Professionalization of Inclusive School Development Processes

Abstract

The implementation of inclusive schooling (UN-BRK 2008) poses major challenges for schools and teachers. Through their studies teachers often feel unprepared for working in inclusive schools and express a need for further training (Werning 2017). This need, however, is often not matched by suitable training possibilities (Richter, Kuhl, and Pant 2012). The teacher training series »Everybody is Unique« (Jede[r] ist besonders – JIB), developed by the German School Academy (Deutsche Schulakademie – DSA) intends to contribute to the professionalization of principals and teachers and to disseminate good inclusive practice. The accompanying scientific evaluation of JIB aims to provide evidence on the effectiveness of JIB by triangulating various methodological approaches. In this paper, we present first findings on the school development goals JIB participants reported for their schools. Moreover, we discuss these school development goals as means of developmental processes in the context of changing schools.