Inclusive education in the Czech Republic: the role of teachers and parents in policy lending. A national response to international recommendations
Abstract
In the documents of international organisations (UNESCO, OECD, European Agency for Special Needs and Inclusive Education - EASNIE), inclusive education is defined rather vaguely, usually in terms of human rights. In spite of this, in the national reception it is more or less taken for granted. "Policy lending", however, shows that when national education traditions are not respected, the lack of clarity about the concrete form of inclusion is further augmented by resistance to a foreign import.
Taking the example of the implementation of inclusive education in the Czech Republic, a secondary analysis is presented of surveys into the reactions of two groups of actors who had only a marginal involvement in preparing the implementation of inclusion - teachers at ordinary schools and parents of pupils with special educational needs (SEN). Teachers are critical of inclusion, which they regard as special care for individual pupils with SEN.
It is only in schools which have lengthy experience with integration that a transformation of the school culture and the teaching profession in the direction of greater teamwork has taken place. The imperative of inclusion coming from above is regarded more as interference with what is a spontaneous development.
The parents of pupils with SEN do not see the inclusion of their children being provided by the system. They are forced to be intermediaries between other actors, but often do not have enough information and are not respected by teachers as being "experts" on their children.