Towards an Identification of Critical Success Factors for European Inclusive Education

Overview & Synopsis

This chapter outlines a generalisable framework of critical success factors (CSFs) for inclusive education. An initial model of inclusive education and its implementation at multiple levels of the education system is proposed at the beginning of the research process, based on previous studies and a qualitative analysis of inclusive education policies in Croatia, Italy and Portugal. Existing qualitative data obtained from focus groups of policy makers, inclusive education practitioners and school principals in the three countries are critically (re)examined by a group of experts. In line with the grounded theory approach, the experts' evaluations are further used to identify new CSFs and propose a policy and implementation framework for inclusive education at the levels of the education system (macro), the school/education institution (mezzo) and the classroom (micro level). [For the complete volume, "Educational Leadership, Improvement and Change: Discourse and Systems in Europe," see ED611634.]