Launch of the "Teacher Education for Inclusion" project

The Agency is currently undertaking a major new project titled "Teacher Education for Inclusion". A survey of all Agency country representatives highlighted this issue as being of top priority for examination. The project will involve over 60 experts from 26 European countries and last for three years. Activities have begun in 2009 and will run until the end of 2011.

Representatives of key international organisations (UNESCO-IBE and European Commission DG-EAC) also working in this area will join project activities in different ways. 

A range of key themes were identified via Agency representatives’ discussions as requiring consideration in the project. By considering these alongside information gained so far via desktop research, the following key issues will be addressed in the project:

• What kind of teachers do we need for an inclusive society in a 21st century school?
• What are the essential teacher competences for inclusive education?

The essential question for consideration in the project is: how mainstream teachers are prepared via their initial training to be 'inclusive'.