Teachers’ leadership in inclusive education in Johor Bahru, Malaysia

Abstract

A strong foundation of teacher leadership is crucial in determining the effectiveness of inclusion practice in schools. The recent implementation of inclusive education in the educational settings has garnered a widespread attention by countries all over the world including Malaysia in 2010. The embracement of inclusive education concept is one of the effort in ensuring the equality and equity of education for all students. It gives students with special educational needs students’ equal opportunities to advance academically and socially like students from regular classes. This study aimed to explore the challenges in teachers’ leadership practices faced by Malaysian teachers in inclusive education settings and to study the strategy of teachers’ leadership in inclusive education. This study addressed the challenges based on the Katzenmeyer and Moller’s Teacher Leadership Model (2001). The study employed a qualitative method with case study design through face to face interviews with six (6) experienced teachers from two (2) public secondary schools. The instrument with semi-structured interview questions was used as an interview guide along with observation. The respondents of this study has been selected through non probability purposive sampling. The findings of the research had explored strategies and challenges of teacher leadership practice in depth and hopefully, the finding can be used as a reference to the teachers in inclusive education settings in Malaysia.