Leadership for Inclusion

School leadership that motivates teachers to

build inclusive classrooms

Merelesita Tiadama QELENI

Master’s Dissertation
Department of Special Needs Education
Faculty of Educational Sciences

UNIVERSITY OF OSLO

This dissertation is submitted in part fulfillment of the joint degree of

MA/Mgr. Special and Inclusive Education- Erasmus Mundus, University of
Roehampton, University of Oslo and Charles University

Autumn 2013
II
School leadership that motivates teachers to
build inclusive classrooms.

III
© Forfatter

År

2013

School Leaders role in motivating teachers to build inclusive classrooms.

Merelesita Tiadama Qeleni

http://www.duo.uio.no/

Trykk: Reprosentralen, Universitetet i OsloÅ

IV
Abstract
The Governments recent commitment to promote inclusive education in Fiji aligns itself to

the mainstreaming of children with special educational needs (SEN) with the international

inclusion movement. One of the foundations of inclusion is for schools to provide conditions

that will support the education of children with SEN. Therefore, it will also demand school

leadership that assists teachers to construct inclusive classrooms. Research has identified the

school principal as a key participant in bringing about inclusive school change (Riel, 2000;

Day & Leithwood, 2007; Ainscow & Sandill, 2010). Although many researches have

provided evidence of classroom and school conditions that influence learning conditions, little

is known about how school leaders affect those conditions (Riel, 2000; Day & Leithwood,

2007). To determine the kind of support school leaders provide to motivate teachers build

inclusive classrooms, qualitative interviews were conducted on three Norwegian inclusive

school leaders. The research found that the extent to which school leaders perceived the

importance of inclusive education through the promotion of teachers learning and the

provision of a flexible curriculum; and encouraged inclusive schooling through appropriate

leadership; influenced the promotion of competency building strategies such as school based

collaboration, in-service training and mentorship. The findings confirm that school leaders

influence inclusive school change when they provide teachers with appropriate support for

staff development.

V
VI
VII
Dedication and Acknowledgement
This research is dedicated to all children with special educational needs in Fiji, school leaders,
administrators, and teachers working in both special and inclusive school settings. It is also
dedicated to Mr. Frank Hilton, the founder of special education in Fiji, the Hilton organization
and Hilton Special School community that I have had the privilege of working in partnership
with to provide children with special educational needs access to quality education.

First, I would like to acknowledge God for sustaining me through this journey. His calling has
been my inspiration and confidence. Second, I would like to acknowledge my husband,
Taniela Qeleni, and children, Varanisese and Viliame Qeleni for their relentless support and
encouragement. Thank you for allowing me to be away from home during this period. Your
support has had a significant impact in my life. Third, I would also like to acknowledge the
support of my families, friends and work colleagues. A very special vinaka vakalevu to Svare
and Keleni Midskau; also to Ilona Erikson for supporting me during my stay in Norway.

I would also like to thank the European Union for supporting me through this scholarship and
making my dream a reality. I wouldn’t be where I am today without your sponsorship. A
special appreciation to my course coordinators, Dr. Leda Kamenapoulou from the University
of Roehampton ( England), Associate Professor Jorun Buli-Hormberg from the University of
Oslo (Norway) and Associate Professor Jan Siska, from Charles University(Czech Republic).
Your kind support, lectures and word of advice has enabled me to come this far and thank you
for making me feel welcomed at your universities. Not forgetting Denese Britian for being a
very supportive administrator during my research period in Norway. I wish to also thank my
supervisor, Associate Professor Steiner Theie, from the University of Oslo for guiding me
through the process of conducting this research and helping me achieve what I have achieved
today. Sir, your advice will go a long way.

Last but not the least, a very special thank you to my Erasmus Mundus Masters in Special and
Inclusive Education Cohort. I will treasure the good times we’ve shared together. Your
insights, contribution, and friendship have made my journey with you a memorable one. My
deepest appreciation to Avgustina Martirosyan and Lucia Aguilar for the thoughtful
discussions, insights and support you gave me during our time together. I wish you all a bright
future!!!

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IX
Table of Contents

School leadership that motivates teachers to build inclusive classrooms. ....................... III

Abstract .................................................................................................................................... V

Dedication and Acknowledgement ....................................................................................VIII

Table of Contents .................................................................................................................... X

1 Introduction ...................................................................................................................... 1

1.1 Purpose of the study and Research questions .............................................................. 1

1.2 Outline of the study ..................................................................................................... 2

2 Literature Review ............................................................................................................. 3

2.1 Theoretical Framework................................................................................................ 3

2.1.1 Instructional leadership( IL) ................................................................................. 3
2.1.2 Transformational leadership (TL) ........................................................................ 4
2.2 Review of current literature. ........................................................................................ 5
2.2.1 Earlier Research ................................................................................................... 5
2.2.2 Leadership for school change ............................................................................... 8
2.2.3 Leadership for staff development ....................................................................... 10
2.2.4 Staff development that support Inclusion........................................................... 11
2.3 Conclusion ................................................................................................................. 16

3 Research Methodology ................................................................................................... 18

3.1 Qualitative research approach ................................................................................... 18

3.2 Research sample ........................................................................................................ 20
3.2.1 School context .................................................................................................... 20
3.2.2 School leaders .................................................................................................... 21
3.3 Qualitative interview as data collection method........................................................ 22

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 3.3.1 Interview structure.............................................................................................. 22
3.3.2 Interview Guide and Pilot study ......................................................................... 23
3.3.3 The interview process......................................................................................... 24
3.3.4 Recording and transcribing ................................................................................ 26
3.4 Data analysis process ................................................................................................. 27
3.4.1 Storing of raw data ............................................................................................. 27
3.4.2 Coding process ................................................................................................... 28
3.4.3 Write up .............................................................................................................. 31
3.5 Validity and Reliability ............................................................................................. 33
3.6 Generalization ............................................................................................................ 34
3.7 Limitations ................................................................................................................. 34
3.8 Ethical Issues ............................................................................................................. 35

4 Data analysis and Discussions ....................................................................................... 36

4.1 To what extent do school leaders see the importance of inclusive learning? ............ 36
4.1.1 School leaders understanding of inclusive education ........................................ 37
4.1.2 Promotion of staff development ......................................................................... 39
4.1.3 Promotion of a flexible curriculum .................................................................... 43
4.2 Discussion .................................................................................................................. 46
4.2.1 School leaders understanding of inclusive education ........................................ 46
4.2.2 Promotion of teachers learning .......................................................................... 48
4.2.3 Promotion of a flexible curriculum .................................................................... 51
4.3 Conclusion: ................................................................................................................ 53
4.4 How do school leaders promote inclusive schooling?............................................... 54
4.5 Discussion .................................................................................................................. 56
4.5.1 Transformational leadership ............................................................................... 56
4.5.2 Instructional leadership ...................................................................................... 57
4.6 Conclusion ................................................................................................................. 59
4.7 What competency building strategies do school leaders use to motivate teacher
learning? ............................................................................................................................... 60
4.7.1 School - based collaboration .............................................................................. 60
4.7.2 In-service training .............................................................................................. 63

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 4.7.3 Mentorship ......................................................................................................... 66
4.8 Discussion .................................................................................................................. 66
4.8.1 School Based Collaboration ............................................................................... 66
4.8.2 In-service training .............................................................................................. 69
4.8.3 Mentorship ......................................................................................................... 71
4.9 Conclusion ................................................................................................................. 72

5 Concluding Remarks ........................................................................................................ 73

5.1 Implications for practice ........................................................................................... 73

5.2 Implications for practice in Fiji. ................................................................................ 74

6 List of references ............................................................................................................ 76

7 Appendices ...................................................................................................................... 83

7.1 Appendix 1 : Interview Guide 1 ................................................................................ 84

7.2 Appendix 2 : Interview guide 2 ................................................................................. 85
7.3 Appendix 3 Informed consent form........................................................................... 87
7.4 Norwegian Social services data service..................................................................... 88

XII
1 Introduction

The promotion of inclusion, coupled with mandates from governments to provide a ‘school

for all’ is a major challenge (Ainscow & Sandill, 2010) as school leaders have a responsibility

and obligation to ensure that they provide a school for ALL children. The Governments recent

commitment to promote inclusive education in Fiji aligns itself to the mainstreaming of

children with special educational needs (SEN) with the international inclusion movement. As

a result, schools will need to provide the conditions necessary for the education of children

with SEN. More so, school leaders will need to take a pro-active stance in assisting classroom

teachers create inclusive classrooms, especially when insufficient training is provided by the

government’s university.

After visiting inclusive schools in England, Norway and Czech Republic and talking to their

school leaders, it was patent that the implementation of inclusive education will demand

school leaders who not only believe in the philosophy of inclusion, but who can motivate

teachers to build inclusive classrooms. Thus the interest in this research topic and in

particular, how inclusive school leaders can motivate teachers to build inclusive classrooms,

rather than relying on teacher training colleges.

1.1 Purpose of the study and Research questions

While there is considerable evidence of classroom and school condition that influence

learning achievements, little is known about how principals affect those conditions (Day &

Leithwood, 2007). Therefore, this study was conducted to extend on previous research on the

role of school leaders in encouraging inclusive education by focusing in particular on the way

they motivate teacher learning that leads to the construction of inclusive classrooms. Since
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Norway has been practicing inclusion for more than three decades, the research hopes to

investigate how Norwegian Inclusive School leaders motivate teachers learning and if

strategies they use can be replicated or modified to suit the context of inclusive schools in

Fiji. The main research question that guided the study is:

How do school leaders motivate teachers to build inclusive classrooms?

And related research sub-questions are:

I. To what extent do school leaders see the importance of inclusive

learning?

II. How do they encourage inclusive education? and

III. What competency building strategies do school leaders use to

motivate teacher learning?

1.2 Outline of the study

The thesis is organized in five chapters. The first chapter presents the interest in the study, the

purpose of the research, followed by the research main question and sub-questions. The

second chapter provides a general overview of the theories that are used in the study, followed

by a review of relevant literature. The third chapter describes the methodology that was used

to achieve the research. The fourth chapter focuses on the presentation of data and followed

by discussions and conclusions. The fifth and last chapter concludes the research by

discussing the implications of the research.

2
2 Literature Review

This chapter will firstly discuss the theoretical framework upon which the research is built,

namely, the Instructional leadership and Transformational leadership model. Second, it will

focus on a review of relevant literature on i.) Earlier research, ii.) Leadership for school

change, iii.) Leadership for staff development and iv.) Staff development that will promote

inclusive practices. The fourth section will focus on staff development strategies such as

training, enquiry and evidence based collaboration and creating an inclusive culture. The three

strategies have been chosen as they were used by many school leaders in previous research.

2.1 Theoretical Framework

2.1.1 Instructional leadership( IL)

The instructional leadership model was chosen for the research as instructional leaders are

known to be important in schools where leaders are expected to bring change (Webb, 2005).

For this reason, instructional leadership would be appropriate in schools that need to

accommodate inclusive changes as they promote instructional time, promote professional

development; provide incentives for teachers as well as for learning (Halliger, 2000).

At the same time, Instructional leaders are considered to be ‘strong directive leaders’

(Halliger 2005, p.3) who act as the day to day manager of the school building, are responsible

for timetabling teachers and evaluating them accordingly (Palaiologou & Male, 2011). This

implies that when promoting inclusive practices, changes will be based on school and teacher

evaluation. In addition, IL are regarded as hands on principals who are well versed with

curriculum and instruction( Halliger & Murphy, 1986), hence, they promote inclusion by

3
being role models and who are not only familiar with the curriculum but who practice

inclusion for children with special educational needs(SEN). Furthermore, instructional leaders

are culture builders (Halliger, 2010) who influence the school community in embracing

inclusive attitudes and mindsets.

2.1.2 Transformational leadership (TL)

The transformational leadership model has also been chosen as it is understood to meet the

current demand for innovation (Southworth, 1999) by empowering others through a

distribution of leadership (Sergiovanni, 2009). As a result, transformational leaders do not

provide leadership alone (Halliger, 2010), instead they share their leadership responsibility

with other teachers. Therefore, when providing leadership for inclusive change, school leaders

using the transformational leadership model share their leadership responsibilities with other

teachers through the delegation of responsibilities such as team leaders. In addition, they are

motivated by the importance of individualized support, intellectual stimulation, and personal

vision by supporting teachers through competence building that will enable them to create

inclusive classrooms. By this they encourage collaboration to stimulate thinking and promote

student learning. At the same time, they are grounded in understanding the needs of individual

teachers rather than controlling them to meet desired outcomes (Halliger, 2010) as they seek

to influence people by building from the bottom-up rather than from the top down.

As a result, transformational leadership demands social skills of team building and inspiration

without dominion (Southworth, 1999). They are also concerned with modeling best practices

and important organizational values, the continuous professional development of teachers,

shared decision making and leadership, experimentation, teacher reflection and building

relationships with the school community (Leithwood, Jantzi & Steinbach, 1999).

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2.2 Review of current literature

2.2.1 Earlier Research

To provide a point of departure, previous study in the field of inclusive education illuminate

that challenges regarding inclusive education encompass i) clarity about the supporters role in

the classroom, ii) personality clashes and boundary disputes between classroom teachers and

supporters, iii) availability of appropriate support for children with behavior difficulties,

iv)the severity of the child’s disability v.)definition of special education needs and vi.) the

definition of ‘the most appropriate support’( Clark, 2010; Avramidis & Norwich, 2010;

Florian & Linklater, 2010). As a result, teachers are often left under considerable amount of

pressure.

In addition, the feeling of uncertainty in providing services, the search for qualified staff, the

lack of training and time and space to conduct inclusive practices are part of the challenges

that principals face (Schmidt & Venet, 2012). It also places additional responsibilities on

principals to ensure that policies and structures are in place for smooth communication, the

availability of appropriate support and student-centered decisions (Guzman, 1997).

Furthermore, children with special educational needs are often not socially included as they

are less popular, had fewer relationships and participated less often as a member of a sub-

group (Pjil, Frostad & Flem, 2008). Very often social exclusion resulted from the choice of

peers which is usually based on similarities.

According to the Norwegian inclusive education policy, ‘every individual shall be provided

optimal learning conditions in the regular learning context-as far as possible’ (Norwegian

Ministry of Education and Research, 2008. p.10).) The report adds that adapted education is a

5
principle and not an individual right. This implies that necessary considerations and

reasonable balance will be made between the individual learner, the institutions and the

society, the teacher and fellow students. Although no one is excluded, provision of optimal

learning opportunity also implies that some children may receive all or part of their teaching

outside mainstream classrooms, in a specially adapted classroom. This applies to individual

learners ‘that represent a physical threat to other students and staff, or persons that by their

behavior seriously reduce the learning opportunities for several other fellow

students’(p.10).However, in such cases, assessments will be made to determine whether

special education in a segregated learning context will provide the best solution. One of the

specific measures that support and promote inclusive education includes the pedagogical-

psychological services (PPT) in basic education.

Each municipality and county is obliged to have a body (PPT) that provides educational and

psychological counseling services to kindergarten and schools. Its main function and

responsibility is to assist children, young people and adults that experience a social and

educational situation. PPT employs specialists with background from psychology, pedagogic,

speech therapy or similar and one of its task is to assist institutions and their staff to work on

organizational development and development of expertise in order to ensure adaptation of

teaching, which reduces the need for special education. PPT also carries out expert

assessment on students on the request of schools.

Although structured services are in place, the Norwegian Ministry of Education and Research

(2008) also highlighted that there are indications that many teachers lack necessary

competencies in the area. This finding is confirmed by Flem & Keller’s (2010) research on

the gap between Norwegian Inclusive education ideology and practice proved that one of the

factors that hinder inclusion in schools relate to incompetent teachers. In addition, Takala,

6
Haussttätter, Astrid, Ahl &Head( 2012) study of perceptions of student teachers in Norway,

Finland and Sweden, revealed that although Norwegian students supported inclusive

education, they confirmed that teachers were not competent . Takala et al (2012) concluded

that inclusive education demands new skills and knowledge, not only for an individual

teacher, but for the whole staff, as the whole school will need to be competent in order to

make inclusion work. As a result, staff development is crucial.

Earlier findings thus suggest that inclusion is often problematic especially when what is

termed inclusion is a mere transfer of students from special education schools to regular

classroom settings without any change to traditional teaching. It further illuminates that

inclusion may change school policy but not necessary school practice.

Booth (1996) argues that the on-going process of inclusion is rather complex and problematic

when applied to different contexts. This means that the way inclusion works in one school

may not be applicable in another school. It also implies that there are many road maps to

achieving inclusive education. Accordingly, inclusion is a never ending search to find better

ways of responding to diversity and is about learning to live with difference, and learning how

to live with difference (Ainscow, 2004). How then can schools accommodate student

differences when the curriculum is rigid? How can schools ensure that the accommodation of

students with SEN is not just a mere transfer of students from one school to another? More

so, how can schools ensure that change in traditional teaching does take place?

A comprehensive review of international literature (Arvamidis & Norwich, 2010) highlighted

that extensive training opportunities for in-service training were seen as top priority and

concluded that teachers will be more committed to change if they receive assistance in

mastering the skills required to implement inclusion. In addition, the UNESCO (2005) report

asserts that training model for teachers should be re-considered in many countries. This means

7
that school based in-service training should be strengthened rather than relying on lengthy

traditional institutional pre-service training.

Since educating diverse students necessitates teachers who are competent in providing an

enriching and interesting curriculum (Fullan, 2005; Norwich & Avramidis, 2010;

Sergiovanni, 2006), they will need school leaders who will assist them in mastering the skills

needed for building inclusive classrooms.

Consequently, guaranteeing a school for ALL will require school leaders to take a pro-active

stance and facilitate teacher learning. Research has identified school leaders as key

participants in bringing about school change and creating schools that support teachers meet

the needs of diverse learners (McLeskey & Waldron, 2002; Ainscow & Sandill, 2010). This is

especially the case when general education classrooms include a diverse range of students,

including those with disabilities ( McLesky & Waldron, 2002; Clark, 2010; Drago-Sevenson

& Pinto, 2006).

When school leaders strategically facilitate teacher learning, teachers thrive as they are

challenged to grow (Leithwood & Janzti, 2000; Fullan, 2005) and as a result, the quality of

teaching improves hence contributing to high student learning and achievement (Lieberman &

Miller, 2007; Fullan, 2005; Sergiovanni, 2009; Timperley, 2011). However, not many new

inclusive school leaders know how to effectively facilitate teachers learning and will therefore

need more knowledge about effective conditions and programs that support teacher learning.

2.2.2 Leadership for school change

The implementation of inclusive practices will demand school leaders who play a critical role

in providing a vision, leadership and administrative authority (Sergiovanni, 2009; Day &

8
Leithwood, 2007) and who can also challenge the norm of traditional approach to teaching,

inspire a clear mutual vision of what the school should and could be and empower staff

through cooperative team work (Ainscow & Sandill, 2010). This means the school leaders

will first and foremost need to believe the importance of inclusion, followed by influencing

the formation of a school vision that will direct the school towards embracing inclusive goals.

It also implies that that the reconstruction of a school system will require the school to work

as a team that will commit itself to the implementation of inclusive processes. Lindqvist &

Nilholm (2011) affirms that school leaders’ belief about inclusion is important as it will

influence the way they organize their school in accommodating diverse needs.

However, a change of attitude cannot take place without a proper understanding of the

inclusion process, more so, in acknowledging that all children, irrespective of their race,

socio-economic status, gender or disability, deserve quality education. Florian & Linklater

(2010) assert that part of transformation is the belief that all children have the capacity to

change and be changed. It will entail a shift in their value system and supported by school

based inclusion policy and procedures to ensure sustainability. (Ainscow & Sandill, 2010).

Successful inclusion is also associated with principal’s positive attitude regarding the process

of inclusion (Schmidt & Venet, 2012) and is reflected in the way they encourage teacher

learning through collaboration that will enhance student performance. On the other hand,

negative attitudes towards inclusion may result in failure (Guzman, 1997) as it is associated

with lack of planning, lack of resources, lack of knowledge of better practices and limited

experiences with special needs students(Schmidt & Venet, 2012; Bobb & Early, 2009;

Sergiovanni, 2009). However, negative attitudes can be minimized when school leaders learn

and acquire the knowledge they need to build inclusive schools, more so, in facilitating

teacher learning that will produce inclusive classrooms. (Schmidt & Venets, 2012; Day &

9
Leithwood, 2007). Adequate knowledge will enable school leaders to display inclusive

attitudes and articulate a philosophy that reflects inclusive beliefs and practices.

2.2.3 Leadership for staff development

Blase & Blase (1999) study of 809 teachers perspectives of principals instructional leadership

found that principals used five primary talking strategies with teachers to promote reflection.

The strategies included: (i) making suggestions, (ii) giving feedback, (iii) modeling, (iv) using

inquiry and soliciting advice and opinions, and (v) giving praise. The strategies strongly

influenced teacher’s reflective behaviors and helped them to plan and prepare more carefully.

It also reinforced the use of strong instructional strategies such as the use of innovative ideas

and a positive response to student diversity. Teachers added that it positively impacted on

motivation, self-esteem, efficacy, and sense of security. Furthermore the study found that

according to teachers, effective instructional leaders used six teacher development strategies:

(i) emphasizing the study of teaching and learning; (ii) supporting collaboration efforts among

educators; (iii) developing coaching relationships among educators; (iv) encouraging and

supporting redesign of programs; (v) applying the principles of adult learning, growth, and

development to all phases of staff development; and (vi) implementing action research to

inform instructional decision making .

Similarly, transformational leaders develop intellectual, academic and professional capital

(Sergiovanni, 2006) while empowering and supporting teachers as partners in decision

making (Leithwood & Jantzi, 2006). They recognize that the link between what happens to

teachers and what happens to students is direct (Sergiovanni, 2006). For example, little

collaboration among teachers will result in little collaboration among students. They also

recognize that engaging students in higher academic levels and improving their performance

10
will require teachers who develop new capacities for understanding the subjects they teach

and the pedagogical decisions that must be made to teach effectively.

Leithwood (2005) states that transformational leaders help staff development by maintaining

a collaborative professional school culture and involving staff in collaborative goal setting

(Sergiovanni, 2009). At the same time, learning is not only the result of saying things; rather

administrators must support new meanings by acting on structures and routines (Riel, 2000)

that will enhance teacher learning. Therefore, change will only be realized when schools are

seen as ‘professional learning communities in which school development and successful

strategies are growing from a bottom up perspective’ (Persson, 2005. p.20). Liontos (1992)

adds that this strategy reduces teacher isolation, supports cultural changes, shares leadership

with others by delegating power, and actively communicates the school's norms and beliefs.

As a result teachers are taught to work smarter (Halliger, 2010).

However, Fullan (2005) cautions that knowledge of effective teacher training and how it

works in schools is essential. This implies that successful inclusion will necessitate a planned

intervention that will provide the teacher and student with the necessary support and the best

possible environment (Day & Leithwood, 2007; Venet & Schmidt, 2012).

2.2.4 Staff development that support Inclusion

Bubb & Early (2009) maps out practical steps that school leaders can take to ensure that staff

development will lead to school improvement. Their research in 13 secondary schools, 22

primary and three special schools revealed that:

1).Staff development will need to be managed and led effectively to ensure that it has a

positive effect.

11
2).Schools will need to develop learning- centered culture: for example, many schools had

resources to support adult learning including shelves in the staffroom for publications, storing

of resources and websites for useful links.

3).Individual development should be linked to needs analysis. In this way, teachers will feel

listened to and valued as their needs are met.

4.).Staff development that involves discussing, coaching, mentoring, observing and

developing others is highly effective:

6).Time will need to be made for staff development as workload and new initiative were seen

to cause fatigue in all schools.

7).Learning and development should be shared, acknowledged and celebrated for

improvement to be sustained: recognition and celebration of learning encouraged staff as

staff notice board mentioned individual achievement and staff were encouraged to write their

reflection on school web sites. These strategies promoted reflection and discussion on line as

well as in person.

The above pointers are important as they can also improve staff development that is relevant

to building inclusive classrooms.

Many researches including Guzman (1997), Clark( 2010), Schmidt & Venet (2012), Florian

& Linklater (2010) and Ainscow & Sandhill (2010) have shown that although inclusive

school principals use different strategies in promoting inclusion, the approaches they had in

common included: i) Training, ii)Enquiry–based collaboration and iii) Creating an inclusive

culture. The three strategies will be discussed in detail in the following paragraphs.

12
Training

Training will need to go beyond mere explanation and focus on the acquisition of knowledge

and skills that will engage teachers in ‘systematic enquiry into the effectiveness of their

practice’ (Timperley, 2011. p.4). Guzmans (1997) study of evolution in 12 elementary schools

found that skill training in addressing special needs is essential for classroom teachers. She

found that five of the principals personally facilitated an annual retreat with special education

staff to evaluate and restructure the special education support model to suit their inclusive

model. The sixth principal invited a university professor to facilitate their special education

team’s annual team building and problem solving planning retreat. She recommended that

inclusive school principals should be required to have a personal plan of professional

development that includes issues with inclusion. And they should be required to guide their

staff in a collaborative process of building inclusive practice philosophy, problem solving,

and Individual Education Program management.

Training is important as a lack of knowledge and skills impact on how they engage in

inclusive classrooms thus clearly demonstrating the importance of training (Florian &

Linklater, 2010). Timperley(2011) emphasizes that schools need to change their perspective

about professional learning. First, professional learning should be about seriously engaging in

learning that is on-going and in-depth in order to achieve transformational change. Second,

improvement in student learning should not be a by-product of professional learning; rather it

should be its central purpose. As a result, part of the belief should be about ensuring deep

learning for all. Third, professional learning should be about building the knowledge and

skills of teachers rather than just using different methods. She asserts that the activity that

facilitates the process of learning is not as important as the knowledge and skills that are

acquired during learning. And fourth, professional learning is an active process of systematic

13
enquiry into the effectiveness of practice that promotes student engagement and learning.

Therefore, professional development without professional learning will prove infertile.

Enquiry and evidence based collaboration

A high level of staff and student involvement, joint planning, distribution of leadership and a

commitment to enquiry will promote problem-solving among staff and encourage more

inclusive responses to diversity (Ainscow, 1999). Therefore, school communities should

develop a common language detailing aspects of their inclusive practice (Ainscow & Sandill,

2010), and through clear communication (Guzman,1997) support on-going success of

inclusion. Schmidt & Venet’s (2012) research highlighted that characteristics of good

leadership in inclusive schools included encouraging the formation of learning communities.

They reported that school leaders were using information from their own schools to provoke

discussions on their values and its implications to diversity. Therefore, reiterating Clark,

Dyson, Millward & Skidmore’s (1997) belief that inclusion is not about the best form of

provision but one of finding resolutions to enduring dilemmas.

Timperley’s(2011) research on five school leaders found that school leaders integrated

evidence to build teachers enquiry and knowledge. For example, a teacher of one of the

principals had shown him that one of her students was doing quite well in reading but not in

writing, therefore, he challenged his teacher to understand why the student was struggling

with his writing and to work towards improving it. Hence, the move to accommodating

diverse needs will challenge teachers to re-examine their practices in order to make them

more responsive and flexible (Ainscow & Sandill, 2010).

Guzman (1997) also reported that successful leaders also collaborated with their staff to

develop an inclusive philosophy that was relevant to the schools need and are actively and

14
personally involved in developing intervention strategies for at-risk students and in dialoguing

with parents. He concluded that through constant collaboration, teachers will be able to

discover their own ideologies and perceptions on inclusion and simultaneously be able to

reconstruct their belief towards embracing diversity (Clark, 2010).

However, Persson (2005) reiterates that the most effective learning occurs when learners are

able to apply what they have learnt in various and diverse situations. Therefore, it is

imperative that learning communities allocate time for reflection. He adds that without

reflection, the process of learning will not be based on true reasoning. Ultimately, the focus

needs to be on the process of learning. As a result, practitioners will need to think outside the

box in meaning making processes.

Creating an inclusive culture

Cultures are about the deeper understandings of basic assumptions and beliefs that are shared

by members of an organization (Schein, 2004), therefore, inclusive schools should pay

attention to the development of inclusive cultures (Ainscow & Sandill, 2010), and in

particular to the formation of inclusive values within school communities. Guzman(1997)

indicated that inclusive cultures encompasses written and unwritten philosophies which

include a belief on the right of all students to learn, a belief that inclusive classrooms are

beneficial for all students, and a commitment to ensuring optimal academic success for all

students. Therefore, the restructuring of mainstream schools will require school leaders to

value student diversity and promote a unifying vision and goal that will help recreate the

school into an organization that will accommodate diversity. As a result, school leaders need

to be committed to inclusive values and to a leadership style which encourages individuals to

participate in leadership functions (Dyson, Polat, Hutcheson & Gallannaugh, 2004). They will

15
also need to improve student learning by focusing on getting relationships right between

themselves, their teachers, students and parents. This means that a changed environment will

first and foremost require changed people.

Kytle & Bogotch (2000) assert that real and sustained change is achieved by changing the

culture of the school, rather than by simply changing the structures of the way the school

operates. As a result, school principals must first understand a schools culture before leading.

Instructional leaders are viewed as culture builders who foster high expectations and

standards for students, as well as for teachers (Mortimore, 1993; Purkey & Smith, 1983). As a

result, they are directly involved in the teaching culture of the school, work directly with

children and classroom teachers and base decisions on educational principles and values

(Grace, 1995, p.123).Similarly, Leithwood & Jantzi (2006) study of 12 schools found that part

of transformational leaders strategies in building a school culture was to reduce teacher

isolation by encouraging staff to influence one another, promote collaborative learning and

decision making and visiting each other’s classroom.

2.3 Conclusion

In spite of the dilemmas that are currently faced in inclusive schools, school leaders have a

responsibility in ensuring that that they provide a school for ALL children. School leaders

will need to have inclusive attitudes which will entail an inclusive school vision. Part of

providing a school for ALL will also require school leaders to provide school leadership that

will bring about inclusive changes; which will in turn affect the practices of classroom

teaches. As a result, school leaders play an important role in motivating teachers to build

16
inclusive classrooms. School leaders will need to influence and challenge teachers thinking by

promoting inclusive cultures, in-service training, and enquiry and evidence based

collaboration that will go beyond a mere transfer of knowledge to the acquisition of skills that

will encourage, nurture and facilitate learning for ALL.

17
3 Research Methodology

This chapter outlines the methods that were used to achieve the purpose of the research such

as the research approach, research method, selection of research sample, data collection

technique, the process of data collection, the process of data analysis and considerations for

validity and limitations of this study. The chapter concludes by mentioning the ethical

considerations.

3.1 Qualitative research approach

The qualitative method was chosen for this research because of my interest to what and how

people do things. According to Merriam (2009), qualitative researchers are interested in

understanding how people interpret their experiences; hence, the aim of this research is to

understand how school leaders motivate teachers learning that will help them to build

inclusive classrooms. The approach would help me understand how school leaders perceive

inclusion and how their perception is reflected in the way they organize school activities such

as learning for their teachers. Therefore, using a constructivist approach (Bryman, 2008), the

research interviews also investigated how school contexts influenced the school leaders

leadership style and competency building strategies.

Although different authors discuss qualitative research in different ways, Yin (2011) discusses

five features of qualitative study that the research relates to. He states that qualitative study is

about

i) Studying the meaning of people’s lives under real world conditions. This means that

people will be performing in their everyday roles and as a result, there is minimal distraction s

18
social interaction will be taking place in its natural surroundings. As a result, the qualitative

interviews were conducted at the head teachers’ school to make them to feel at ease and to be

in control of the interview.

ii) Capturing the views and perspectives of participants. To do this, the interviews were

designed using a combination of both structured and semi-structured interviews. In this way it

allowed more information to be gathered through a more flexible approach.

iii) Covering contextual conditions. Conducting the interviews at the schools had allowed

me to gather relevant information about the school context. Bryman (2008) adds that

‘conducting qualitative interview in more than one setting can be helpful in identifying the

significance of context and the ways in which it influences behavior and ways of thinking

(p.387). Therefore, by studying school leaders in different settings, the research hopes to

relate the how different inclusive context affected school leadership.

iv) Contributing insights into existing or emerging concepts that may help to explain

human social behavior. Through analysis of data, the research will explain the reasons behind

the school leaders’ behavior.

v) Striving to use multiple sources of evidence rather than relying on a single source

alone: although this study would have yielded more data by using other source such as

observation, however, the restriction of time and money only allowed for face to face

interviews.

As illustrated above, the research had focused on the subjective views of school leaders as it

believes that social realities are created (Basit, 2011), through peoples experiences. The

research also acknowledges that people’s perception change over time (Snape & Spencer,

2003) as they interact with their environment (Marshall & Rossman, 1999) and therefore, it is

19
important to understand the meaning they place on those experiences. Further discussion can

be found in chapter four.

3.2 Research sample

Due to limited time, four participants were chosen for the research. The criteria for sample

selection were based on the research purpose and as a result, purposeful sampling occurred at

two levels.

3.2.1 School context

It was important to find schools in which children with SEN are taught. As a result, the

criteria for school samples included the accommodation of children with SEN through the

availability of a flexible curriculum, children with SEN are educated in the same classroom as

their peers and the up skilling of teachers teaching skills to accommodate students with

special needs is taking place on a regular basis.

As a result, one of the schools was chosen during one of our school observation trip, as it had

encompassed all of the sample criteria. On the other hand, another three schools had to be

identified. Since contact for other schools were not available, the course coordinator was

relied upon to make contact. Although beneficial, the extent of inclusive education practices

and competency building for teachers in those schools were not known.

The interviews revealed that the second school, Riverside primary, had a separate special

education unit in which some students with SEN were receiving part of their education while

others were there 100% of the time. Also, the third school, Lakeside primary, was taking

students with SEN out of their classroom for separate lessons.

20
3.2.2 School leaders

The school leaders needed to have more than two years of leadership experience in an

inclusive school. Having more than two years of leadership experience was important as it

would have allowed the school leader to learn from previous experience. Therefore, it was

anticipated that school leaders were confident of why they were doing what they were doing.

Also, since the school leaders were selected on purpose, it was understood that they would

have had experiences worth sharing and that would contribute to the research (Merriam,

2009).

However, since research participants were based on the coordinators’ contacts, it was not

guaranteed that the criteria would be fulfilled. Again, the interviews revealed that although the

second school leader (Ms. Richard) had been a school leader for more than five years, she had

been at Riverside primary for only 18 months and the third school leader, Ms. Louise, was

new to her leadership role and had been a leader for only 13 months. During the interviews, it

was realized that one of the criteria for sample selection could have specified that each school

leader had been at the school for more than two years as it would have yielded more

sustainable staff development strategies.

Due to the lack of time to conduct more interviews and also on the amount of data that the

three school leaders had yielded, a fourth school leader was not required. Lessons learnt at his

stage included i.) the importance of finding the right samples as it would elucidate relevant

information. ii.) I could have also visited several schools to ensure that the sample criteria

were fulfilled. Nonetheless, I also understood that it would have taken a lot of time and

therefore I am indebted to the course coordinator for helping me find suitable research

participants.

21
3.3 Qualitative interview as data collection method

Kvale & Brinkmann (2009) assert that interviews are best suited for studying peoples

understanding and also for clarifying and elaborating their own perspective of their lived

world. As a result, qualitative interviewing was chosen because it would help me probe and

clarify school leaders’ perception of inclusion and find out more about the way they motivate

teachers to build inclusive classrooms. Interviewing is also appropriate as it helps to elicit

information on some of the activities that the school leaders had practiced in the past and

which are impossible to replicate (Merriam, 2009). Given the time span for the study, the face

to face interview was also seen to be invaluable as it allowed direct contact (Thomas, 2009)

and the eliciting of relevant information from the school leaders.

3.3.1 Interview structure

When designing the interview, it was important to make informed and reflective decisions

about the interview method to use at different stages of the study (Kvale & Brinkmann, 2009).

Keeping in mind the kind of data that was needed from the interviews (Merriam, 2009), it was

decided that both structured and unstructured interviews were going to be used. The first part

of the interview was more structured to gather some background information about the school

leaders, for example, their work experience, knowledge of inclusive education and school

context. The second part of the interview was more semi-structured, thus allowing flexibility

to focus more on the experiences or practices of the school leaders.

22
3.3.2 Interview Guide and Pilot study

An interview guide was used to guide the interview rather than to dictate the structure and

content (Thomas, 2009). Thus, it allowed the interview to remain focused and at the same

time flexible enough to allow the interview to change direction when needed. The first

interview guide was formulated from theories that were found in the literature review. These

theories were used as a point of reference as it provided relevant information regarding how

questions could be formulated to answer the research problem. Guiding questions were placed

under each sub-question to ensure that issues pertaining to each sub-question were covered

(refer to appendix 1). After the pilot interview, questions were reviewed and amendments

were made according to the participant’s responses and recommendations.

Changes encompassed the inclusion of two more questions which related to assessment of

teachers competence and a question which was directed at how school leaders help

incompetent teachers. The pilot interview also helped to weed out poor questions such as

How do school leaders implement support programs to ensure that classroom teachers build

the competency to create inclusive classrooms? as it was too long. Since piloting of the

interview was conducted on the same day as the first interview, recommendations and

adjustment of the interview guide were carried out in haste.

This process has not only highlighted the importance of conducting a pilot study but that the

pilot study could have been held at least a few days before the first interview to allow for

thorough planning. I could also have had more than one pilot study so that I could have

practiced my interviewing skills. Nevertheless, the first interview was productive as the

school leader had a lot to share.

23
3.3.3 The interview process

The introductions of the interviews were the same for all the three leaders. Each interview

began with an introduction of the research problem and purpose of the research. Secondly,

ethical issues were discussed such as the use of pseudo names, maintaining confidentiality of

their school when describing its context, safe keeping of interview transcripts and the school

leaders ability to withdraw from the interview if they wanted to. Then the school leaders were

given the informed consent form, which they read and signed. They were also given time to

ask any question regarding the interview.

The first interview was very helpful as Ms. Sally had a lot to say and therefore dictated the

flow of the interview. Her answers helped to define follow up questions and confirmed the

kind of questions that could be asked for later interviews. My part was to clarify, prompt and

revisit what she had said. At the end of the interview, she pointed out that the interview was

also a process of self-reflection as it provoked her thinking about the next step she needed to

take to build her teachers competence.

Through consultation with the supervisor, changes made to the first interview guide also led

to the restructuring of the interview main question and sub-questions. The first set of

questions were:

Main Question: How do school leaders build classroom teachers competence in creating

inclusive classrooms?

Sub-Question 1: What are school leader’s philosophies about inclusive education?

Question 2: How do school leaders believe they can build classroom teachers competency in

creating inclusive classrooms? And

24
Sub-Question 3: What strategies do school leaders use to build classroom teachers

competence in creating inclusive classrooms?

The new set of questions included:

Main Question: How do school leaders motivate teachers to build inclusive classrooms?

Sub-question 1 : To what extent do school leaders see the importance of inclusive learning?

Sub –question 2 : How do school leaders promote inclusive schooling?

Sub-question 3 : What competency building strategies do school leaders use to motivate

teacher learning?

The main research question was slightly changed as it was observed that school leaders do not

build teachers learning, however, they facilitated teachers learning by putting in place

strategies to help teachers learn. Changes made to sub-questions 1 and 2 were in response to

the first school leaders interview answers. As mentioned earlier, Ms. Sallys’ responses to the

first interview led to the formation of new questions that would be relevant to later interviews.

After transcribing the first interview, the interview guide was further scrutinized and adjusted

to accommodate emerging concepts. For instance, questions were more specific and focused

and were aimed at theories and other concepts which emerged out of the first interview, for

example, coaching, short courses, university studies, how do school leaders encourage

teachers to further their studies and working with the school administration. As a result, the

interview guide was improved by inserting more keywords to guide the interview (refer to

appendix 2). As a result, the second interview gathered more information than the first

interview. At the same time, the second interview turned out to be more structured as

questions were aimed at eliciting what was wanted from the interviewee rather than through

prompting and probing of answers that were provided by the school leader. For example,
25
instead of probing Ms. Richard about school based courses, she was asked about whether her

teachers were attending university courses instead. It was obvious that she had more to say,

however, my desire to get my own questions answered got in the way.

Upon reflections on the first two interviews, more emphasis was placed on probing.

Therefore, using the same interview guide, more probing was carried out in the third

interview. As a result, it turned out to have more depth. During this process, several lessons

were learnt. First, engaging my supervisor from the initial planning of the interview guide and

the piloting phase of the interview would have produced a more thorough interview guide.

Second, the use of ‘probing’ during the interview would have guaranteed more rich data.

Third, the constant changing of the interview guide led to eliciting of more information from

one school leader than another. In spite of the drawbacks, the processes used to improve the

interview guide have helped strengthen the validity of the research findings as questions did

not only focus on theories but also on emerging concepts.

3.3.4 Recording and transcribing

Merriam (2009) and Kvale (1996) explain three basic ways of recording interviews. They are:

audio recording (digital/cassette or video), note-taking and recording data as soon after the

interview. For the purpose of this interview, audio recording was used to capture the precise

words of the interview participants. Audio recording also ensured that everything spoken

during the interview was available for analysis. From the outset, it was recognized that not all

data was going to be used; therefore, each interview was replayed twice to familiarize myself

with the data. As a result, irrelevant data, such as the school leader’s stories which did not

relate to the research interest and disputes that happened due to misunderstanding of inclusive

education concept, were not transcribed. During this process care was also taken so that

26
potentially valuable information was not lost. Reference was made to Merriam (2009) who

stated that a segment or unit ought to satisfy the following two criteria: i) It should reveal

information that is relevant to the study; ii) It could be the smallest part of information about

something that can stand on its own. This means that it should be interpretable in the absence

of any other information other than broad understanding of the context in which the enquiry

was carried out.

Considerations were also given to how much of the interview transcript could be used as

evidence and to the things that school leaders omitted and which could be regarded as

important. (Thomas, 2009). For example, why did one of the school leaders only send

competent teachers to attend courses?

3.4 Data analysis process

3.4.1 Storing of raw data

After each interview, memos were made about the context of the interviews and the context of

the recordings (Richard, 2009). Thus a detailed description was made of the school and of the

school leaders. Post interview notes also included interpretations gathered during and after the

interview process. Richard (2009) emphasized the importance of keeping log entries of the

project notes, setting notes, interpretive notes and the process of data records. She added that

ideas and reflections should be noted in annotations, memos and links kept as they will help

researchers in their final write up. Therefore, log entries were noted during the entire process

and revisited to help discover emerging concepts and make conclusions.

Interviews were transcribed with enough space on the right hand side for comments and notes

to be inserted. Each line was also coded with a number, starting from 1 onwards for

27
referencing purposes. The purpose of numbering the quotations is to make the analysis more

transparent to the reader. It will also make the analysis easier to understand. The original

transcript was stored away safely and a copy made and used as the working document for

analysis.

3.4.2 Coding process

The transcripts were double checked several times to develop an understanding of what was

being said and why they were being said. It also ensured the valid interpretation of data.

Thematic Coding

Thematic coding using themes from the literature review was initially used as transcript

segments from different school leaders were copied and pasted to answer the sub-questions.

An example is shown below regarding part of third sub-question.

Theme One : in-service training

Interview 1:

“We have tried to choose special subject so we can build their capacity together… for a
while we have noticed that not all teachers observe the same way”.

Interview 2 :

“last year we started to have more courses here which all staff can attend.. Then all the
teachers can attend and receive the same information.

28
Initially, when focusing on the first sub-question, the theme was going to be centered on the

school leaders understanding of inclusive education. Regarding the second sub-question, the

theme would focus on leadership for school change and themes for the third sub-question

would be centered on training, evidence based collaboration and building inclusive cultures.

However, after opening up the sentences and making further interpretations, recurring

regularities were identified and as a result, new themes and concepts were generated and

noted. As a result, analytical coding was adopted.

Analytical coding

After repeatedly reading the transcripts, three themes were derived from the data related to

sub-question one: To what extent do school leaders see the importance of inclusive learning?

They were i.) schools as communities ii.) promotion of teachers learning and iii) promotion of

a flexible curriculum. Further rechecking of data highlighted that each school leader perceived

inclusion differently and as a result the first theme was changed back to i.) school leaders

understanding of inclusive education, while the other two remained.

When finalizing themes for the second sub –question: How do school leaders promote

inclusive schooling? It was discovered that the three leaders were carrying out their

responsibilities using different leadership styles. As a result, themes were focused on the

leadership theories which were discussed in the literature review. They are i.)

Transformational leadership and ii.) Instructional leadership.

Finally, when finalizing themes based on the third sub-question: What competency building

strategies do school leaders use? three new themes were added: i) team learning, ii) coaching

and iii) distributed leadership. However, further analysis of data revealed that collaboration

29
was taking place throughout the other themes. As a result, it was removed from being a theme

on its own.

Also, culture building was not viewed as a competency building strategy as it was used by

the school leaders. Rather it was a by - product of the other strategies that the school leaders

were employing. As a result, the themes were refocused to i) team building, ii) network

clusters, iii) training, iv.) coaching and v) distributed leadership. Once themes were finalized,

relationships between themes were analyzed and cross referenced (Thomas, 2009) and themes

were further subdivided.

Networking was subdivided into i) working with PPT ii) Working with parents, iii) working

with other schools and iv) others. Training was also subdivided into in-service course,

university training and training of parents. Coaching was also subdivided into i) coaching by

colleagues and ii) coaching by the school leader.

After much thinking, team building was renamed ‘collaborative teams’ because of the nature

of collaboration that were involved in the teams. Furthermore, ‘networking’ was renamed as

‘Working with the community’. Again, after cross referencing and further analysis, it was

concluded that ‘team collaboration’ and ‘working with the community’ would come under the

main theme of ‘collaborative learning’. As a result, ‘collaborative learning’ was subdivided

into ‘on-site collaboration’ (which was team collaboration) and ‘collaboration with the

community’ (which was working with the community).

However, because of inconsistencies, ‘training’ was renamed ‘in-service training’ and sub-

themes were removed and it was discussed only as in-service training. Also, ‘collaboration

eith the community’ was removed as its data did not relate to the research problem. In

addition, when focusing on ‘coaching’ it was discovered that the school leaders were referring

30
to ‘mentorship’ when talking about ‘coaching’. Therefore, using Wong’s (2005) definition of

‘mentors’, the theme was focused on teaching mentor as the practices of school leaders were

not regarded as ‘mentoring’ under Wong’s definition. Rather, they were regarded as coaches

of team leaders. Collaboration with the school community was later removed as further

analysis of data revealed that it was not relevant to the research question.

Further scrutiny of data, reflection and reading of relevant literature required one more

change. Finally, themes based on the third sub-question were confined to: i.) School based

collaboration, ii.) In-service training and iii.) Mentorship.

The process of categorizing themes, proved to be one of the most ‘intellectually challenging

phase of data analysis’ (Marshall & Rossman, 1999. p.154).

Open coding

Although open coding was not used much because of my interest in thematic coding, it was

indirectly used as I was interested in the other things that each school leader had to say, e.g.

Ms. Louise shared about the traditional teachers’ attitude to school change and Ms. Richard

also shared her hardworking teachers.

3.4.3 Write up

Once new themes and sub themes were finalized, the writing process began. The first draft

began by focusing on sub-questions one and two. During the entire process, the interview

recording was listened to again to ensure that transcripts were accurate and categories double

checked. In the process more information was discovered. For example, Ms. Richards had

applied to work at the school because of the inclusion of the special education unit but at the

end of the day was working towards accommodating students with SEN in their regular
31
classrooms. Therefore, the analysis demanded a heightened and focused awareness of the data

and openness to subtle and unstated perceptions (Marshall & Rossman, 1999).The draft was

edited as it was also discovered that it contained unnecessary and irrelevant quotations.

Coleman & Briggs (2002) states that making informed judgments on the value of evidence for

the study are something that will have to be made as the researcher moves along. However,

too much quotes were deleted in the process. Selecting the right quotation was crucial when

presenting findings (Watling, 2002) so that it provided insight into the way the school leaders

think.

In doing so, it was discovered that valuable information had been left out. For example, I

discovered that Ms. Sally had a logical reason for sending competent teachers to attend

courses. It was because whole school learning was not effective at their school. As a result,

the selected teachers would return to share what they had learnt with their team members.

The exercise of extracting quotes created a better understanding of the school leaders as it

resulted in interpretations that were based on evidence. At the same time, it also resulted in

the removal of interpretations that had no evidence. For example, I had concluded that

teachers at Seaside primary would have been better equipped if they had all attended the

course. However, Ms. Sally knew better as she had been evaluating her teachers.

By the end of the writing process, a better understanding of the school leaders had been

gained. For example, the strategies that each leader devised were in response to their school

context and the way they viewed the importance of inclusion.

The process of data analysis highlighted the importance of using the right research tool such

as the interview, to elucidate the information that is relevant to the research topic, especially

when research was limited by time. Also, selecting the right quotation was crucial when

32
presenting findings so that it provided insight into the way the school leaders think. At the

same time, it also highlighted the importance of good time management that would allow

enough time for analysis and double checking of findings for validation purposes.

3.5 Validity and Reliability

According to Yin (2011), validity in research is one that has properly collected and

interpreted its data so that conclusions accurately reflect and represent the real world that was

studied. To ensure content validity, themes were drawn from answers to each sub-question

and themes were further divided into sub themes. Coleman & Briggs (2002) states that

content validity is the way a data instrument shows that it has fairly and comprehensively

covered the items that it expects to cover. Hence, the vigorous process of qualifying the

interview guide had also enabled the extraction of data that would correctly represent the

school leader’s world.

Descriptive validity was also ensured through the review of interview accounts (Maxwell,

1999). When analyzing and discussing findings, interview recordings were replayed and

transcripts reread to ensure that interview accounts were accurate. As a result, descriptive

validity led to the validation of data interpretation.

During the process of interpretation, theories were generated, tested and applied at various

stages (Watling, 2002). Consequently, some data were rejected, while others were adapted

and retained. According to Maxwell (1999), interpretive validation is ‘grounded in the

language of the people studied and rely as much as possible on their own words and concepts’

(p.289). Hence, when describing the findings in this research, care was taken and discussions

justified by using the words of the school leaders.

33
3.6 Generalization

Focusing on a few participants is understood to have a common critique for generalization.

However, Kvale (1996) defends the generalization of a few participants by pointing readers to

the pioneers of psychology such as Skinner (1961) and Piaget and the nature of their research.

Kvale(1996) asserts that the generalization of a quantitative case lies in the immense number

of observations on individuals, whilst in qualitative research; the focus on single cases makes

it possible to investigate in detail the relationship between the phenomena and the subject.

Therefore, the depth of the investigation in this research lies in the relationship between the

perception of school leaders to their school context and the way they organize competency

building for their teachers. Yin (2011) adds that the problem of generalization can be

minimized by replicating the study in another similar setting, an approach that is adopted in

this research. Generalization was also considered when theory was used to generate data.

3.7 Limitations
During the research process a few limitations were encountered. First, relevant information on

the context of inclusive education in Norway were limited in English print and which resulted

in limited knowledge of the Norwegian context. Having limited knowledge could have also

meant limited interpretation of data. Second, due to limitation of time, interview participants

were limited to three and the use of one data collection method. As a result, the study does

not include perspectives of teachers or other stakeholders to provide complementary or rival

information that could strengthen the validity of the research. Therefore, it is unclear whether

the school leaders were actually implementing Inclusive education. However, they seemed

confident and knew what they were talking about. Also, the third school leader had admitted

what was actually taking place and what she hopes to take place in their inclusion process.

34
Using other methods such as observation would have yielded more information on how the

school leaders implemented their leadership role. Third, the continuous changes made to the

interview guide had resulted in more data being collected from one school leader than the

other and which resulted in varying analysis across all three leaders, nevertheless, relevant

data was gathered to address the research problem. Fourth, the findings are context bound and

relates to certain school leaders at a given time. However, it will be up to readers to decide

whether any of the approaches used by school leaders are applicable to their setting. Last,

using English as the main mode of communication could have led to the misinterpretation of

questions and subjectivity of interpretation.

3.8 Ethical Issues

According to Greener (2011), the nature of an interpretive approach to ethics is to protect its

research participants, and to treat data sensitively. As a result, research participants were

informed about what the research was about and how information will be divulged to others

i.e. whether it will be published or not (Gregory, 2003). They were informed via personal

email and through the course coordinator who was the research door opener. Before

conducting the research, the application form for ethical approval was filled and submitted to

the Norwegian Social Science data services, attached with the informed consent form and

interview guide. Once approval was made, contacts were made to relevant school leaders and

arrangements made for the actual interview. On the day of the interview, interview

participants were again, informed about the purpose of the interview and assured of

confidentiality by withholding their names as different names have been used instead.

Sensitivity was also used when describing the school context and each school leader so that

they would not be easily identified.

35
4 Data analysis and Discussions

This chapter will first present the findings that are based on the first research sub-question: To

what extent do school leaders see the importance of inclusive learning? and followed by a

discussion based on i) the school leaders understanding of inclusive education, ii) the

promotion of teachers learning and iii) the promotion of a flexible curriculum. Second, it will

present the findings based on the second sub-question: How do school leaders promote

inclusive learning? and followed by a discussion on i) transformational leadership and iii)

instructional leadership. Lastly, it will present the findings based on the third sub-question:

What competency building strategies do school leaders use to motivate teacher learning ? and

both data presentation and discussions will focus on i) school based collaboration ii) in-

service training and iv) mentorship.

4.1 To what extent do school leaders see the

importance of inclusive learning?

Research shows that school leaders’ belief about inclusion will dictate how they reconstruct

their schools in accommodating students’ needs (Ainscow & Sandill, 2010). Therefore, this

section will find out if the same principle applies to the three school leaders. It will focus on

how the school leaders defined inclusive education and how their belief is reflected on the i)

promotion of teachers learning and the ii) promotion of a flexible curriculum.

36
4.1.1 School leaders understanding of inclusive education

The findings reveal that the school leader’s perceived inclusive education in different ways.

However, similarities of perspectives were found between Ms. Sally and Ms. Louise despite

differences in school context.

In lines 1-4 Ms. Sally saw inclusion in light of creating a school community in which every

student is accepted regardless of who they are.

1. “to me it means that children have a community where they are together with other
2. children, with the children whom we don’t think have to be included, and to learn
3. and to work and to understand each other.…it is to be and to learn and to act with
4. other children, both children with special needs and children without special needs.

It is interesting to note that she refers to the formation of a community in which students who

would otherwise be excluded are included and her belief is reinforced when she says that

‘inclusion is very important’. Her perception reveals that she is concerned and would like to

ensure that no one is excluded in her school. This is also reflected in way everyone is

educated in the same classroom.

In lines 5-7, Ms. Sally emphasizes that keeping all students in the same classroom and

organizing group lessons was important so promote good relationships and empathy.

5. “that the children could build good relationships, help each other and understand
6. each other. To understand that some of the classmates have other needs then they and
7. that they also have needs which others can’t see and to understand each other’s
needs”

Like Ms. Sally, lines 10- 11 reveals that Ms. Louise believes that all children should be

educated in the same classroom.

8. “But this school is a very traditional school and I can see that they have had a
9. tradition of taking these kids out from their ordinary classroom, so for me, it is
10. important for the pupils to stay with the rest of the class mates and work with the
11. learning environment in their class where everybody is included and some can have
37
12. different progression in the same class but this is not happening in the way I’m
13. describing it”

However, Ms. Louise is leading a school that has had a tradition of taking students out from

their classroom for more than a decade. As a result, she is faced with teachers who are not

receptive to the change as shown in lines 14-15.

14 “I can see that some teachers are not used to it and they seem to say..ok..this is your
15. problem…its not my problem”.

In spite of negative reactions, Ms. Louise is adamant about changing her schools perception.

Her perception is reinforced through her desire to implement inclusive procedures through

teachers learning and the provision of a flexible curriculum.

On the contrary, Ms. Richard perceives inclusion rather differently when she points out:

16. “I think it’s quite difficult to include all children in all activities of the school but my
17. vision is to include them as much as we can and as much as we can see that they are
18. happy with. We have lots of children with special needs here. Now we try not to take
19. them out of the classroom…most of them”.

Ms. Richards’ perception of inclusion is also reflected in her choice of schools as she was a

leader of an inclusive school with a separate special education unit before she was transferred

to Riverside Primary. She also mentions in line 20 that when she applied for a new job she

wanted to work in a school that had a special education unit.

20. “wanted to work in this school because it has a small school (special education unit)”

Her belief contradicts that of Ms. Sally and Ms. Louise as she allows some students with SEN

to be taught in the unit. This is because she had already perceived that not all children are able

to learn in the regular classroom.

38
Regardless of her attitude towards placing students with SEN in the separate special education

unit, lines 21-24 reveal that her perception extends beyond the classroom to include social

aspects such as birthday parties and the inclusion of parents of student with SEN in big

classroom meetings.

21. “when children have birthday parties, we ask parents not to invite only a few students,
22. and students are not allowed to deliver birthday invitations in the school if they are
23. not going to invite everyone, for example, all the girls, and now they are also
24. including the students in the special uni”.

It is interesting to note that her perception of inclusion not only lies within the classroom

walls, rather she is concerned about each student’s social well-being as well. As usual, being

invited to birthday parties is something children look forward to and she ensures this by

implementing appropriate school rules. In addition she mentions,

25. “when we have meetings for the parents, the parents for the special unit also attend
26. the meetings for the whole class. They are included in both”.

By doing this, Ms. Richards does not only ensure the inclusion of students with SEN but also

their parents. Hence, parents of children with SEN do not need to feel left out even though

their child is in a separate classroom.

4.1.2 Promotion of staff development

Promotion of teachers learning is important to the inclusion process as it will equip teachers

in facilitating inclusive classrooms thus promoting sustainability. For this reason, this section

will present findings on how the three school leaders promoted teachers learning in their

schools.

39
Similarities that were found among the three school leaders included collaborative team work,

attending school based courses and collaboration with PPT. This is evident in the extracts

below: Ms. Sally explains

27. “we try to build competence inside the school and we try to get teachers who have
28. competence and mix them with others…we work very close in teams and teams have
29. people with different competence. We also have some courses which teachers join or
30. they go to, and we collaborate with the pedagogical, psychological service to find out
31. which area we need more competence in”

Similarly, in lines 30-34, Ms. Richard states that teachers are attending courses at the school
as well as at the university.

32. “Last year we started to have more courses here which all staff can attend.
33. “last year..two teachers were attending university classes. This year, two of my
34. leaders are attending leadership courses in the university”.

She also mentions in lines 36-37 that teachers look for courses that are relevant to their
students’ needs.

35. “ for example, if we have a new SEN child whom the teachers do not know how to
36. handle..they usually look for courses that are available..that is relevant to the needs of
37. the child..and attend.

At the same time, collaborative team work is taking place when she mentions in line 38-39

that teachers meet every week to make plans and discuss how to include all students in school

activities.

38. “The teachers have meetings every week. Every Tuesday we have meetings with all the
39. teachers, we make plans for what we are doing, how to include the children, how to
40. work with social competence, to avoid bullying. The teachers from the special units
41. are together with the rest of the teachers from the whole school.”

She also relays in lines 42-43 that her school is collaborating with PPT.

42. “we have two persons from PPT working in the school. We have meetings with them
43. ...about our child with SEN…
40
According to lines 44-46 Ms. Louise’s school is collaborating with the PPT as they are

currently helping the school during this time of transition.

44. “since we’ve been reviewing and evaluating, we’ve been co-operating with PPT now.
45. So the leader of the PPT is here. She’s been meeting with the leadership and the
46. social teacher.

She also mentions in line 47 that her school is one of the first to attend a course on leadership

at the municipality office .

47. “so we’re now in the first group..to attend the course in the municipality.. we are
48. going to work in school leadership, we will have to have meetings with some of the
49. teachers who are in the planning group with the leadership team and we will have to
50. plan for meetings and talk with them on development”.

According to line 51 Ms. Louise’s teams also meet on a regular basis for planning purposes.

51. “The teachers work in teams and every week they meet for one hour or more but
52. sometimes we put in the plan for the year and what they have to do every
53. week…sometimes..e.g. if the teachers have to plan for mathematics or meet…so they
54. meet to discuss what they need to do for different subjects”.

Also, she is educating teachers on the importance of learning, as she explains in lines 55-57

that teachers tend to think of children with SEN as a problem and therefore do not plan for

their learning.

55. ‘bit scary to think of students with SEN as a problem’ and because of that teachers
56. ‘don’t take the responsibility’ for their learning. As a result, ‘they don’t plan for
57. students with SEN and leave the responsibility to the teacher who assists them”.

These awareness has influenced Ms. Louise to work with teachers on ‘how to plan’ and to

‘create a good learning environment’ for students with SEN.

41
In addition to team meetings, line 58 show that Ms. Louise transfers knowledge by pointing

teachers to look at effective classrooms practices and in lines 59-60 she encourages competent

teachers to share what they do.

58. ‘look at what is happening in effective classrooms’. She added

59. “I try to tell competent teachers to share with others what they do, they are always
60. contributing in a positive way and I keep on giving them positive feedback”

Differences that were found between Ms. Sally and Ms. Richard include how they

strategically use their team leaders.

In line 61 Ms. Sally states that she mixes teachers with competence with those who have less
competence.

61. “ try to get teachers who have competence and mix them with others”

From our conversation I understood that competent teachers were used as team leaders

because of their competence. As a result they were mixed with other teachers to form teaching

teams. In addition Ms. Sally explains in lines 62-63 that the responsibility of team leaders is

to observe and provide feedback to their team teachers.

62. “the team leader has a responsibility to observe the teachers and to give them
63. feedback and to find out if some teachers need more competence.

She implies that school leaders assess and evaluate their team teachers and provide them with

feedback that will enhance their teaching. At the same time line 64 shows that they try to find

out if a teacher needs more practical help.

64. “They are given learning and help from someone in the leadership team”

On the other hand, Ms. Richard strategically puts teams together by separating new teachers

and mixing them with competent teachers as shown in lines 65-66.

65. “when I’m putting teacher teams together, I never put two new teachers together.

42
66. Each group will always have a competent teacher..I believe in having a good model,
67. so it’s important to put them with very good teachers. Also team leaders meet with
68. their own teachers; they have courses, for e.g. now they are learning how to
69. communicate to children with speech problems”

As a result, lines 66-68 communicate that they are used as role models and also to facilitate

courses for their teams. She also mentions in line 70 that one of her team leaders is in charge

of the new teachers.

70. “right now one of them (referring to team leaders) is in charge of the new teachers.
71. So she meets with them for one hour every Friday and talks to them”.

In addition to team collaboration, working with PPT, mentoring and doing courses, Ms.

Richards points out in line 72-73 that her staff visited another country and also visited

neighboring schools.

72. “this year, everyone working here went to see schools in…………to see how they did
73. inclusion. We work with schools in the neighborhood; we visit each other and have
74. meetings. The school leaders have meetings because we have three schools the same
75. as this one, so we share ideas”.

Furthermore she mentions in line 76-78 that some regular classroom teachers have already
been teaching in the special education unit, which she thinks is good for inclusion.

76. “some of the teachers had started teaching in the normal school and also in the small
77. school. It’s good for inclusion, I think”.

4.1.3 Promotion of a flexible curriculum

As mentioned earlier, the promotion of a flexible curriculum is part of reconstructing a school

to accommodate diverse students. Therefore, this section will present findings that reflect how

the three school leaders view the importance of a flexible curriculum.

43
Ms. Sally demonstrates the importance of a flexible curriculum by emphasizing in lines 78-81

the importance of group work within individual classrooms.

78. “we organise the lessons they shall have in different subjects, and the lessons they
79. shall have in learning how to collaborate and to give empathy and to have tolerance
80. or values and... ...because we try not to teach children with special needs one to one
81. but to organize groups in the class ...with help from another grown up in the group
82. …it is the responsibility all every grown up in the school... not just the teacher for
83. children with special needs.

She also emphasizes in lines 84-86 the importance of changing of learning environments.

84. “I think sometimes we need different environments. We had collaborated with a farm
85. in this area, so some of the children are there one day a week, in organized groups of
86. different ages to learn in more practical ways about farm animals”.

Students with special educational needs (SEN) are supported within their classrooms with the

assistance of team teachers through group work and the modification of their activities.

Furthermore, the open classrooms and organization of learning groups were also observed to

allow teachers to plan and implement their lessons appropriately. As a result, all students are

accommodated.

On the other hand, the way Ms. Richard’s teachers organize their lessons is in response to the

availability of a separate unit. As a result, lines 87-90 point out that the three specialized

teachers from the unit regularly meet with the regular classroom teachers to help the teachers

plan their activities so that it will suit the needs of their students with SEN. She points out

87. “we have meetings every week. The teachers from the special unit meet with the other
88. teachers in the big classes and talk about the following weeks lesson and how they
89. can include children from the special unit.e.g. which part of your lesson can the
90. children from the special unit attend? It is singing or lesson no. 2?etc..”

44
The flexibility of classroom activities to accommodate students with SEN mirrors a flexible

curriculum.

Although Lakeside Primary is currently reconstructing their inclusive programs, line 94

demonstrates that Ms. Louise echoes the importance of a flexible curriculum.

91. “And now we are working on a timetable…because we want to make some changes.
92. When you work on the timetable, it becomes practical...it’s very important for the
93. teacher. I think that if we can work on some changes then it will be more flexible. It’s
94. the most important…to see the flexibility of the curriculum”.

It is evident that the school has not totally produced a flexible curriculum; however, it is

something they are working towards. In doing so, the school has managed to slot the same

subjects (Norwegian and mathematics) for each grade level to be taught across that grade at

the same time. Therefore, due to the way students with SEN are taken out of their classrooms,

they are able to be grouped together; for example, lines 96-98 shows that during maths,

students are given extra help by their maths teacher.

95. “We try to..if you’re at… one grade…we see that very often they have difficulty with
96. Norwegian and Mathematics…so we try and put those subjects at the same time so it
97. can be more flexible. So the responsible teacher for these pupils progress, e.g. in
98. maths..can take more than one kids out of their original class and do some group
99. activity”.

She concludes in line 100 that it is important for students with SEN to share the same
classroom as their peers.

100. “But the idea is for them to be in the class”.

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4.2 Discussion

4.2.1 School leaders understanding of inclusive education

Over the years, the rapid evolvement of Inclusive Education has categorized it as one that

goes beyond special education to social integration (Armstrong & Spandagou, 2010). This is

evident in the way Ms. Richards describes inclusion as she takes account of not only

academic aspects but also social aspects such as invitation to birthday parties and

participation of parents of SEN in big school meetings. The notion of social integration could

also be implied when Ms Sally and Ms. Louise saw the importance of importance of everyone

being in the same classroom. Ms. Sally emphasized that it will promote understanding as

students work and to act together.

According to Ofsted (2000) ‘an educationally inclusive school is one in which the teaching

and learning, achievements, attitudes and well-being of every young person matter ( p.7)”

This means that students may not be treated the same way if their different life experiences

and background are taken into account. Ms. Louise agreed with this statement when she

mentioned that all students need to learn in the same classroom but ‘have different

progression’. It also echoes Ms. Sally’s belief of a school community in which children who

are not usually accepted in society are accepted. The same could also be understood of Ms.

Richards view, that is, students with SEN could receive quality and appropriate education in

the special unit after taking into consideration their life experiences and background.

Alternatively, Ms. Richards perspectives may very well concur with Avramidis & Norwich

(2010) review of literature which found there were no evidence of acceptance of a total

inclusion or ‘zero reject’ approach towards inclusion. They found that teachers’ attitudes were

46
strongly influenced by the nature and severity of the disabling condition presented to them,

that is, child-related variables and less by teacher-related variables. Her belief could also be

associated with the Norwegian context of Inclusive education, which states that although no

student is excluded, the provision of optimal learning may imply ‘that some children may

receive all or part of their teaching outside mainstream classrooms, in a specially adapted

classroom’ (Norwegian Ministry of Education and Research, 2008).

At the moment Ms. Louise is adamant to make changes in her school. Her goal is to move her

school away from taking students with SEN out of their classroom, which the school has been

practicing for the past decades. Accommodating all students in the same classroom is

something she aims for as she believes that it is important for students to stay with the rest of

their class mates and to work in the same learning environment, however, they can have

different progression. Ms. Louise is seen to be creating an inclusive culture in which all

students are taught in the same classroom. Her belief is reflected in the way she is promoting

the importance of learning by working with teachers on how to plan and to create a good

learning environment for students with SEN and the provision of a flexible curriculum.

According to Mulfod (2007) successful leadership is underpinned by the school leader’s

values and beliefs which inform their decisions and actions regarding provision for individual

support and capacity building. These values include the belief that ‘all children can learn’ and

‘all children matter’ (p. 21). In trying to create an inclusive school Ms. Louise is currently

working towards changing her teachers their mind-sets and creating a unified vision with her

staff. According to Ainscow & Sandill (2010), implementing change will require leaders who

can challenge traditional and individual approach to thinking and motivate teachers by

empowering them through collaborative team work and showing what schools should and

47
could be. This is reflected in the way Ms. Louise is currently collaborating and working with

her teachers.

Similarly, Ms. Sally believes that schools need to be a community where students are able to

learn and form good relationships with others. Her belief is reflected in the way, she

establishes good relationships amongst teachers through collaborative learning and the

inclusion of all students in the same classroom. Sergiovanni (2006) agrees by explaining that

schools act as learning communities when there is capacity and relationship building. It is

when leaders ensure that the interests of the children are served, and that people are

responsible for their actions.

4.2.2 Promotion of teachers learning

Deppler (2010) expressed that the improvement of schools will depend on the quality of

teachers to meet inclusive challenges. Thus, he reinforces the importance of teachers learning.

In their effort to promote teachers learning, the strategies that the school leaders used to

motivate teachers ranged from school based collaboration, working with the school

community,training and mentorship. Bubb & Early (2009) confirmed that staff development

which involves discussing, coaching, mentoring, observing and developing others is highly

effective.

As presented in the literature review, both Instructional and Transformational leaders see the

importance of teachers learning, however, they show it in different ways. Instructional leaders

(i) make suggestions, (ii) give feedback, (iii) provide modeling, (iv) use inquiry and solicit

advice and opinions, and (v) give praise (Blase & Blase, 1999). This is evident when Ms.

Richard provides teachers with feedbacks and make suggestions when she attends class level

48
meetings. She also provides good modeling through the mixture of teams, solicits advice and

opinion when they make plans to include all students. Ms. Louise demonstrates this by telling

teachers what she believes in, pointing them to good classroom practice and giving positive

feedback.

Ms. Richard takes teachers learning further by allowing regular classroom teachers to take

turns to teach in the special unit so that they are better equipped and skilled as they learn to

teach students with SEN. This is a strategy that she thinks is ‘good for inclusion’.

On the other hand, the transformational leadership nature of Ms. Sally is demonstrated when

she states that the team leaders responsibility is to observe teachers, provide them with

feedback and analyze whether they have learning needs. In this way, leadership is distributed.

Sergiovanni (2006) add that transformational leaders recognize that the link between what

happens to teachers and what happens to students is direct. For example, a lack of

collaboration among teachers will result in less collaboration among students. Collaboration is

evident in the way Ms. Sally encourages analysis and problem solving during team meetings.

She also mentions that classroom activities encourage students to give empathy and learn to

understand one another.

The findings also reveal that although Ms. Richard and Ms. Louise demonstrated more

Instructional leadership characteristics, they also valued the importance of collaboration. For

example, Ms. Richard demonstrates collaboration when she mentioned that they make plans

to include all children. Also when Ms. Louise mentioned that teachers meet to discuss what

needs to be done for different subjects.

Moreover, as Ms. Louise is trying to change her teachers’ mind set, she is currently focusing

on whole school collaboration. Timperley (2011) explains that mind-sets are not about

picking a few pointers but about ‘seeing and doing things in a new way’ (p.93). However,

49
‘seeing and doing things in a new way’ will need strategic and systematic needs analysis of

the needs of teachers and facilitating learning that will meet their needs(Bubb & Early, 2009).

It is evident that Ms.Louise is facilitating learning when she talked about how it is bit scary

when her teachers think of children with SEN as a problem and because of that teachers don’t

take the responsibility to assist children with SEN. These awareness has influenced Ms.

Louise to work with teachers on how to plan and to create a good learning environment for

students with SEN.

Although the team leaders at Seaside primary are evaluating their teachers, it is seen to be

happening on an informal basis. However, it is not known whether assessment of any kind is

taking place at Riverside and Lakeside Primary schools.

In addition to the strategies that the school leaders are already using, Bubb & Early (2009)

suggests that learning and development should be shared, acknowledged and celebrated in

order for improvement to be sustained. This means that staff notice board should mention

individual achievement and teachers encouraged to write their reflection on school web sites.

They expressed that these strategies promoted reflection and discussion on line as well as in

person.

It is concluded that although the three school leaders had a few similarities, however, they

differed in the way they used their team leaders. Ms. Sally gave her team leaders the

responsibility to assess evaluate and provide feedback and help to their team members. On the

other hand, Ms. Richard was seen to be using them to facilitate meetings and do certain

courses together. Therefore, it is assumed that the need for these courses may arise from the

needs of team members to learn more. Also, team leaders in Lakeside Primary are seen to

facilitate small group meetings also. However, it is not clear if they have other

responsibilities.

50
4.2.3 Promotion of a flexible curriculum

Armstrong (2007) proposes that an organizational strategy to learning see schools as

organizations that have the potential to instigate and implement change in becoming

inclusive. As a result, part of schools organizational change is the implementation of a

curriculum that accommodates diverse needs. Curriculum in this sense refers to the content of

lessons as well as how it is organized and taught to promote learning for all.

According to Ms. Sally, the organization of classroom activities varies to promote learning.

For example, the formation of small groups within their classrooms enabled all the adults (i.e.

teaching team members) to provide the necessary support to their students with SEN. In

addition, the school had collaborated with a neighboring farm to which students were taken in

small groups to have hands on lessons on learning about farm animals. Ms. Sally emphasized

that keeping all students in the same class and at the same time placing them in groups

encourages students to form good relationships’ and to recognize ‘that some children have

more needs than others.

Furthermore, classroom lessons are designed to help students to learn how to collaborate and

to give empathy and have tolerance for one another. Hence, the organization of the school, the

curriculum and team teaching echoes Ms. Sally’s vision to create a school in which all

children can learn and act together.

According to Ms. Richard, the weekly meetings between regular classroom teachers and

teachers from the unit were to discuss lessons for students with SEN. Therefore, it is inferred

that such meetings resulted in the provision of a flexible curriculum as teachers talk about the

ways they can include children from the special unit.

51
Although some students at the school stay in the special unit the whole day, others attend

regular classes on a part time basis and the rest stay in the regular classrooms 100% of the

time. According to Ms. Richards students who attend regular classes on a part time basis have

their lessons modified in the unit where assistance is provided by specialist teachers and their

staff. However, it is interesting to note that she likes this school as it has more employees thus

it should have been easier to accommodate students with SEN in their regular classrooms.

Ms. Louise is currently working with her teachers on restructuring timetables to allow

flexibility of learning, for example, they have managed to slot the same subjects on the same

time during the day so that students with SEN are easily grouped together to receive

assistance from their subject teacher. She points out that providing a flexible curriculum is

‘the most important’.

Even though, Seaside and Lakeside Primary schools do not have a separate unit for students

with SEN, it can be concluded that having a special education unit at Riverside Primary may

be appropriate for students who are currently there for the whole day, i.e. for those with

severe autism and for those who may need more space and resources like children with severe

cerebral palsy. In this case, it is also observed that the availability of a special education unit

enables the centralization of learning resources, more so, when there are only three

specialized teachers of students with SEN. However, Ms. Sally asserts that placing all

students in the same classroom will help them to build good relationship and enable students

to understand each other’s needs.

52
 4.3 Conclusion:

Although the three school leaders may not have direct contact with students to influence their

learning, however, their attitude towards inclusion does matter as they play an important role

in molding the attitudes and behaviors of staff members, parents, students and most of the

school community (Guzman, 1997). Their attitude is also reflected in the way they support

their teachers in constructing inclusive classrooms.

It is obvious that Ms. Sally’s vision to create a school community is taking shape

progressively as she prioritizes collaborative team teaching and team learning. Her team

leaders observe their team members regularly, thus they are familiar with their teachers

teaching needs, and their school based training geared towards their needs. At the same time,

classroom activities vary thus demonstrating a flexible curriculum.

Although Ms. Louise echoes the same beliefs as Ms. Sally, she is faced with the challenging

task of changing her teacher’s mindset through consistent collaboration and reflection

opportunities. Her school is not only ‘a very traditional school’ but one that also has teachers

who have had a tradition of taking SEN students out of their classrooms for more than a

decade. Although her school is still taking students with SEN out of their classroom for

separate lessons, her aim is to build an inclusive school environment in which all students will

be able to learn in the same classroom. In order to do so, she is helping her teachers through

the process of inclusion.

On the other hand, in spite of Ms. Richards reservations in including all students in the same

classroom, she is making an effort to try out ideas that may go against her initial thinking

when she emphasizes that they are ‘trying NOT to’ take students out of their classrooms. This

is evident in the way that she has been collaborating with her teachers as well as school

53
leaders of other inclusive schools and even visiting a neighboring country to see how

inclusion is practiced. It is also seen in the way teachers collaborate to provide appropriate

activities thus promoting flexibility of curriculum. Ultimately, her vision to include students

‘as much as’ they can and as much as they can see that ‘they are happy’’ is what Ms. Richards

strives towards.

4.4 How do school leaders promote inclusive

schooling?

To investigate how school leaders motivate teachers to build inclusive schools, it is important

to highlight what they do. As a result, this section will focus on their responsibilities as

inclusive school leaders. Their responsibilities will be discussed in light of the proposed

leadership theories which are i.) the Transformational leadership, and ii.) the Instructional

leadership.

In lines 101-102, Ms. Sally communicates that her responsibility is to ensure that school

activities are happening in a good organized way.

101. “I have the responsibility for this to happen in a good organized way ...in the best
102. organized way I can manage and together with the leader team and the teachers.

When asked about what she means by ‘good organized way’ she highlights:

103. “as a team we organize the children schedule and we organize the lessons they shall
104. have in different subjects ...and... supporting children in smaller groups in the big
105. classes …the lessons for children with special needs and to organize this in a
106. systemic way so that the teachers know…”.

54
It is evident that a lot of what Ms. Sally does is based on collaboration with her team leaders,

who make up the schools leadership team. As these leaders are also responsible for evaluating

and conducting teachers learning, it is reasonable to say that she functions as a transformation

leader who distributes leadership.

On the other hand, Ms. Richard explains in lines 107-108 that it is quite difficult as she

spends a lot of time out of the office to talk to teachers to know what is happening at the

school.

107. “..its quite difficult. I try not to be in the office too much. In the morning, I try to talk
108. to the teachers when they arrive and to find out how they are. I try to meet with
109. parents and children in the morning, I attend all the parents meetings, just to see how
110. the teachers talk to parents about the work they do at school, they tell about the things
111. the children are going to learn this year, showing plans, the maths, the different
112. subjects…it’s good for me. I try to have meetings with all the teachers in the first
113. grade, second grade and so forth…just to see how they are doing are good job…if they
114. are following the national plan..etc….it’s a lot of work. I also provide them with
115. feedbacks..etc..”

Lines 109-114 reveals that Ms. Richard acts like a manager who ensures that school activities

go as planned. It is also reasonable to say that she plays her role more as an instructional

leader who is in charge of the day to day learning.

At the same time, lines 116-117 stresses that she also believes that a leader’s responsibility is

to promote inclusion by teaching others.

116. “I believe that it’s the leaders’ responsibility to always teach the teachers and talk
117. about inclusion. You need somebody who burns with it, to motivate the others and talk
118. nice about inclusion and teach the teacher…we do that a lot…and we try to include all
119. the staff in this”.

Ms. Louise shares the same sentiments as she explains in line 20 that she tries to tell teachers

what she believes in and why it is important for her.

55
120. I’m trying to tell them what I believe in and why it’s important for me. In the process
121. we also work with some ideas that are important for the school and we put it as our
122. vision for the school and then we could identify why it is important and what will it look
123. like in the classroom”.

In line 124 she shares her understanding of teaching and learning and the importance of using

good examples as in line 125.

124. “So I try to tell them my understanding of teaching and learning and also to make the
125. staff come up with good examples of it as well..so…it’s not just me telling them...
126. I have to co-operate with them and find out if this is the way we want to go together.
127. Then I will have to sort of lead them in small steps…”

In line 127, Ms. Louise demonstrates that her responsibility is not only to teach teachers about

learning but to also take them through the process step by step so that teachers get a clear

understanding of what she is saying.

4.5 Discussion

Transformational and instructional school leaders are reported to carry out their

responsibilities in different ways. While transformational leaders are seen to distribute

leadership with responsibilities, instructional leaders are in charge most of the time, and with

little recognition given to distribution of leadership (Sergiovanni, 2009).

4.5.1 Transformational leadership

Ms. Sally is understood to be functioning as a transformational leader as a lot of

responsibilities are placed on teams and team leaders. According to Halliger (2010)

transformational leaders do not provide leadership alone but shares it with teachers. He added

that the model is grounded in understanding the needs of individual staff rather than `co-

56
coordinating and controlling them towards the organizations desired ends. Therefore, since

team leaders at Seaside Primary are familiar with the needs of their team teachers through the

process of evaluation and providing feedback, it is also believed that Ms. Sally is using the

same strategy to understand her team leaders. It is evident that gives her team leaders the

responsibility to make decisions.

Southworth(1999) expressed that transformational leadership demands social skills of team

building and inspiration without dominion and is evident in the way Ms. Sally strategizes her

teaching teams and the freedom she gives team leaders to facilitate their teaching teams. In

this sense she is acting as a transformational leader who seeks to influence people by building

from the bottom-up rather than from the top down. The strategy she uses reinforces that

success in schools is also attributed to the extent in which leadership opportunities are

distributed through the school community (Mulford, 2007).

4.5.2 Instructional leadership

On the other hand, Ms. Richard and Ms. Louise are understood to be acting as instructional

leaders. Ms. Richard is observed to be a more hands on leader who is well versed with the

school curriculum. She takes her role seriously and is evident in the way she tries to make

contact with the teachers, parents and students more than doing administrative work in her

office. She follows up with her teachers and is aware of what is happening in the school.

According to Halliger & Murphy (1986), instructional leaders are regarded as hands on

principals who are well versed with the curriculum and instruction.

At the same time, she can be regarded as a manager (Palaiologou & Male, 2011) who always

ensures that her teachers are following the national curricular, she is knowledgeable about

what is happening at the school, and evaluates teachers accordingly by providing feedback

57
during meetings. This is apparent as part of her responsibility is to ensure that teaches are

doing ‘a good job’ that will promote teaching and learning. Her managerial role is also

reflected in the way she is involved in different teacher meetings to ensure that she is aware of

what is happening in the school.

One of the responsibilities of instructional leaders is to define the schools mission and

communicate school goals (Halliger, 2000). It means that instructional leaders work with their

staff by formulating clear and measurable goals that are focused on the academic progress of

the students as evident in Ms. Louise’s leadership. For example, Ms. Louise tells teachers

what she believes and in the process they work towards formulating a vision for the school.

Ms. Louise is currently coordinating instruction and curriculum at her school. In doing so, she

says that it is important not to make teachers feel threatened. Therefore, she co-operates with

teachers and listens to them in order to bring about change.

Evidence claim that Ms. Richards and Ms. Louise are functioning as instructional leaders

because they are new to their school setting and therefore would like to ensure that their

schools works towards a common vision. At the same time they are trying to make inclusive

changes. Halliger (2010) asserts that Instructional leadership is practical for schools needing

substantial change. In this case, it could be relevant to Ms. Richard changing attitude to

include everyone in their classroom and Ms. Louise’s desire for their school to come out of

their ‘traditional’ teaching style. Hence, it was not surprising that they are seen to be

confident and ``strong, directive leaders` (Halliger, 2005. p.3).

It is therefore inferred that Ms. Sally was an instructional leader when she first became the

Head Teacher of Seaside Primary seven years ago, especially when she was chosen to be the

school leader of the new school. However, as years passed and followed by the success of

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their inclusive program, she has built her trust towards her teachers by facilitating

collaborative decision making and promoting a culture in which innovation and risk-taking

are encouraged (Mulford, 2007). Mulford adds that risk taking in a supportive environment

will facilitate change. The practice of providing a supportive environment is used by Ms.

Louise when she leads teachers ‘in small steps’ until they are able to grasp the concept of

inclusive learning that she is teaching them about.

Furthermore, Ms. Richards and Ms. Louises’ passion to share what inclusion ought to look

like concurs Persson’s (2005) statement that Head teachers need to contribute to a deeper

understanding of their missions as well as to create meetings in which teachers notions about

learning are challenged. As a result, Head teachers will need to ‘change from planning and

organizing the content of teachers’ workload to leading their learning’ (p.17).

4.6 Conclusion

When principals provide conditions and means for teacher learning (Sergiovanni,2009) and

emphasize the importance of building an effective learning community, teachers learning

improves, thus, student achievement improve also. The indirect involvement of the three

school leaders are seen in the way they organize teachers learning, the school curriculum and

creating an inclusive community. It has also resulted in distribution of leadership as evident

through the formation of teaching and learning teams. For example, Seaside Primary has

teaching teams that meet once a week to collaborate and plan their lessons for the following

week. At Riverside Primary teams are structured according to different grades, for example,

there is a team for grades 1-3, another for grades 4-7 and the last team is for those that look

after school program for grades 1-4. Lakeside Primary’s teams are categorized according to

subject teaching. As a result, team leaders are seen to be facilitating the collaboration and

59
learning in their teams, however, it is not clear as to how much extent do team leader at the

three schools influence teachers learning. At the same time, Timperley(2011) cautions that

distributing leadership across people does not mean that the school leader distributes the

responsibilities to team leaders and then remain ‘aloof from what is happening’(p.95), rather,

they need to influence their leaders to maximize learning for all.

It is also seen that that the number of years each school leader has spent at their school

influences their leadership style. For example, Ms. Richard and Ms. Louise are both new to

their schools and both are using the instructional leadership model. Whereas Ms. Sally has

been at her school for seven years and is using the transformational leadership model.

4.7 What competency building strategies do school

leaders use to motivate teacher learning?

Kennedy (2011) claims that collaboration covers a lot of activities ranging from working with

colleagues in informal and unplanned ways to more structured learning communities. He

added that all forms of collaboration valued ‘learning by working with others’ (p.26) and

establishing good relationships as conditions for learning. This section will adhere to

Kennedy’s definition by focusing on school based and community based collaboration.

Community based collaboration will be further subdivided into collaboration with i) PPT ii)

Parents iii) other schools and iv) others.

4.7.1 School - based collaboration

Collaboration is about working together and communicating with others ‘not only to gain

professionally but to empower others and to develop professional connections’ (Persson,2005.

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p.21). Collaboration is evident at Seaside Primary when team leaders observe teachers and

give them feedback, also to find out if some teachers may need more competence in certain

areas.

It is evident that collaboration which stems from observation and feedbacks not only helps

teachers to reflect and analyze their work, however, line 128 shows that it also helps team

leaders to find out their teacher’s needs.

128. “it is also easier to find out what the problems or what their capacity is”.

Ms Sally points out in lines 129-131 that it also helps teachers to reflect on their practice.

129. “you have to discuss, you have to reflect and you have to think… “Am I doing what I
130. am saying I am doing? and Do I manage what I think I manage? because there are
131. others there who can see and who can talk with me afterwards?”.

She emphasizes that reflection is an important part of teaching and line 133 show that it is

part of what teams do after receiving feedback from their team leader.

132. “the leadership team does that every week… they observe one teacher or one assistant
133. and then give feedback and then reflect as a team”.

In addition, lines 134-136 reveal that problems are taken out of teachers own experiences and

discussed, analyzed and solved.

134. “the problem is taken from the teachers experiences and to find out what is the
135. problem they feel and what can be holding this problem as a problem and then
136. analyze if it is from the context.. if its individual or if it is the feeling of the
137. students..and then..they try to find out what to do to solve this problems”

This is an important part of learning as lines 138-139 reveal that in the process teachers find

out their need to learn more or to get in contact with others in the school.

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 138. “ sometimes.. they find out the need to learn more and or the need to get in
139. contact with other teachers in the school ...”

Furthermore, lines 140-141 reveal that teachers have another group for reflection and

analyzing apart from their teaching teams so that they can receive different opinions.

140. “ that we do have teams but we also do have groups of reflection and analyzing so
141. teachers do come from different teams to get another view of the situation”

On the other hand, Ms. Richard reveals that collaboration is taking place at her school when

she mentions in lines 38-41 that teachers would meet every week to make plans and discuss

how to include all students in school activities.

It is inferred that meaningful collaboration is taking place throughout their discussions. At the

same time lines 107-109 show that unstructured collaboration is taking place when she meets

teachers in the morning to find out how things are and when she attends grade level meetings

and provides feedback when needed.

According to Ms. Louise teams meet to plan their different subjects or to discuss what they

need to do as mentioned in lines 51-54.

However, she admits in line 142-143 to get their meetings to focus on developments as
teachers are not used to talking about their experiences.

142. “its hard to get their meetings to focus on developments because teachers are not used
143. to talk about what they are doing in their classes”

As a result, Ms. Louise explains in line 145 that she has had to describe in detail what is

expected of her teachers.

144. “ to make them share good ideas and their actual practice in the classroom, I have
145. noticed that I have had to be very specific, to describe what I want them to do”

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4.7.2 In-service training

Ms. Sally mentions in lines 146-147 that they had tried to build teachers capacity together,

however, they have observed that not all teachers learn the same way.

146. “We have tried to choose special subject so we can build their capacity together… for
147. a while we have noticed that not all teachers observe the same way”.

She mentions in lines 148-149 that as a result, teachers have had to go back and discuss about

the courses more.

148. “and then we find out we must go back and.. discuss it more ..and find more how to
149. …to be more sure…”

From this experience it is inferred that building all the teachers competence together may not

be as effective as previously thought. Therefore, when asked about courses, Ms. Sally

mentions in lines 150-151 that she had chosen a few teachers to attend the courses at the

municipality.

150. “and we have chosen some teachers to attend the course with me …and then we will
151. implement it at school... to all the other teachers and then build up their capacity”

She further emphasizes in lines 152-153 that this strategy has been used so that the teachers
could return from the courses and share what they have learnt with the other teachers.

152. “these teachers were chosen to be at the course to learn more and then give it back to
153. the teachers”.

She also mentions in lines 154 that the teachers were chosen as they were already doing a lot

before the course, and therefore they would easily understand and be able to return and share

what they had learnt to the other teachers.

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154. “… they were chosen by me because they could do so much before the course and so
155. they can easily bring it back, so that others can understand”.

It is interesting that Ms. Sally uses this strategy when selecting candidates to attend courses.
Therefore, it is concluded that this strategy is used as building everyone’s capacity together
did not seem to work.

On the contrary, Ms. Richard explains in lines 156-157 that it was more appropriate to

conduct courses at the school so that all teachers could learn together.

156. “last year we started to have more courses here which all staff can attend.. Then all
157. the teachers can attend and receive the same information.

She adds in lines 158-159 that it was a much better way of building teachers competence as

the attendance of only a few teachers was not as beneficial as everyone attending.

158. “Just three teachers attending a course is not the same as all teachers attending.
159. So..now..we’re going towards that direction”.

It is apparent that building everyone’s competence together is more effective at Riverside than

at Seaside Primary. When asked about other courses, Ms. Richard mentions in lines 160-101

that two of her teachers are attending university courses.

160. “last year..two teachers were attending university classes. This year, two of my
161. leaders are attending leadership courses in the university”.

She adds that teachers are self-motivated to take up these courses and therefore she did not

need to motivate them. In addition lines 161-163 reveals that teachers also look for courses

that were relevant to their students’ needs.

161. “ for example, if we have a new SEN child whom the teachers do not know how to
162. handle..they usually look for courses that are available..that is relevant to the needs of
163. the child..and attend”.

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It is obvious that teachers at Riverside primary are intrinsically motivated when it comes to

teachers learning. Perhaps their desire to learn could have contributed to the effectiveness of

their school based courses.

Similar to Ms. Richard, Ms. Louise highlights in lines 164-165 that it is also better for

teachers to do the same course so that they can share the same experience.

164. “I want the whole school to do the same course together. I think its important to have
165. the same experience and to share”.

However, she did not state that such courses were taking place at the school. This could be the

case as they are still in the initial stages of restructuring their curriculum. She also mentions in

line 166 that some of her teachers will be attending an in-service course at the municipality.

166. “so we’re now in the first group..to attend the course in the municipality.. we are
167. going to work in school leadership”

She adds in line 168 that some teachers are also attending courses that are related to the

subject they are teaching.

168. “Also I have teachers who get training for their own subjects more..to be more
169. competent…”

Although Ms. Louise believes in in-service courses, she emphasizes that it must be about

skills. Ms. Louise expresses in line 170 the importance of skills.

170. “but I think…the courses must be about skills…what to do with what we learn.
171. Because for me ..when I interview teachers who apply for a job at the schools..they do
172. have their education, but their skills…how do they use their strategies? I think that’s
173. the thing…that if we have to do some courses..that these are the things that we will
174. focus on”.

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 4.7.3 Mentorship

Ms. Sally explains in lines 175-176 that if a teacher was seen to be not making any progress,

they will be given support from one of the school leaders.

175. “if you see someone who is not making progress…they are given by- learning and that
176. is a help from one in the leadership team, that is, mentoring”.

Also Ms. Richard explains in line in line 178 that one of her school leader is in charge of the

new teachers and meets with them for an hour every week.

177. “ yes..we do. For e.g. right now one of them (who is also one of the leaders)..she is
178. incharge of the new teachers. So she meets with them for one hour every Friday and
179. talks to them”.

4.8 Discussion

A comprehensive review of international literature (Arvamidis & Norwich, 2010) highlights

that extensive training opportunities for pre and in-service training were seen as top priority

and concluded that teachers will be more committed to change if they receive assistance in

mastering the skills required to implement inclusion.

4.8.1 School Based Collaboration

Staff involvement, joint planning and commitment to enquiry are exemplified in different

degrees at the three schools. For example, Ms. Sally had placed a lot of emphasis on

structured team collaboration, whereas, Ms. Richard was understood to use both structured

and unstructured collaboration. On the other hand, Ms. Louise was still trying to encourage

structured collaboration.

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Team learning is understood to be backbone of Seaside Primary and its main function is to

encourage collaboration. Therefore, collaboration included discussion of feedbacks from

team leaders who observe and evaluate their team members teaching, thus allowing team

leaders to identify teachers teaching needs, that is, if they needed ‘more competence’ or if

there are some ‘special subject’ that they need to know more.

Other characteristics of collaboration included identifying, analyzing and solving of teaching

and classroom problems, for example, they would find out if a teacher needed to learn more

or if they needed to get in contact with other teachers in the school. Collaboration also

included reflection. Apart from their ordinary teaching teams, teachers also have groups for

reflection and analyzing which consist of different team members. According to Ms. Sally,

changing of members allowed team members to get another view of their situation.

Like Seaside Primary, teams at Riverside Primary collaborate once a week as team leaders

meets with their own teachers to discuss about their courses and also discuss lessons and

deliberate. Teachers from the special education unit also have weekly meetings with regular

classroom teachers to discuss lessons for students with SEN. Collaboration is also understood

to be happening on an informal basis as she converses with teachers in the morning and

during grade level meetings to provide feedback. Ms. Richard also meets with her teachers

once a week to discuss and make plans for what they are doing, how to include all students in

their curriculum and finding ways to minimize behaviors such as bullying. As a result,

collaboration is taking place through meaningful discussions.

As noted in earlier discussions, the traditional structures of Lakeside Primary affect its

teachers in numerous ways. One of it is that teachers are not used to talking about what they

were doing in their classes. As a result, it is hard to focus their meetings on developments.

Ms. Louise tries to facilitate collaboration by specifically describing what is expected of her

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teachers. At the same time, she points teachers to good examples of classroom learning that is

already taking place in the school. She also uses other teachers to share their experiences.

Cardno (2002) added that ‘real learning and effective problem solving’ will require a skillful

and courageous leader. By this he means that collaboration will often involve conflict of ideas

and interest and will necessitate leaders who can learn the skill of productive dialogue. This

is demonstrated in Lakeside Primary as Ms. Louise skillfully paddles her traditional school

and teachers away from their traditional mindset to more inclusive learning styles.

Collaboration is also seen during meetings when the Ms. Louise shares about her intentions

concerning their transition and as she listens to and co-operate with her teachers to construct

school visions.

Alexandra et al (2005) stated that dialogue and communication are fundamental and is more

than finding solutions. However, a dialogue is when we start with attitudes where the

objective truth does not exist and differing truths are found depending on the choice of

perspectives as is evident in the way teams at Seaside Primary analyses, reflects, evaluates

and solve teaching and classroom problems. It is also evident in the way Ms. Louise shares

her intentions and listens to teachers.

When forming collaborative teams, Ms. Sally also has teams for analysis and reflection,

which, according to Persson (2005) leads to new experiences and is a base for continuous

learning and doing. However, Timperley(2011) points out that collaboration must not only

focus on the process through which learning is taking place, rather it must also be enquiry and

evidence based. For example, when directing teachers to the importance of learning, Ms.

Louise also provides good example by pointing teachers to successful classroom practices that

are already taking place in their school. In doing so, Ms. Louise encourages reflection through

transmission of knowledge and using other teachers to share what they are practicing, in the

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hope that others will learn and realize that they need help and will co-operate. Ms. Sally also

uses evidence based collaborations when team leaders observe and provide feedback to their

teaching teams. Through this process they find out if team members need to have more

competence or if they need to get in contact with other teachers in the school. Furthermore,

teams identify classroom problems, analyze it and look for solutions together.

Guzman (1999) asserts that through constant collaboration, teachers will be able to discover

their own ideologies and perceptions of inclusion and simultaneously be able to reconstruct

their belief towards embracing diversity (Clark, 1997). Through this process, reflection is

important as it allows team members to think about their learning and how their learning can

bring about inclusive change. Persson (2005) stresses the importance of reflection by

emphasizing that time will need to be defined for without time for reflection; ‘the process will

be a mere act of consumption without true reasoning and conclusion drawn for

learning’(p.18).

4.8.2 In-service training

The UNESCO (2005) report states that training models for teachers should be reconsidered by

strengthening school based in-service training rather than relying on lengthy pre-service

training. It is evident that the three school leaders have been managing the training of their

teachers in different ways.

For example, at Seaside primary, competency building for everyone was usually held

together, however, their strategy changed when the leaders noticed that teachers did not learn

the same way. As a result, teachers who attended courses would return to share what they

have learnt with their team. It is understood that team leaders facilitated courses for their

teaching teams. Perhaps this is because teachers learning were based on the needs of the

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teams and not on the whole school. Consequently, it could have contributed to the importance

of teaching teams, which is clearly the backbone of Seaside primary’s inclusive structure.

On the other hand, Ms. Richard and Ms. Louise found ‘training all teachers’ more effective

than sending school representatives to attend and then return to disseminate what they had

learnt. However, it is important to highlight that teachers at Riverside are intrinsically

motivated and therefore their positive attitude would have also contributed to the success of

their school based courses. Group courses may not be applicable to Ms. Richard and Ms.

Louise because they did not perceive team work as Seaside primary teachers did.

The self-motivation of teachers at Riverside and Lakeside primary is reflected when they

enroll in other courses such as university and online courses. Therefore, no matter what in-

service training may look like, Bobb & Early (2009) assert that staff development will need to

meet teachers teaching needs. At the end of the day, effective learning is about being able to

apply what teachers have learned in various situations (Persson, 2005). Ms. Louise echoes

these sentiments when she mentioned that teachers need to focus on courses that will enhance

their teaching skills.

Therefore it is concluded that no matter what form teacher training takes, that is, whether it is

conducted in teams, as a whole school or in universities, at the end of the day it is important

that the new knowledge and skills are reflected in effective classroom practices that will

ultimately impact student achievement. Ultimately, in-service teacher training will need to go

beyond mere explanation. Timperley (2011) reiterates that improvement in student learning

should not be a by-product of professional learning; rather it should be its central purpose.

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4.8.3 Mentorship

Webb (2005) defines a mentor as a single person, whose basic function is to help a new

teacher. Mentoring was practiced at Riverside Primary when one of the team leaders meets

with new teachers for one hour every Friday. However, mentorship was practiced at Seaside

Primary when competent leaders work beside a teacher who ‘is not making progress’ or not

co-operating ‘with the other teachers’. As a result, they are given help by someone in the

leadership team.

According to Moir (2005), mentors decrease the isolation of new teachers when they guide

them through their first year of teaching or getting them acquainted with their new

environment. They provide practical answers, ‘pose important questions to prompt reflection,

model teaching techniques, observe and offer feedback’ (p.60). Thus, their experience helps

the novice teacher to develop their professional life. She adds that it is important for mentors

to develop a specific plan that will encourage collaboration. In doing so, the mentor will

motivate the teacher by making them part of their learning community. It is not clear if

Riverside and Seaside school encourage mentoring by using the above strategies. The teacher

mentor at Riverside Primary only meets with her teachers for an hour a week, on Friday

afternoons. On the other hand, team leaders are used as mentors at Seaside primary only when

the need arises, that is, to help an incompetent teacher. Based on the above references, it could

be said that the use of mentors at each of the school is not as effective as it could have been.

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4.9 Conclusion

This section highlights that the three school leaders were promoting teachers learning by

implementing various competency building strategies such as school-based collaboration, in-

service training and mentorship. However, these activities were implemented in different

ways and in varying degrees, depending on their school context.

It is noted that the characteristics of inclusion at Seaside Primary influences the way Ms. Sally

provides leadership. Teachers learning mainly occur in teams which focus on collaboration

that is based on the team leaders’ assessment of their teachers teaching. The collaborative

nature of their meetings is also influenced by their school set up and the nature of team

teaching. As a result, teachers learning that is based on teams are understood to be more

effective at Seaside primary rather than whole school training.

On the other hand, despite of having a separate special education unit at Riverside primary,

Ms. Richards passion, together with her teachers motivation to work and attend whole school

course shows that they are motivated to make inclusion work.

In hindsight, the way Ms. Louise is focused on whole school collaboration is a direct result of

the transition that her school is going through at the moment. Although she mentioned a lot of

positive things concerning inclusion, it is important to note that her school is still striving

towards inclusion.

Nonetheless, Timperley (2011) assert that competency building strategies need to be about

seriously engaging in learning that is on-going and in-depth in order to achieve

transformational change. Hence it needed to depict an active process of learning through

knowledge and skill building of teachers that will promote student engagement and learning.

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5 Concluding Remarks

5.1 Implications for practice

One of the foundations for building an inclusive school is to believe that ALL children,

regardless of their social, economic, emotional, physical or cognitive background have the

ability to learn. In addition, adequate knowledge of inclusion and its processes can influence

school leader’s attitude and will determine: i.) the extent of the schools inclusive practices,

regardless of the school context. ii.) the emphasis they place on teachers learning and iii.) the

emphasis they place on the importance of a flexible curriculum. Furthermore, the way a

school leader constructs and employs certain leadership characteristics will depend on: i.) the

changes that are taking place at the school at a given time, ii.) the school leaders knowledge

regarding the change that needs to be implemented compared to his/her teachers, and iii.) the

school leaders ability to co-operate with others and build teaching teams. Moreover, strategies

that can effectively facilitate teachers learning include school based collaboration, in-service

training and mentorship. However, the strategies that school leaders will use to promote

teachers learning will depend on the schools vision and its inclusive education context.

Although the study found how the school leaders motivated their teachers to build inclusive

classrooms, it did not delve on how some of those strategies were used. Therefore, future

research could investigate i.)The extent to which distributed leadership influence teachers

learning and ii.) How mentorship programs in inclusive schools help teachers build inclusive

classrooms.

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5.2 Implications for practice in Fiji.

Although the context of the three school leaders are different from inclusive schools in Fiji,

however, their perception of inclusive education, the promotion of teachers learning, together

with the promotion of a flexible curriculum is something that inclusive school leaders in Fiji

can learn from. At the same time, competency building strategies such as school based

collaboration; in-service training and mentorship can be adapted to suit their school context.

School based collaboration can be encouraged through grade level teaching teams, also with

neighboring special schools and inclusive education specialists. However, an analysis of

teachers learning needs will need to be conducted before the implementation of such

processes. On- going in-service training will also need to focus on teachers classroom needs.

Mentorship may not be applicable at this time as there are no specialist teachers of students

with SEN in inclusive schools. However, mentorship would be possible if special school

teachers are integrated into mainstream schools.

It is envisioned that through constant collaboration, teachers will be able to discover their own

ideologies and perceptions of inclusion and simultaneously be able to reconstruct their belief

towards embracing diversity. Teachers and leaders could also be empowered by collaborating

‘with their colleagues in ways that address the demands that different subjects, topics or tasks

make on different learners’ (Florian & Linklater, 2010.p.371).

Ultimately, school leaders of inclusive primary schools in Fiji will need to change their

attitudes towards the inclusion of children with SEN. However, a change of attitude cannot

take place without a proper understanding of the inclusion process, more so, in

acknowledging that all children, irrespective of who they are, deserve quality education. It

will entail a shift in school leaders value system and supported by school based inclusion

74
policy and procedures to ensure sustainability. (Ainscow & Sandill, 2010). An important

feature that was found in all three school leaders was their personal belief or vision which

directed their leadership responsibilities and motivation to support teachers learning.

Therefore, it is recommended that school leaders could undergo in-service training on

inclusive ideologies and practices, coupled by assessment skills and identification of children

with SEN. In a country where there are limited resource people such as educational

psychologists, it is imperative that school leaders are able to identify at-risk children.

Furthermore, a structured in-house training will need to be conducted for all teachers in the

area of inclusive classroom practices and management. Karim & Banik’s (2012) states that

since teachers are expected to accommodate diverse needs of students, they will need to be

‘equipped with the knowledge and skill to understand and teach all beyond their traditional

teaching methods’ (p.4).

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7 Appendices

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7.1 Appendix 1 : Interview Guide 1

Main Question: How do school leaders build classroom teachers competence in creating

inclusive classrooms?

General Background

1. Can you please introduce yourself and describe your school?

2. What experience do you have in working with children with special needs?

3. How did you gain your knowledge in working with SEN children?

Sub-Question 1: What are school leader’s philosophies about inclusive education?

4. What do you know about inclusive education?

5. What is your vision for inclusive education within your school?

6. How does your vision affect your role as a leader?

Sub-Question 2: How do school leaders believe they c an build classroom teachers

competency in creating inclusive classrooms?

7. What organization structures do you think you can put in place to build classroom

teachers competency in creating inclusive classrooms?

Sub-Question 3: What strategies do school leaders use to build classroom teachers

competence in creating inclusive classrooms?

8. What support do you provide classroom teachers to accomplish school goals?

9. How do you implement your support programs to ensure that classroom teachers build

the competency to create inclusive classrooms?

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7.2 Appendix 2 : Interview guide 2

Main Research Question:

How do school leaders motivate teachers to create inclusive classrooms?

Sub- Questions:

• To what extent do school leaders see the importance of inclusive schools?

• How do they encourage inclusive education?

• What competency building strategies do they use?

General Background

a. Can you introduce yourself and describe your school?

i. Number of years working in inclusive school?

ii. Number of years as a school leader in an inclusive school?

iii. Academic qualification?

iv. How /where did they gain knowledge in working with SEN children?

Sub – Question 1: I. To what extent do school leaders see the importance of inclusive
schools?

b. What is your vision?

c. How important is it to you? School? Implementing inclusive education?

d. How do you ensure that inclusion is implemented?

Sub-Question 2: II. How do they encourage inclusive education?

e. How do you promote and encourage inclusion in the school?

f. How do you motivate your teachers to accommodate every child in their classroom?

g. What support do you give your teachers to ensure that they achieve school goals?

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Sub-Question 3: What competency building strategies do they use?

h. How do you organize in-house training sessions?

i. How often does in-house training take place?

j. How do you encourage teachers to attend short courses, seminars, conferences?

k. How do you encourage teachers to further their education?

l. In what extent do you take the initiative to discuss with staff how and when do they
need further education?

m. What network/partnership do you have outside of the school?

n. How do you encourage collaboration within the school?

o. How often does collaboration take place?

p. How many teachers are competent in IE?

q. How do you make use of them ( as a resource?

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7.3 Appendix 3 Informed consent form

I am a student at University of Oslo, and I am conducting interviews for my Erasmus Mundus

Masters in Special and Inclusive Education research project. The research project, which ends
on 31st November, 2013 will be supervised by Steiner Theie, an assistant professor at the
Department of Special Needs Education. The title of my research project is: The role of
school leaders in building classroom teachers competence in creating inclusive classrooms.

Background of the study

The interest in this topic has been motivated by the recent changes in Fiji’s education system
to support inclusive education. And due to lack of teacher training courses in teaching
children with special needs and inclusive education, it is hoped that this research will inform
school leaders on ways to provide on-site/in-house capacity and competence building for
inclusive classroom teachers.

The purpose of the study is to find out how school leaders motivate classroom teachers in
creating inclusive classrooms. Therefore, related questions will be asked about your role in
building classroom teachers competence in creating inclusive classrooms. The interview is
designed to be approximately one hour.

Confidentiality Issues and participation rights

All the information will be kept confidential and will be stored in a secure place. Upon
completion of this project, all data will be destroyed. Names of interviewees will be withheld
and sensitivity will also be used when describing the school context and the school leader so
that they will not be easily identified. Interviewers may withdraw at any time and for
whatever reason. Participation is voluntarily, however, please feel free to expand on the topic
or talk about related ideas. Also, if there are any questions you would rather not answer or
that you do not feel comfortable answering, please say so and we will stop the interview or
move on to the next question,whichever you prefer.
Should you need further information, you can contact me on 93956732 or Steiner Theie on
90841167/ 22858058

_______________________ ________________
Participant'ssignature: Date

_______________________ ________________
Interviewer's signature Date

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7.4 Norwegian Social services data service

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