Highly inclusive teachers’ practices in responding to all students’ learning characteristics

Abstract

Background Although inclusive education places strong emphasis on addressing all students’ strengths and needs, the understanding of student diversity in its broadest sense remains limited. Studies exploring how inclusion is implemented tend to focus on specific groups of learners (e.g., students with SEN or those from socio-culturally disadvantaged backgrounds). However, this methodological shortcut has been repeatedly highlighted in review studies as a limitation that distorts the findings of research on inclusive education for all. To successfully address the learning characteristics of all students in heterogeneous classrooms, teachers must use inclusive practices. Aims The aim of this research was to explore how the practices of highly inclusive teachers address all students’ learning characteristics, enabling them to learn successfully in a heterogeneous classroom. Sample The study involved six teachers, forty-two students, and two teaching assistants. Methods Triangulation of hundreds of hours of ethnographic observation, contextualised through various types of interviews and complemented by products written by students, allowed us to identify diverse types of student learning characteristics and teachers’ inclusive practices. Results Our findings indicate that teachers' inclusive practices aimed at supporting student engagement, as well as determining and facilitating students' learning progress, were among the most extensively employed and addressed a wide spectrum of students’ learning characteristics. Conclusions The study unravels the complexity of highly inclusive teachers’ practices and proposes several implications for inclusive education.