Educational change and inclusion: Lessons from a collaborative action research

Abstract

There is a global reform process to change education towards inclusive education. This process is sometimes complicated because the process of developing practices of inclusion often involves a change in teacher beliefs, attitudes and practices. This paper therefore attempts to draw lessons from collaborative action research and teacher collaboration in implementing change towards inclusive settings in a selected secondary school in the Free State Province of South Africa. A literature review was undertaken to build a conceptual framework and an analysis of the action research process done using group interpretative and inductive analysis frameworks. The study has found that teacher driven change and teacher participation and collaboration were pivotal in developing and implementing inclusive practices.