Professional Learning Model

In search for the right recipe:

Determining the formula of effective teacher professional learning program to promoting inclusive practice in mainstream schools in Australia

Darmadi Veterando Sipayung

MTeach EC – University of Melbourne

665873

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I. Rationale

i. Introduction

This research looks into the significance of effective professional learning models for mainstream schools teachers as an effort in building their capacity to practicing inclusive education in their classrooms. This is important because teacher preparedness and efficacy influence their ability in meeting different learning needs of all children in the classroom, including those with disabilities (reference). The early part of this research will review the

Hammond & Ingalls (2003) compile several barriers to achieving inclusion, such as lack of training for mainstream teachers to work with children with disabilities, inability to collaborate among professionals to solve problem, lack of personnel support for mainstream teachers, difficulty to manage time to include all students in the classroom, teachers’ attitudes towards inclusion and lack of administrative support in giving appropriate planning time for teachers. They also mention that mainstream teachers in rural area face even bigger challenge due to the lack of access to teacher professional learning program that address concerns in inclusive

Whole school approach, a provision that creates supporting learning environment within the school rather than seeks external supports is viewed as an effective way to answering the concerns (Carrington & Robinson, 2004). The idea of empowering teachers is to increase the self-sufficiency of the schools and to minimize problems associated with accessing external supports (Ramasut, 1989).To achieve this, teachers in mainstream schools are now expected to have skills and knowledge to accommodate learning needs of children with disabilities. Whole school approach also requires collaboration among teachers in supporting each other in addressing problems that may arise (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), 1995). Some schools have developed their own support system within the school through Teachers who have benefited through this model where they have access to support within the school, believe that this model has a significant value to their coping mechanism (Westwood & Graham, 2003). Despite the ideal results promised by this approach, it is not easy to implement this model as teachers often have their hands full and are unable to support each