Inclusive Education: Pre-service Teachers' Reflexive Learning on Diversity and Their Challenging Role

Source: Asia-Pacific Journal of Teacher Education, Volume 41, Issue 2, 2013, pages 173-185

In this article, two teacher educators from Australian universities explored reflexive practices in preparing pre-service teachers for their complex teaching roles in the twenty-first century.
Modes of delivery were an on-campus Inclusive Education unit with situated learning opportunities in community settings and a fully online Inclusive Education unit.

Findings revealed that reflexive learning was a key mediating strategy in expanding the participants' consciousness.
Participants engaged in confronting assumptions, raising awareness of diverse learning needs and critiquing social justice principles and equity issues.

By creating a supportive learning environment, teacher educators were able to shift pre-service teachers from mere acceptance of diversity to a commitment to ethical decision-making and quality inclusive education.