Views and experiences of general and special preschool teachers, regarding the educational policy and the implementation of inclusive collaborative practices

Inclusive education has become a fundamental and undisputed part of European and international educational systems. Promoting educational inclusion is directly linked with the collaborative practices that are used by teachers at schools. The way educationalists perceive and interpret the significations of collaboration and the kind of collaborative practices they apply can promote either inclusion or exclusion. The present research not only focuses on looking into the views and experiences of pre-school teachers working inside inclusive nursery school environments, but also into the issue of collaboration and collaborative practices. Its long term aim is to promote as a fundamental presupposition of inclusive education the challenges and the improvement prospects posed by inclusive practices. The present research proposal follows a qualitative methodology and uses as a research tool the semi structured interview. The data analysis was based on the principles of content analysis. According to the research findings, the participants differed in the way they interpreted the meaning of collaboration and although they supported the opposite, the collaborative practices they use seem not to promote inclusive education.