**2. The literature**

that is often thought of when the term 'inclusive school practices' is used. However, inclusion is far more than this. There is an increasing emphasis, in schools, on understanding and catering for the diversity of all learners in our classrooms, and rightly so. Australian demographics have been changing dramatically with increasing evidence of a richly diverse nation. According to statistics from the 2011 National Census, 26% (5.3 million) of Australians were born overseas and a further 4.1 million Australians have one parent who was born overseas.

As teachers, we are privileged to have the opportunity to work in diverse contexts and with diverse groups and individuals. The richness and opportunities within today's classrooms, to learn from and with our students, parents, community and colleagues by sharing perspectives and histories that may be unfamiliar to us, and to others, is an opportunity that must be embraced in order to break down the many social injustices that still exist. Such injustices limit the opportunities of students to fulfil their full potential. As educators, we have a moral and legal obligation to ensure that teaching and learning practices demonstrate respect and understanding of diversity [4]. So what types of school practices promote social justice? What sort of school culture encourages the embracing and valuing of diversity? How do school leaders and teachers advocate for each child in their care? Teaching should and can be an activist profession [5] because education is acknowledged as being fundamental to shaping our future. It involves "the formation of each new generation into the citizens of tomorrow…In this age of 'super-diversity', it is difficult to categorise or place people into neat boxes. It is therefore all the more important for us to sharpen up our thinking and prac-

The data underpinning the illustrations within our chapter were collected from two state primary (elementary) schools in a large regional city in Queensland, Australia. Queensland's 2005 Inclusive Education Statement [7] is a particularly insightful one and raises issues and approaches to education that require an immediate and ongoing response from school

• fostering a "learning community that questions disadvantage and challenges social

• maximising "the educational and social outcomes of all students through the identification and reduction of barriers to learning, especially for those who are vulnerable to marginali-

• ensuring "all students understand and value diversity so that they have the knowledge and skills for positive participation in a just, equitable and democratic global society".

The current statement [8] outlines inclusive school practices as: responding constructively to the needs of all students; viewing difference as a resource; ensuring all school members feel safe and free from discrimination; and, promoting locally negotiated responses to student,

Over the years, there has been much discussion about just what 'inclusion' looks like in the classroom but less on what this looks like across a whole school community. So what does responding constructively look like – at a school level? How do the identification and

In 2011, 82% of the overseas-born population lived in capital cities [3].

34 New Pedagogical Challenges in the 21st Century - Contributions of Research in Education

tice by developing a critical understanding of issues of difference" [6].

communities more broadly. The statement focused on:

injustice";

sation and exclusion"; and

family and community needs.

The UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities [9] states that education providers must ensure "persons with disabilities receive the support required, within the general education system, to facilitate their effective education". This statement is true not only in relation to students with different types of impairment, the more commonly interpreted understanding of the words 'special needs', but resonates with culturally diverse needs, unique learning needs, socio-economic diversity and indeed the full spectrum of individual student needs within classroom settings. Australia's Melbourne Declaration on the Educational Goals of Young Australians [10] requires that education systems "provide all students with access to high-quality schooling that is free from discrimination based on gender, language, sexual orientation, pregnancy, culture, ethnicity, religion, health or disability, socioeconomic background or geographic location".

Such statements are indeed inspiring but perhaps practice is more in the 'aspiring' phase. Educational policy translation into practice continues to be problematic and never more so than in the rhetoric that exists around concepts of inclusion. Florian suggests "Special education's policy framework, which is intended to ensure the right to education for those who would otherwise be excluded from schooling, has paradoxically created problems of inequality within education" [11]. She goes on to say that if the discourse within schools is deficit by nature – what the students are not capable of rather than what they are – then "it cannot help to resolve the dilemmas of difference" [11].

Research suggests that it is not possible to stimulate sustainable changes in practice without collaborative conversations based on activities, issues, solutions and epiphanies related directly to the act of teaching [12]. Key factors driving improvements in classroom practice can be seen as:


As a result, colleagues and individuals can more easily reflect in-action and on-action [15], about what worked, and why, as well as what did not work, and why. This includes developing a shared understanding of what inclusion should 'look like', 'sound like' and 'feel like' within the specific school context.

In recent years, there has been much debate about just what it means to be an 'inclusive school'. UNESCO's [16] definition indicates inclusion should be seen as:

a process of addressing and responding [emphasis added] to the diversity of needs of all children, youth and adults through increasing participation in learning, cultures and communities, and reducing and eliminating exclusion [emphasis added] within and from education. It involves changes and modifications in content, approaches, structures and strategies with a common vision [emphasis added] that covers all children of the appropriate age range and a conviction that it is the responsibility of the regular system [emphasis added] to educate all children.

The phrases emphasised within the UNESCO definition are integral to what the authors believe are key to the establishment of sustainable inclusive school wide pedagogical practices which can be seen as "any and all efforts made by a school and its community to make students and their parents feel welcome" [17]. For such ideals to be achieved it is necessary to "consider how it might be possible for teachers to develop new ways of believing that all children can learn, that they have the knowledge and skill to make a difference to children's lives and that such work is their responsibility" [18].

For over a decade, research conducted by our research team, the Leadership Research International (LRI) Group based at the University of Southern Queensland, Australia, into school improvement in diverse Australian school settings, suggests that a goal such as this is not achievable by teachers operating alone within the four walls of their classroom [19–21]. The research-based framework for organisational alignment [22] (see **Figure 1**) illustrates the interrelationship between a school's vision, leadership practices, strategic foundations, community, shared pedagogical understandings and resource leveraging that must be considered in order to improve outcomes for students. It is the way in which these various components align, that influence the ways of working on a daily basis and are indicative of the school's culture. Fundamental to these interrelationships is the key element of holistic professional learning, which values teachers as leaders in partnership with formalised leadership personnel, working as informed collaborative individuals focussing their talents and abilities to target student need.

Schein suggests in Theory of Organisational Culture [23] three main areas (layers) which are indicative of an organisation's culture. The most visible layer is the *artefacts layer* which while clearly visible by others may not necessarily be well understood. The next deeper layer is the *espoused beliefs and values layer* where strategies, goals and shared perceptions are articulated and reinforced. The deepest layer is the *norms and assumptions layer* where deeply embedded, unconscious norms and assumptions lie. Therefore, school culture is visually manifested as artefacts such as a vision, a mission statement, a pedagogical framework, newsletters, and websites. Values and beliefs are explicitly articulated by leaders focused on drawing a school community together to work on shared goals. Over time, this becomes an agreed way of working – 'the way we do things around here' – the basic norms and assumptions of a shared and contextualised meaning system.

accurately captures our view of the fundamental changes needing to be made. School communities must align their practices to support and work with students, staff, parents and communities to ensure that inclusive ways of working become embedded and sustainable across a school. We believe that inclusive schools are characterised by their processes, which support students, staff, families, and community on a daily basis, and which can be expanded upon

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37

These factors work in synergy and support the establishment of inclusive schoolwide pedagogical practices and development of a school culture capable of supporting all students, families and staff, and in particular, those students with special learning needs, including social, emotional and intellectual. Although the underpinnings of school culture are nebulous

to increase support at significant moments within a student's learning journey.

**Figure 1.** Research-based framework for organisational alignment.

Although teachers are certainly a major contributor to improving student outcomes, if the word 'teachers' in the previous Rouse and Florian [18] quote is changed to that of 'school communities' to read 'consider how it might be possible for school communities to develop new ways of believing that all children can learn, that they have the knowledge and skill to make a difference to children's lives and that such work is their responsibility' then it more Inclusive Schoolwide Pedagogical Principles: Cultural Indicators in Action http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.70358 37

**Figure 1.** Research-based framework for organisational alignment.

a process of addressing and responding [emphasis added] to the diversity of needs of all children, youth and adults through increasing participation in learning, cultures and communities, and reducing and eliminating exclusion [emphasis added] within and from education. It involves changes and modifications in content, approaches, structures and strategies with a common vision [emphasis added] that covers all children of the appropriate age range and a conviction that it is the responsibility of the regular

The phrases emphasised within the UNESCO definition are integral to what the authors believe are key to the establishment of sustainable inclusive school wide pedagogical practices which can be seen as "any and all efforts made by a school and its community to make students and their parents feel welcome" [17]. For such ideals to be achieved it is necessary to "consider how it might be possible for teachers to develop new ways of believing that all children can learn, that they have the knowledge and skill to make a difference to children's

For over a decade, research conducted by our research team, the Leadership Research International (LRI) Group based at the University of Southern Queensland, Australia, into school improvement in diverse Australian school settings, suggests that a goal such as this is not achievable by teachers operating alone within the four walls of their classroom [19–21]. The research-based framework for organisational alignment [22] (see **Figure 1**) illustrates the interrelationship between a school's vision, leadership practices, strategic foundations, community, shared pedagogical understandings and resource leveraging that must be considered in order to improve outcomes for students. It is the way in which these various components align, that influence the ways of working on a daily basis and are indicative of the school's culture. Fundamental to these interrelationships is the key element of holistic professional learning, which values teachers as leaders in partnership with formalised leadership personnel, working as informed collaborative individuals focussing their talents and abilities to target student need.

Schein suggests in Theory of Organisational Culture [23] three main areas (layers) which are indicative of an organisation's culture. The most visible layer is the *artefacts layer* which while clearly visible by others may not necessarily be well understood. The next deeper layer is the *espoused beliefs and values layer* where strategies, goals and shared perceptions are articulated and reinforced. The deepest layer is the *norms and assumptions layer* where deeply embedded, unconscious norms and assumptions lie. Therefore, school culture is visually manifested as artefacts such as a vision, a mission statement, a pedagogical framework, newsletters, and websites. Values and beliefs are explicitly articulated by leaders focused on drawing a school community together to work on shared goals. Over time, this becomes an agreed way of working – 'the way we do things around here' – the basic norms and assumptions

Although teachers are certainly a major contributor to improving student outcomes, if the word 'teachers' in the previous Rouse and Florian [18] quote is changed to that of 'school communities' to read 'consider how it might be possible for school communities to develop new ways of believing that all children can learn, that they have the knowledge and skill to make a difference to children's lives and that such work is their responsibility' then it more

system [emphasis added] to educate all children.

36 New Pedagogical Challenges in the 21st Century - Contributions of Research in Education

lives and that such work is their responsibility" [18].

of a shared and contextualised meaning system.

accurately captures our view of the fundamental changes needing to be made. School communities must align their practices to support and work with students, staff, parents and communities to ensure that inclusive ways of working become embedded and sustainable across a school. We believe that inclusive schools are characterised by their processes, which support students, staff, families, and community on a daily basis, and which can be expanded upon to increase support at significant moments within a student's learning journey.

These factors work in synergy and support the establishment of inclusive schoolwide pedagogical practices and development of a school culture capable of supporting all students, families and staff, and in particular, those students with special learning needs, including social, emotional and intellectual. Although the underpinnings of school culture are nebulous and difficult to pinpoint, an inclusive culture lies at the heart of quality school practices. It is the 'way we do things around here' that is indicative of deeply embedded practice and the principles that inform such practice. For the astute observer these surface in everyday discourse and in the general acceptance of school processes and structures. So the language of inclusion should be clearly heard across a school, in staff meetings, parent meetings, the playground and classrooms. Therefore, in our research, the collection of data from students, teachers, teacher aides and school leaders allowed for the identification of themes indicative of ways of working, which was the core of our quest to identify pedagogical principles that support the needs of diverse student cohorts.

In two inclusive school settings, what key school wide pedagogical principles and actions

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Data collection focused on the lived experiences of stakeholders working within an inclusive school context combined with observations by researchers and their interpretation of artefacts. Phenomenological research seeks to "study how human phenomenon are experienced in consciousness, in cognitive and perceptual acts" [25]. Phenomenology, a qualitative research approach, seeks to "locate the observer in the world" [26]. Husserl, Heidegger, Sartre, Merleau-Ponty, and others, believed that understanding a phenomenon involves collating the views, stories and perspectives of those experiencing it, with the researcher seeking

Case study enabled the exploration of the phenomenon within its natural setting [26]. Two sites were purposively selected as these sites had been identified by the education system as offering effective examples of inclusion. Therefore, a variety of data sources should provide evidence of various aspects of the phenomenon to be exposed, interpreted and understood. VanWynsberghe and Khan [28] suggest that the interpretivist paradigm assumes that there are numerous points of entry into any reality, therefore participant perspectives and lived experiences within each context must be viewed both separately and as a whole, allowing the researcher to fully explore a particular reality relevant to the case study phenomenon. The research questions were developed collaboratively to focus on collating the lived experiences of a wide range of school leaders, staff, parents and students. The overarching research question fore-fronted the necessity to take into account the context within which inclusion occurred in order to develop an understanding ofthe phenomenon. The case was in its simplest terms inclusion in two school settings and the overarching research question was explored

**1.** How are all students, especially those with special learning needs, supported within an in-

**2.** What specific actions, structures, and school wide pedagogical practices (the school's

We define 'special learning needs' as: disabilities; enhanced abilities, diverse cultural backgrounds; first language diversity; learning difficulties or disorders; and/or emotional, behav-

Two authors spent several months, collecting data – one in one school and one in the other. Triangulation of data sources (verbatim transcripts from semi-structured interview questions, observations as noted in researcher journals, and artefacts collected on site) enabled the researchers to view and investigate the phenomena from multiple perspectives and provide an understanding of school culture at each level [23]. In this study researchers independently coded a set of data and then met together to reach consensus on the emerging codes and categories. Researcher interpretations of practices and understandings were checked with participants and an initial report sent to each school principal for comment to ensure credibility and cross check that the interviewee's intent had been appropriately captured.

"ways of working") contribute to the inclusion of all students?

underpin the support of all students especially those with special learning needs?

to construct meaning from the messages shared [27].

through two sub-questions:

clusive school setting?

ioural, physical, and spiritual special needs.

We started our research by acknowledging that there were a number of already existing indicators (EIs) of inclusion from the current literature that needed to be considered. These included the understanding that inclusion is:


thereby eliminating exclusion within and from education. Additional existing indicators detail inclusion lies at the heart of a learning community that:


In the context of our research we were conscious that the above 10 existing indicators should be apparent somewhere within the school artefacts of an inclusive vision, as well as in the clear articulation of values and beliefs about the need to celebrate diversity, difference and inclusion, and ultimately in the norms and assumptions underpinning a school's 'ways of working'. Such evidence would particularly be reflected in a school's everyday language-in-use [24] and epitomize the school's organisational culture [23].
