Authors: E.Marin, K.Katsampoxaki-Hodgetts
Teachers’ beliefs regarding inclusive pedagogy and sustainable and effective student-centred learning play a crucial role not only in fostering a positive attitude towards inclusive education but also in implementing inclusive teaching practices. Embracing underpinning inclusive student-centred pedagogies (I-ScP) is essential for teachers so that they can consciously employ instructional methods that benefit all learners and cultivate a sense of community to promote inclusive education (Florian, 2014; Erby et all., 2021). Without a structured process for teachers to reflect on their knowledge, comprehension, and approaches to developing suggested inclusive strategies, a shared information is lacking (Moriarty, 2007; Glowacki-Dudka, et.al., 2012; Loreman, 2017). This study attempts to investigate and evaluate university teachers’ readiness to support a student-centered I-ScP learning methodology that prioritizes inclusivity and effectiveness, taking into account the perspectives of university educators. A mixed-methods approach, involving university educators from both Romanian and Greek institutions. They were first asked to complete a questionnaire, and a subset of participants was then selected for interviews. The quantitative analysis focused on several key areas: the perceived importance of understanding students’ learning needs, strategies for accommodating diverse learning styles, and methods for promoting perspective-taking in the classroom through non-judgmental discussions about cultural, social, and other differences. The data revealed a notable difference in perspectives between teachers and students on four specific aspects: the recognition of the significance of understanding students’ learning needs, the adaptation to diverse learning styles, the cultivation of empathy in the classroom, and embracing diversity in the educational setting.
Keywords: inclusive student-centred pedagogies (i-ScP), identifying student needs, re-aligning lessons and syllabi, diversity and choice