Envisioning inclusive education : a complex narrative of inclusive vision and the self through professional experiences of Greek head teachers

• Main Author: Matziari, Aikaterini
• Other Authors: Avis, James
• Published: University of Huddersfield 2015
• Subjects: 371.9; L Education (General)
• Online Access: http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.688333

This thesis has been developed around a qualitative research project which explores the development of an inclusive school vision that school leaders hold for their schools. The research project employs life history methods, and the knowledge claims made are generated through narratives created from interviews with six (6) head-teachers of primary schools in Greece. The research builds its theoretical concepts upon an interdisciplinary context using literature from the fields of inclusive education studies, educational leadership, organisational management, and complexity theory. The study focuses on the exploration of the experiences and life histories of the head-teachers, and aims to explore the content of their vision and the process of its emergence in the school organisation. The analysis process relates the stories of the participants around major themes emanating from thematic analysis, and employs tenets of complexity theory to conceptualise the development of vision formation as a change process. The discussion developed discloses the importance of the individual meaning and contextual circumstances in the understanding and implementation of what constitutes an inclusive form of education. The findings of the study, as formulated through interpretation, suggest that the formation of an inclusive vision is a complex and ongoing process driven by personal values and incentives, and developed through empowering practices. The theoretical discussion that emerges from the study highlights the contribution to knowledge of this thesis by discussing the concept of vision as a process of leadership development in the context of inclusive education. The study offers valuable insights over the process of vision formation as its emergence is an under-researched area in the field of inclusive education. This thesis results in a discussion over the significance of a complexity theorisation over the meaning of inclusive education by considering the conceptual and research implication that such a view entails.