Developing Inclusive Teacher Education

Inclusion concerns the overcoming of barriers to learning and participation for all, regardless of ability or disability, and is now a central tenet of basic education policy globally. Increasingly, teachers need to be able to implement inclusion into their daily practice. This book stems from its contributors' shared attitude towards education based on the values of equity, entitlement, community, participation and diversity, and examines the ways in which teachers are prepared for inclusion in teacher education institutions as much as schools. Using examples of practice from schools and teaching institutions across the UK, Norway, New Zealand and the USA, the contributors use a valuable comparative approach to explore crucial questions, such as: * How are ideas and practices of inclusive schools reflected in the curriculum of teacher education? * What tools do teachers need to implement inclusion? * What are the policy and cultural contexts for the development of inclusion? * How are the barriers to learning and participation overcome in teacher education itself? This book provides an insightful analysis of whether inclusion is an achievable aim for the 21st century. Its international array of experienced contributors have put together a text that offers a distinct pedagogical focus, which makes it a key reference tool for academics, students and researchers everywhere.