Leadership For Inclusive Schools

This book provides case studies and resources to help school principals develop skills and knowledge in leading inclusive schools for students with special education needs.

Inclusion is increasingly becoming one of the policy drivers shaping educational discourse and practice. What constitutes the term “inclusion” itself and how ideas derived from the different perspectives on inclusion impact school leadership practice point to a highly contested field of enquiry. Originally embedded in discourse relating to special education, ideas relating to inclusion are attracting much broader appeal within system reforms in many jurisdictions. This book seeks to keep the consideration of inclusion firmly in its broader context and to decouple it from the discourse relating to students with special educational/additional needs. This allows the authors to position their contributions more explicitly within discourses that draw on difference and diversity as unavoidable features of schools. Within this collection we address the current political dogmas in many countries that take a purely rational, managerial approach to leadership, arguing that this is not contributing to inclusion in schools. In doing this, the book seeks to shape current discourses on leadership by exploring perspectives which are likely to enhance our understanding of inclusion. Tolerance, respect, listening, clarifying language, being comfortable with differences and ambiguity and articulating and challenging the rationale behind “the way we do things around here” are key aspects of inclusive leadership, and also fundamental imperatives for writing this book. It will be useful to those in education who are engaged in further academic study in education or in reflective practice and to anyone taking advanced programmes in educational leadership and management. The international perspectives on the issue of inclusion informing this book ensure that this book will be essential for those engaged in a comparative analysis of leadership practice in different contexts or those concerned with the complexity of ensuring inclusive models of education.

This valuable and accessible guide navigates school leaders and those in training through a number of key areas of inclusion, providing context and understanding, helpful definitions, examples of leadership in action, and ten essential principles of inclusive leadership. Inclusion: A Principled Guide for School Leaders discusses what a culture of inclusion should look like: in classes, in schools, and in the education sector more widely. Each chapter acts as a think piece to stimulate debate, to reflect upon the purpose of education, and to ask how far we have come in embracing inclusion. The book also offers suggested actions for principled leaders and illustrative case studies to bring the theory to life, taken from a range of schools and spanning a wide number of topics, including: Inclusive Learning Partnerships with Learners and Families Special Educational Needs Disadvantage and Socio-Economic Poverty Culture, Language and Ethnicity This book explores a variety of issues in inclusion, highlighting the implications for school leaders and offering an approach to develop learning for marginal groups through effective strategic leadership. It will be essential reading for SENCOs, middle and senior leaders, but equally of interest to those who aspire to be inclusive leaders of the future.

Inclusive Leadership draws on James Ryan's groundbreaking research to present a powerful new idea - leadership as an intentionally inclusive practice that values all cultures and types of students in a school. This important book shows that inclusion must encompass all types of difference in students, teachers, and parents - from the single mother to the new immigrant, from the parents working night jobs, to the homeless child, to issues of race, religion, gender, and sexual orientation. In four fascinating chapters, James Ryan sketches out the dimensions of exclusion, analyzes the research on inclusive leadership, and offers practical suggestions for promoting and practicing inclusive leadership. This book is a volume in the Jossey-Bass Leadership Library in Education—a series designed to meet the demand for new ideas and insights about leadership in schools.

The second edition of Leadership for Increasingly Diverse Schools helps both practicing and aspiring school leaders deepen their knowledge, skills, and dispositions to create schools that best serve all students. This book helps readers sharpen their awareness of how students’ multiple dimensions of diversity intersect, as well as develop strategies for working with students of all socioeconomic statuses, races, religions, sexual orientations, languages, and special needs. Leadership for Increasingly Diverse Schools provides school leaders with the theory, research, and practical guidance to foster teaching and learning environments that promote educational equity and excellence for all students. Special features: Each chapter focuses on a specific dimension of diversity and discusses intersectionality across other areas of difference, including ability/disability, linguistic diversity, race, socioeconomic status, sexual orientation, gender, religion, and social frontiers. Chapters synthesize literature, share practical strategies and tools, include school-level and district-level cases illustrating inclusive leadership, and provide extended learning opportunities. Online eResources features additional resources, documents, and links to specific tools described in the chapters, accessible at www.routledge.com/9780367404604.

The Handbook of Leadership and Administration for Special Education brings together research informing practice in leading special education from preschool through transition into postsecondary settings. The second edition of this comprehensive handbook has been fully updated to provide coverage of disability policy, historical roots, policy and legal perspectives, as well as effective, collaborative, and instructional leadership practices that support the administration of special education. It can be used as a reference volume for scholars, administrators, practitioners, and policy makers, as well as a textbook for graduate courses related to the administration of special education.

Richard A. Villa and Jacqueline S. Thousand provide an in-depth, research-based guide for ensuring that your school provides the federally guaranteed "least restrictive environment" for students no matter the severity of the challenges they face. Leading an Inclusive School: Access and Success for ALL Students offers administrators, teachers, and other educators working to promote inclusion a wealth of information about the history and research base of inclusive education in the United States, including pivotal amendments to and reauthorizations of the EHCA, landmark court cases, and the philosophical underpinnings of the movement; essential curricular and instructional practices for inclusive schools, such as heterogeneous grouping, creative problem solving, and co-teaching; powerful organizational structures such as Multitiered System of Support and Schoolwide Positive Behavior Supports to help optimize the benefits of differentiation for all students; and a conceptual framework for coordinating educational initiatives and best practices for educating all students in general education. Also included are vivid personal stories of students with disabilities that illustrate how these students flourish when they learn alongside their general education peers. Educators who are serious about committing to the success of learners at all levels of perceived physical, intellectual, communication, and social/emotional ability will find the examples, advice, and tools in this book indispensable for planning, implementing, and promoting inclusion in their schools.

Leadership for Inclusion: A Practical Guide makes a significant contribution to an emerging literature in which all professional educators, and especially principals, are beginning to vigorously take on the new challenges presented by inclusion and inclusive schooling. Overall, this volume of candid propositions about principals’ practice invites the reader to engage in likeminded analyses and syntheses and to enfold their newfound knowledge and skills into their leadership.