Reforming Teacher Education for Inclusion in Developing Countries in the Asia-Pacific Region

Abstract

A number of Asian Pacific countries have ratified the UN Conventions on the Rights of People with Disabilities and have identified an urgent need to include children with special educational needs in regular school programs. Successful implementation of such a policy reform requires significant changes in the way education is provided to all students, but most importantly depends upon how adequately the teachers and related professionals are prepared to implement the reform. This paper reviews research from 13 Asian Pacific countries, undertaken in the last five years, to address two questions. First it reports on the issues, challenges, and proposals related to inclusive education in these countries. Second the review reports on how each region has progressed towards implementing the Millennium Development Goals with particular emphasis on how teacher education has or has not responded to this. The review concludes that a lack of well thought out policy, few resources, and limited understanding of inclusion seems widespread in the Asia-Pacific region. As yet special education and related service expertise and teacher education for inclusion, is not in place to support teachers to work inclusively.

Inclusive School Leadership in Developing Context: What Are the Levers of Change?

“…The findings of this study show that although leaders might not be given the resources to distribute to others, they use their initiative to provide resources, search for materials, delegate authority, and improve motivation. When resources to enhance effective teaching are unavailable (Gregorius, 2016;Kamenopoulou & Dukpa, 2018;Pearce et al, 2010;Sharma et al, 2013;Singal et al, 2015) and when it is difficult for the government to supply resources to schools so they can practice inclusive education (Opoku, M.P. & J-F, 2020), it may be beyond the capacity of leaders to distribute resources to teachers and students for the purpose of practicing inclusive education.…”

The scope for using international indicators of inclusive education in Kuwait and GCC countries: A preliminary study involving special education teachers

“…International policies on IE have developed due to a range of factors. International agreements such as the Salamanca Statement and the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities have certainly played a role (Sharma et al, 2013). Another significant initiative in terms of developing the implementation of IE has been the creation and adoption at national and supra-national level of sets of IE indicators (Loreman et al, 2014;Sharma et al, 2018).…”

Principals in Indian inclusive schools: bridge over troubled waters

“…Due consideration is not given to the reality that teachers' satisfaction, motivation and commitment are greatly influenced by their principals, especially in this era of inclusion (Hertberg-Davis and Brighton, 2006; Moore, 2011; Mulford, 2003; Opoku, 2021; Pont et al. , 2008; Sharma and Desai, 2008). Moore (2011) even documented how leadership instability can destabilize a school and contribute to staff insecurity and a lack of motivation.…”

“…In order to implement inclusive reform, the administrators must be competent in conflict resolution abilities, collaborative problem-solving skills, reflective skills and data collection (Sharma and Desai, 2008). Principals with adequate training can be more effective change agents when implementing IE.…”

“…The leadership styles of school leaders vary (Traver-Martí et al. , 2023) and are unique (Sharma and Desai, 2008). These leadership styles relate to how they use their scope of action, which encompasses allocating resources, encouraging lesson development and fostering collaboration among educators (Lambrecht et al.…”