Inclusive Teacher Education (ITE) Research Group

The Inclusive Teacher Education (ITE) research group includes researchers from the Faculty of Education (Monash University) who believe in the value of "inclusive" education.

Throughout the world, inclusive education is increasingly seen as a strategy for achieving 'Education for All'. Inclusive education is based on values of equity and democracy and promotes high quality education for students in their local schools regardless of any perceived difference, disability or other social, emotional or cultural disadvantages. The challenge of inclusive education for teachers' professional learning is to develop programs that respect and respond to human differences in ways that include rather than exclude learners.

Recognising that inclusive education requires changes in the way teachers teach, our group focuses on advancing theory, research and practice in the field of inclusive teacher education. Specifically, we address pre-service and professional education of teachers, and we work towards increasing the capacity of schools and educators to respond to inclusive education imperatives.

Our research interests include:

• the analysis of models of systems change in urban and large school systems,
• examining how teachers learn in practice in complex, diverse inclusive school settings,
• researching educational practices in the classroom to improve student learning and
• the impact of pre-service and professional learning practices on student and teacher learning.

See some of our current research projects.

Collaborations

We collaborate with governments, education systems, schools, and university colleagues both nationally and internationally.

Our research affiliates include members of the International Inclusive Teacher Education Research Forum (IITERF). Our Group Leader, Joanne Deppler, is also the Chair of the Forum.

Theoretical framework and methodologies

The members of our group employ a wide range of qualitative and quantitative research approaches and tools including, but not restricted to, survey, collaborative action research, case study, visual methodologies and the quantitative analysis of large-scale data sets.

Our work with teachers and schools is situated in a broad range of theories including constructivist theory, critical theory, poststructural theory and postmodern perspectives, each of which broadly contributes to this objective while emphasising particular scholarly and practical aspects of inclusive teacher education. Some of these theories and theorists include: 

• Bourdieu's theory of Capital, habitus and field
• Friere's participatory democracy
• Theories of educational change
• Azjen’s theory of attitude formation
• Bandura’s theory of self efficacy
• Lipsky’s theory of Discretionary Bureaucracies
• Foucault’s theory of Power, knowledge and discourse

These theories encourage educators to engage in practice-based critique of power and to make choices that lead to alternative and more democratic arrangements in education and teaching.

The multiple theoretical perspectives that members of the research group work with position us strongly to empirically examine theory-based knowledge and build new theoretical insights, rigorously challenge or clarify existing theories, synthesise recent advances and research into novel knowledge that advance our understanding of inclusive teacher education and diversity.