Primary school teachers’ perspectives on the quality of inclusive education

Abstract

ABSTRACT Instructional quality is a central element in the context of teaching and learning. However, there is still a lack of clarity on what is meant by good inclusive education. In the present study, N = 24 primary school teachers from Germany were interviewed about their understanding of good inclusive teaching. The results of the qualitative study reveal that there are several factors, which are seen as essential for the quality of inclusive education. The features of good inclusive teaching mentioned by the primary school teachers especially refer to differentiation and individualisation. Furthermore, the interviewed teachers emphasise the support of community and a positive learning climate as important characteristics of good inclusive teaching. The findings of this study also reveal that for some of the teachers, there seems to be no difference between good inclusive teaching and good regular teaching. Other mentioned features for the quality of inclusive education refer to team teaching and the availability of specific framework conditions such as personnel or spatial resources.