Inclusion in Brunei Darussalam: the role of teacher education

Abstract

In 1994, Brunei Darussalam adopted an inclusive educational policy and began a number of educational reforms to support the implementation of inclusion within the regular mainstream education system. These reforms include teacher education, which has witnessed the establishment and expansion of training and education opportunities for teachers to equip themselves with the knowledge and skills to promote inclusion at pre-service and in-service levels. This paper begins by describing how teacher education has changed over the past decade to support and promote inclusive education in Brunei Darussalam. It describes the multi-pronged strategy adopted by the Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah Institute of Education (SHBIE) to include the component of inclusive education within its teacher education programmes. Relevant research conducted by the academic community at the SHBIE to evaluate the quality of inclusion efforts as well as to inform the further development and implementation of the inclusive educational policy is also shared.

Keywords:

• inclusion
• inclusive policies
• special education teacher preparation
• evaluation of inclusive practices

Notes on contributor

Dr Teng Leong Koay is an Associate Professor in Special Education at the Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah Institute of Education, University of Brunei Darussalam. He has contributed significantly to the development of Special Education/Inclusive Education in Brunei Darussalam. Besides teaching, he pursues an active programme of research in special education with a focus on inclusive educational practices and has published widely. Dr. Koay has been invited as a speaker and workshop facilitator/presenter in several countries in the Middle East (Qatar: 2007, 2008, 2009 and Kuwait, 2010), Indonesia (2009) and Malaysia (2010, 2011, 2012). In June–July, 2010, he was also appointed a Visiting Professor to the Sookmyung University, South Korea.