Leading-for-inclusion: transforming action through teacher talk

Abstract

In Australia, recent policies for educational development have emphasised the importance of stakeholder involvement and advocacy in the promotion of student outcomes. There is robust support for the promotion and development of inclusive educational communities able to respond to the various educational needs of students, communities and staff. This paper advocates a practice perspective and establishes a direct correlation between leading practices and the formation of more inclusive school communities. It provides a consideration of the practice architectures which co-construct the ways in which six educational leaders draw on the potential of teacher talk as a vehicle for practice modification. Teacher talk, as a characteristic of leading practice, responds to the increasing dynamism in the profile of schools, students and teachers in rural New South Wales (NSW), socially, cognitively, economically, linguistically and culturally. This paper uses the medium of teacher talk to: explore the relationship between leading and inclusion – leading-for-inclusion – and interrogate socially just (inclusive) practices in the domain of the professional advocacy of the community. The paper reflects upon the practices of leading-for-inclusion (in the context of change management) and the development of more inclusive school cultures.

Keywords:

• leading-for-inclusion
• team-leading
• teacher talk
• practice architectures

Acknowledgements

The author would like to thank the principal and staff of the participating schools, the SEO, Janine Agzarian and the Schools Education Director, Peter Brabin for their support of this project. Thanks as well to Brian Hemmings and Sandie Wong of Charles Sturt University who acted as critical readers for this paper.

Funding

This work was funded by the New South Wales Department of Education and Communities, Australia [0000100428].

Notes

1 This paper is adapted from a NSW DEC funded report – (Bristol 2013)

2 Cairnbae refers to these students as ESL students. While this may appear to be an inconsistency in the use of terms in the paper, I have chosen to be consistent with the ways in which the individual schools classify these students in school documents.

3 This is a reference to the How2Learn initiative, which is a Riverina learning strategy promoted in primary schools.