Enhancing Schools' Development Activities on Inclusive Education Through In-service Training Course for School Teams:...

Area of Science:

• Education Policy
• Inclusion Studies
• Educational Leadership

Background:

• Equitable quality education in inclusive settings is a global challenge, including Estonia.
• In-service training is crucial for equipping school teams with inclusive education (IE) competencies.
• Developing effective inclusive school development strategies requires systemic change.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the impact of an in-service training course on school teams regarding inclusive education implementation.
• To identify factors influencing system-wide changes in inclusive education at the school level.
• To understand how training affects attitudes, skills, and knowledge for inclusive school development.

Main Methods:

• Qualitative thematic case study research involving two schools in Estonia.
• Data collection through policy documents, training assignments, interviews, questionnaires, and researcher diaries.
• Purposeful sampling to select representative case study schools.

Main Results:

• The in-service training course successfully promoted cultural and structural changes within schools.
• Key influencing factors included leadership, collaboration, commitment, and resource allocation.
• System-wide approaches and external expertise were vital for successful implementation.

Conclusions:

• In-service training for school teams is effective in driving inclusive education reforms.
• A holistic approach, supported by strong leadership and collaboration, is essential for sustainable change.
• Addressing influencing factors can optimize the implementation of inclusive education strategies.