Inclusive Education in Bosnia and Herzegovina: Exploring English language teachers’ competencies

Abstract

Abstract Numerous studies suggest that foreign language teaching embraces a diversity-based approach that promotes an inclusive classroom culture and diversity-oriented teacher education. This review paper outlines the underlying principles of inclusive education, the different perspectives in understanding disability in the context of education for all, and the subsequent implications for language teacher education and competencies development. In addition, the paper looks at the context of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) where an extensive content analysis has generated a multi-year research project on English language teacher competencies in three interconnected phases. Although a number of steps have been made in moving forward, the implementation of inclusive education in BiH continues to face multiple challenges, some of which are a result of the complex geopolitical context, lack of comprehensive evaluation strategies, lack of a human rights-based approach to education, and scarce initiatives in systemic initial and continuing teacher education for inclusion.This review paper is part of the AILA Europe special issue.