Donnelly, Alice, Holland, EimearORCID: 0000-0002-2160-9128, King, FionaORCID: 0000-0001-5749-1435, Tapper Clasborn, Anna K.M, Lunney, Ellen, Higgins, Jill, Gormley, Laoíse, Harford, Leona and McElvaney, Mary
(2019)
Inspiring inclusion in your classroom and beyond.
International Journal of Teacher Leadership, 10
(2).
pp. 1-28.
ISSN 1934-9726
This article reflects upon teachers’ engagement in a Leadership for Inclusion
Community of Practice (LIn-CoP), which utilised the Participatory Action
Learning Action Research (PALAR) strategy. The study explored if and how
engagement could support teachers to develop and exercise leadership for
inclusion, using Grudnoff, Haigh, Cochran-Smith, Eil and Ludlow (2017) six
facets for equity. Data were drawn from seven early career elementary teachers in
the Republic of Ireland over a three-year period. The teachers sought successfully
to: 1) develop six facets of equity and, 2) overcome barriers to applying their
learning in their contexts. Analysis unveiled many examples of inclusive practices
for promoting equity, thus narrowing the values practice gap related to inclusion.
The findings also highlight for researchers and professional learning facilitators
the potential of the PALAR LIn-CoP model for applying teacher learning in
situated environments, in the face of organisational barriers.