Classroom teachers’ craft knowledge of their inclusive practice

Abstract

Whilst recent decades have seen significant progress in research on inclusive education, many teachers still feel that the research literature does not fully address their professional concerns about how to enact a policy of inclusion in their classrooms. To help to bridge this gap, we drew on the concept of craft knowledge to undertake a detailed study in two Scottish primary schools of the practice of class teachers who are committed to meet the needs of all learners. This paper describes the processes involved, and considers how these helped us to develop a greater understanding of what constitutes inclusive practice, whilst also contributing to a more robustly theorised knowledge of what we have termed inclusive pedagogy, or the inclusive pedagogical approach. Methodological complexities arising from the use of the concept of craft knowledge are also explored.

Keywords:

• craft knowledge
• inclusive pedagogy
• inclusive practice
• methodology
• research and practice

Notes

1. The names of all staff and children are pseudonyms.