and inclusion

Dana Schafer

University of Calgary

EDER 619.89 L07

Dr. Carol Murray

November 20th, 2017

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Abstract

This paper will explore the complexity of inclusion and the influence and impact teachers have

when building inclusive environments. The research I present in this paper will highlight how

inclusion is a shared responsibility and how it’s successful implementation relies on the role of

key players in school environments, specifically the teacher. By investigating how teachers are

central to inclusion and examining the barriers and obstacles they face in their daily practice this

paper will unpack the complexities involved as an educator works toward the successful

implementation of inclusive practices and policies. Using my own experiences I will examine

how teacher confusion and understanding surrounding inclusion can act as the underlying cause

of other barriers and obstacles identified . I will then discuss the importance of school leaders in

supporting teachers and providing solutions so that teachers can continue to be an important and

vital part of the collection of stakeholders that share responsibility for inclusion success.
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A Shared Responsibility: Teachers and inclusion

Inclusion is a critical indicator of our society’s humanity and a complex issue in

education today therefore it must be dissected and discussed to ensure it is understood and

implemented with success (Winzer, 2006). To properly discuss the issues surrounding inclusion

in education we must first define inclusive practices for the purpose of this paper. Any reference

to inclusive education in this paper will not simply mean the integration or physical placement of

students into classrooms but refer to the holistic approach educators take in providing access to

the curriculum for all learners through good quality, research based practices that are meant to

serve the broad range of diversity of all learners in our modern school communities (Polat, 2011;

Taylor & Sidhu, 2011; Tikly & Barrett, 2011). This definition stresses the importance of

teachers and their direct control over the implementation of best practice in relation to dealing

with the diversity of learner needs in the classroom.

It is through the daily explicit and implicit interactions and negotiations between students

and teachers we can see the influence and control teachers have on student sense of belonging

and control over inclusion in the classroom community they have created (McGhie-Richmond,

Irvine, Loreman, Cizman, & Lupart, 2013; Riele, 2006). The responsibility of teachers is to

create, plan and deliver instructional programs. These programs will vary depending on a series

of factors including teacher expertise, age, level of training and access to resources and

classroom supports, both financially and personally (McGhie-Richmond et al., 2013). The

combination of these factors along with teacher personal beliefs and values will impact how

flexible the teacher and the classroom environment are when it comes to providing options for

students to access, engage in and ultimately express their knowledge of the curricular content

(Loreman, 2010). Teachers have the power by way of choice in their practice to move from
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simply tolerating differences in their classrooms to valuing the diversity through the use of

accommodation, modification and differentiation in their pedagogy (Gilham & Williamson,

2014).

In order to address the issues and offer solutions to help teachers move forward with

inclusion we must examine the barriers and obstacles that exist for teachers as they work on the

complex implementation of inclusive practices in the educational contexts they belong to. Most

teachers today have a familiarity with policies and practices surrounding policies of integration

and special education reform. Inclusion much like special education has a complex history and

even though a distinction has been made between special education, integration and inclusion

there are still has many structures and reforms that make them similar and therefore as equally

complex, complicated and hard for educators to separate (Gilham & Williamson, 2014; Winzer,

2006). The confusing conceptualization of inclusion is not just a historical issue rooted in long

accepted separate thinking about disability but can still be seen and reflected in how teachers in

contemporary settings demonstrate these understandings by the way they address the diverse

needs of learners and marginalized groups (Miles & Singal, 2010).

It is because of this confusion that it is so important that as a system we find ways to best

support inclusive ways of thinking about education, especially for teachers who are central to the

realization of inclusion (McGhie-Richmond, et al., 2013). School based leaders, policy makers,

advocacy groups and community members need to actively work within existing structures or

create new structures so they can assist teachers as they confront and challenge their beliefs and

values surrounding inclusion to help move understanding forward. Alberta Education (2013)

defines inclusive education as a way of thinking and acting by using evidence based practices

that are flexible and responsive to strengths and needs of individual students. And although
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policies and documents such as these exist in our country and our province there is still an

underlying culture and value systems that favour more oppressive, traditionalist behaviours by

teachers such as segregation, specialist teachers and exclusion (Gordon, 2010; Meyer, Taylor, &

Peter, 2015). If teachers can start to understand that inclusion is more than just a policy or

practice they enact in their classrooms and start to realize that in order for inclusion to be

sustainable it needs to be part of their attitude and belief that guides their every day we can start

to progress towards tolerating differences and valuing and embracing diversity in our classrooms

and make more inclusive considerations (Gilham & Williamson, 2014).

And while it might be true that current practices, particularly across Alberta, are still

considered more inclusive than they were historically, thus indicating attitudes and beliefs are

shifting and change is on the horizon, there is still a deficit between teacher practice, policy and

theory (Gilham & Williamson, 2014). So what barriers or obstacles prevent the marriage of

policy and practice. Like it seems in most circumstances in education when you ask a teacher

what is holding them back from being more successful is access to more resources. A common

resource educators will express a desire to have more of is time. Time to plan properly, time to

learn more about best practices time to collaborate and time to complete all of the tasks required

of them on a daily basis. According to a Canadian based study done by Horne & Timmons

(2009) 95% of teachers were concerned or very concerned with the lack of planning time for

inclusion and about 40% were concerned about not having enough time to collaborate with staff.

One teacher commented: ‘Checklists have to be filled out everyday. Daily logs have to be done.

Then there are your medication times’ and ‘You have all these other professionals or

specialists—the speech and language therapist, the autism coordinator—and they want daily or

regular reports to see how things are going. So there is constant paperwork. It’s to find time to do
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all your paperwork on top of actually doing your lesson plans and your regular teaching

assignment.

Without time teachers can not do the important work required for inclusion to truly be

implemented. But time is not the only resource identified as a barrier to why teachers are not

using inclusive practices as effectively as they could. Through their examination of teacher

perspectives of inclusion in rural Alberta, McGhie-Richmond et al. (2013) found that teachers

felt underprepared and that they lacked the support and training needed to deliver programs that

adequately meet the diversity of student needs. Horne & Timmons (2009) echo this sentiment,

their study showed that teachers do not feel they have the skills required for teaching students

with specific learning needs and that it was concerning the lack of training they were receiving as

preservice and as veteran teachers.

As part of a large and varied staff myself I see that if a staff member does not believe in

the vision of inclusion it acts as the underlying obstacle and the root of the other barriers

becoming problematic. When teachers attitudes, values and belief systems do not align with

inclusion other road blocks tend to become the scapegoat for the failure to successfully include

students in the classroom. I believe there is a link between how teachers feel about inclusion

and their feeling of inadequacy and lack of time to improve. Reid and Weatherly Valle suggest

that ‘what we think drives what we do, the way we frame difference has personal, material

consequences for students’ (Thorton & Underwood, 2004). Whether it is because they

personally feel inclusive practices detract from other students or they themselves are not engaged

or are disinterested in how important inclusive practices, teachers in my school struggle to look

past their own belief systems to really consider the impact they have on the success or failure of

inclusion (Amthor & Roxas, 2016; McGhie-Richmond et al., 2013; Winzer, 2006).
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Undermining important structures that support learners by being unprepared or unengaged

exposes these teachers as saboteurs and highlights that they either do not understand or accept

inclusive policies, programs and practices. They use the other obstacles and barriers, like lack

or time or training, to hide behind and cover their own inadequacy or deficiency in understanding

and appreciating difference in our school system.

So how do we best support teachers as they grapple with the difficulties they face when

trying to support the diversity in their classrooms on a daily basis. According to Loreman's

(2007) work around the seven pillars of inclusive schools; for inclusion to be successful

educators need to work towards developing positive attitudes with meaningful reflection built

into their research based practice that includes flexible curriculum and pedagogy. In order for

these conditions to be met schools and teachers need the influence of strong leadership.

Leadership that has a clear vision of creating the necessary conditions for a community that

values and holds inclusion in high regard, a leader who establishes collaborative practices that

encourage the critical engagement with inclusive ideals and practices. (Black & Simon, 2014;

Carrington & Robinson, 2006). If teachers work with strong visionary leaders they will be

nurtured and supported and take the risks they need to move forward toward more inclusive

practice.

One of the most effective ways a school based leader can make changes in their

environment is by building capacity of staff members through relevant and timely professional

development (Sokal & Katz, 2015). School leaders can begin initiating a shift in teacher thinking

and behaviour by acknowledging and addressing the deficiency and needs of teachers practice

and focusing on providing meaningful professional development to address relationships of

inequality in education and assists in structuring assignments and assessment protocols that are
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best for all learners included in critical pedagogy and universal design learning (Johnson, 2006).

Leaders can hold teachers accountable and foster self reflection by utilizing teacher supervision

and evaluation based on framework that outline the knowledge, skills and attitudes along with

the expectations for teachers in relation to providing inclusive education (Loreman, 2010). With

purposefully planned organizational reform leaders that are committed to working to changing

deep cultural beliefs, engaging their staff in meaningful quality PD and developing structures

that support the time needed for this important work to happen can make a difference in the

level of success teachers have in implementing inclusive practices in their classrooms (Black &

Simon, 2014).

If it is true that a school and therefore classrooms are the smallest and most meaningful

unit of inclusion then educational stakeholders must work together to understand and address the

obstacles, barriers and stumbling blocks that prevent teachers in these settings from realizing an

inclusive vision (Rose & Harvey, 2002). Adopting positive attitudes and understanding the

importance and principles of inclusion are first steps that teachers need to take in order to move

towards being successful implementers of inclusive practices (Loreman, 2010). School leaders

have the influence and the authority to support teachers with this through deliberate professional

development planning, aligning school structures to allow for time and collaboration and

ultimately using their influence to consistently articulate the vision of inclusion to alter the deep

cultural beliefs and values that prevent all students from being educated equally (Black & Simon,

2014). In conclusion there is still much work to be done to ensure that teachers, a vital part of

the inclusion puzzle, are properly prepared and supported when being asked to use practices in

their classroom that are more inclusive for all learners. Moving forward the discussion needs to
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move away from why we need inclusion and needs to center around how we can get to teachers

to effectively implement and utilize inclusive practice as part of everyday educational practice.
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