Reducing the barriers to inclusive education through teacher and school development ‘inserts’: Case studies of the education of refugee children in the Czech Republic
Abstract
The aims of this article are to show the possible effects of inserted teacher development on reducing some of the barriers to inclusive education for refugee children in the Czech Republic and to make the case for systemic national improvement in teacher development for inclusive education. Data from two small UNHCR-supported case studies of the educational experiences of refugee children are used to illustrate the exclusive nature of the Czech education system and of the attitudes of many, but not all, Czech teachers.
Despite many changes since 1990 in the education system, the data affirms international criticism of the system’s resistance to inclusive education and, the authors argue, its failure to address the development of teachers for inclusive education. The authors recognise that, nationally, greater societal and educational inclusion can only be achieved by enacted and enforced legislative measures based on equity and human rights and by approaches to teacher development, both initial teacher education (ITE) and continuing professional development (CPD), that are based on research findings on effective development strategies for inclusive teachers.
However, the data from the second case study suggest that some positive changes may be effected even by a one-off seminar that specifically addresses barriers to inclusion identified in the first case study. An innovative approach to developing inclusive teachers, using research-based drama, is also proposed, to impact on teachers’ and student teachers’ and attitudes to diversity and inclusion.