Abstract:

Inclusive education is accepted by many countries, yet, the practice is inconsistent because of its complexity. The various contexts of Malaysia, with its diverse ethnicity, culture, religion, language, and socio-economic background, have implications for the implementation and efficacy of initiatives to promote inclusive education. This study brings a better understanding by focusing on teachers’ perspectives about inclusion, their practice, and their professional development.

Effective continuing professional development (CPD) could enhance teacher competencies to respond to their diverse learners. Responding to the teachers’ views of what works for them in their workplace, research is proposed that explores the effectiveness of CPD from the practitioners’ perspectives. The research employs descriptive and exploratory qualitative research methods to obtain rich and in-depth data. 76 teachers from five primary schools which include the head teachers were purposely sampled. 25 teachers were interviewed individually and 51 participated in eight focus group interviews. In understanding the phenomenon, theories of inclusive education and the 'Cognitive Activation in the Mathematics Classroom and Professional Competence of Teachers', (COACTIV) Model of Teachers' Professional Competence was adopted. According to the model, four aspects of competences need to be developed through professional development: beliefs, values, motivation, professional knowledge, and self-regulation. These areas will be explored through the thematic analysis using QSR NVivo software.

The findings will be of value to those responsible for developing training programmes in Malaysia. At the school level, they will inform the probable topics and areas for school-based programmes.

Keywords:

Continuing professional development, inclusive education, inclusion.