Thinking outside the ‘deficit box’: promoting the equal valuing of all children through teacher professional development

Abstract

This paper reports the findings of a study that focused on areas that should be considered in order that teacher professional development promotes the equal valuing of children in schools to promote inclusion. The paper draws on the findings of case studies in two schools in Cyprus, over a period of six months. The participants of the study were all the school staff in two schools (i.e. two head teachers, forty-five teachers, three special teachers, two speech therapists, two school escorts). Qualitative methods were used: i.e. participant observations, critical incidents, informal conversational interviews and semi-structured interviews. The findings suggest that in order to encourage the equal valuing of all children, teachers’ professional development should address two areas: (1) the dominant value system, which represents a set of values about children; and (2) pedagogical strategies to address student diversity. It is argued that these areas are intertwined in ways that influence and interact with each other. Conceptualising teachers’ professional development through this spectrum of interactions has implications for understanding and developing teacher professional development opportunities as a means of promoting inclusive education in schools.

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