The Understanding of Inclusive Education in Kosovo: Legal and Empirical Argumentation

  • Naser Zabeli Faculty of Education, University of Pristina, Kosovo
  • Blerta Perolli Shehu Faculty of Education, University of Prishtina, Kosovo
  • Jeffrey A. Anderson Indiana University School of Education, USA
DOI: https://doi.org/10.26529/cepsj.692
Keywords: children with special needs, inclusive education, international contexts, Kosovo context, teacher perspectives

Abstract

The article looks at conceptualisations of inclusive education in the international and Kosovo context, including the factual argumentation and legal representation of the term. The study explores the attitudes of teachers and their understanding of inclusive education, including arguments for and against it, implementation challenges, and perspectives. Interviews were used as a tool to generate information from key informants. The study is qualitative and based on an analysis of the experiences of six in-service teachers. The findings suggest that teachers have a wide knowledge of inclusive education and believe it has only positive effects for children with special needs. They believe that children can achieve more in terms of socialisation and modelling of good behaviours from their peers, but that success in academic achievements is lower because of the limited knowledge of teachers about individualised planning and differentiated teaching, and a lack of institutional support and proper evaluation of each teacher’s work.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

References

Alur, M., & Timmons, V. (2009). Inclusive education across cultures: Crossing boundaries, sharing ideas. Sage Publications India.

Begeny, J. C., & Martens, B. K. (2007). Inclusionary education in Italy: A literature review and call for more empirical research. Journal of Remedial and Special Education, 28(2), 80–94.

Booth, T., & Ainscow, M. (2002). Index for inclusion. Centre for Studies on Inclusive Education.

Braunsteiner, M., & Mariano-Lapidus, S. (2014). A perspective of inclusion: Challenges for the future. Global Education Review, 1(1), 32–43. https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1055217.pdf

Cigman, R. (2007). A question of universality: Inclusive education and the principle of respect. Journal of Philosophy of Education, 41(4), 775–793.

Cohen, L., & Manion, L. (1990). Research methods in education (third edition). Routledge.

Cole, P. (1999). The structure of arguments used support or oppose inclusion for students with disabilities. Journal of Intellectual & Developmental Disability, 24(3), 215–225.

Dikeledi, M. (2013). Theory and practice in the implementation of the inclusive education policy: Reflections through Freire and Bronfenbrenner’s Lenses. Mediterranean Journal of Social Sciences, 4(13), 163–169.

European Agency for Development in Special Needs Education (2013). Organisation of provision to support inclusive education – literature review. EADSNE. https://www.european-agency.org/sites/default/files/organisation-of-provision-to-support-inclusive-education-2013-literature-review_Organisation-of-Provision-Literature-Review.pdf

Florian, L. (2005). ‘Inclusion’, ‘special needs’ and the search for new understandings. Support for Learning, 20(2), 96–98.

Florian, L. (2014). What counts as evidence of inclusive education? European Journal of Special Needs of Education, 29(3), 286–294.

Forlin, Ch. (2013). Changing paradigms and future directions for implementing inclusive education in developing countries. Asian Journal of Inclusive Education, 1(2), 19–31.

Freire, P. (2014). Pedagogy of the oppressed (30th anniversary edition). Bloomsbury.

García, M. B., & Fernández, M. T. (2016). The inclusive education in Europe. Universal Journal of Educational Research, 4(2), 383–391.

Gay, L., Mills, G., & Airasian, P. (2006). Educational research: Competencies for analysis and applications. Pearson Education.

Hicks-Monroe, Sh. L. (2011). A review of research on the educational benefits of the inclusive model of education for special education students. Journal of the American Academy of Special Education Professionals, Win 2011, 61–69.

Holst, J. (2008). Development of inclusive education in Kosovo – challenges and outcomes. Finnish Support to the Development of Education in Kosovo.

Johnson, B., & Christensen, L. (2008). Educational research: Quantitative, qualitative and mixed approaches. Sage Publications.

Kolbe, R. H., & Burnett, M. S. (1991). Content-analysis research: An examination of applications with directives for improving research reliability and objectivity. Journal of Consumer Research, 18(2), 243–250.

Kosovo Assembly. (2011). Law on pre-university education in the republic of Kosovo No.04/L –032. https://www.kuvendikosoves.org/common/docs/ligjet/Law%20on%20preuniversity%20education.pdf

Kosovo Assembly. (2011). Law on higher education in the Republic of Kosovo No.04/L –037. https://masht.rks-gov.net/uploads/2015/06/02-ligji-per-arsimin-e-larte-anglisht.pdf

Leskinen, M. (2008). Research and development: The role of research in development of education in Kosovo. Finnish Support to the Development of Education in Kosovo.

Lilly Family School of Philanthropy (2014). Understanding philanthropy education K-12: A typology. Indiana University.

Lindsay, G. (2003). Inclusive education: A critical perspective. British Journal of Special Education, 30(1), 3–15.

Lindsay, G. (2007). Educational psychology and the effectiveness of inclusive education mainstreaming. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 77(1), 1–24.

Lichtman, M. (2006). Qualitative research in education: A user’s guide. Sage Publications.

Ministry of Education, Science and Technology. (2010). Kosovo education strategic plan 2011-2016. http://www.herdata.org/public/KESP_2011_2016.pdf

Ministry of Education, Science and Technology. (2010). Strategic plan for organizing inclusive education for children with special educational needs in pre-university education In Kosovo 2010 – 2015. https://masht.rks-gov.net/uploads/2015/06/strategic-plan-for-organizing-inclusive-education-for-children-with-special-educational-needs-in-pre-university-education-2010-2015.pdf

Ministry of Education, Science and Technology. (2011). Curriculum framework for pre-university education. http://www.ibe.unesco.org/curricula/kosovo/kv_alfw_2011_eng.pdf

Ministry of Education, Science and Technology. (2012). Core curriculum for pre-primary grade and primary education. https://masht.rks-gov.net/uploads/2015/10/core-curriculum-for-pre-primary-grade-and-primary-education-in-kosovo.pdf

Ministry of Education, Science and Technology. (2016). Kosovo education strategic plan 2017-2021. http://www.kryeministri-ks.net/repository/docs/KOSOVO_EDUCATION_STRATEGIC_PLAN.pdf

Mitchell, D. (2005). Contextualising inclusive education evaluating old and new international perspectives. Routledge.

Mitchell, D. (2014). What really works in special and inclusive education – Using evidence-based teaching strategies (2nd ed.). Routledge.

Mohan, S. A., & Subashini, A. E., (2016). Role of teachers in inculcating values among students. National Conference on Value Education through Teacher Education, 1(2), 23–28.

Monroe-Hicks, L. Sh. (2011). A review of research on the educational benefits of the inclusive model of education for special education students. Journal of AASEP, Win 2011, 61–69. https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1136899.pdf

OECD. (2006). Education policies for students at risk and those with disabilities in South Eastern Europe. https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/docserver/9789264036161-en.pdf?expires=1585222646&id=id&accname=guest&checksum=88A9F1DA6119A300AC0B15F07E790FE6

Limbach- Reich, A. (2015). Reviewing the evidence on educational inclusion of students with disabilities: Differentiating ideology from evidence. International Journal of Child, Youth and Family Studies, 6(3), 358–378.

Ruijs, N. M., & Peetsma, T. T. D. (2009). Effects of inclusion on students with and without special educational needs reviewed. Educational Research Review, 4(2), 67–79.

Sebba, J., & Ainscow, M. (1996). International developments in inclusive schooling: Mapping the issues. Cambridge Journal of Education, 26(1), 5–18.

Silverman, D. (2001). Interpreting qualitative data: Methods for analysing talk, text and interaction (2nd ed.). Sage.

Thomas, G. (2003). Inclusive schools for an inclusive society. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/1467-8527.00024

UNESCO. (2009). Policy Guidelines on Inclusion in Education. United Nations: UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000177849

Vislie, L. (2003). From integration to inclusion: focusing global trends and changes in the western European societies. European Journal of Special Needs Education, 18(1), 17–35.

Volpe, V. D. (2016). What about inclusive education and ICT in Italy: A scoping study. European Scientific Journal, 12(25), 26–36.

Winter, E., & O’Raw, P. (2010). Literature review of principles and practices relating to inclusive education for children with special educational needs. National Council for Special Education: ICEP. https://ncse.ie/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/NCSE_Inclusion.pdf

Zabeli, N. (2010). Edukimi inkluziv [Inclusive Education]. WUS – Austria & Universiteti i Prishtinës.

Zabeli, N., & Behluli, L. (2014). Index for inclusion – Facts and opinions. Save the Children.

Published
2021-09-28
How to Cite
Zabeli, N., Shehu, B. P., & Anderson, J. A. (2021). The Understanding of Inclusive Education in Kosovo: Legal and Empirical Argumentation. Center for Educational Policy Studies Journal, 11(3), 119-139. https://doi.org/10.26529/cepsj.692
Issue
Vol 11 No 3 (2021): The Contexts and Processes of Shaping Teacher Identity
Section
VARIA

Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:

  1. Authors are confirming that they are the authors of the submitted article, which will be published online in the Center for Educational Policy Studies Journal (for short: CEPS Journal) by University of Ljubljana Press (University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Education, Kardeljeva ploščad 16, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia). The Author’s/Authors’ name(s) will be evident in the article in the journal. All decisions regarding layout and distribution of the work are in the hands of the publisher.
  2. The Authors guarantee that the work is their own original creation and does not infringe any statutory or common-law copyright or any proprietary right of any third party. In case of claims by third parties, authors commit themselves to defend the interests of the publisher, and shall cover any potential costs.
  3. Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/deed.en that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
  4. Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
  5. Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work.