Developed in partnership with the Network of Education Policy Centers (NEPC), a new regional edition on Central and Eastern Europe, the Caucasus and Central Asia is being launched today. It accompanies the global 2024/5 GEM Report on leadership in education and focuses on one of the most important education outcomes: inclusion. It builds on eight […] The post Inclusive schools need inclusive school leaders – new regional 2025 GEM Report appeared first on World Education Blog.
Developed in partnership with the Network of Education Policy Centers (NEPC), a new regional edition on Central and Eastern Europe, the Caucasus and Central Asia is being launched today. It accompanies the global 2024/5 GEM Report on leadership in education and focuses on one of the most important education outcomes: inclusion. It builds on eight case studies from Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Estonia, Georgia, Kyrgyzstan, Poland, the Republic of Moldova and Slovenia and incorporates findings from a survey of school leaders.
The regional edition demonstrates the need to invest in selection procedures, training and support of school leaders to tackle both historical and newly added challenges to inclusion facing schools across this vast region.
It cites long-standing challenges continuing to hinder inclusion in schools, which were detailed in the last report for the region the GEM Report produced in 2021 with NEPC and the European Agency for Special Needs and Inclusive Education. Progress has been achieved in many countries in including children with disability. For instance, between 2005 and 2022, the number of children and youth with disability in special schools decreased by 30% in Bosnia and Herzegovina and by 11% in Poland. In the Republic of Moldova, the number of students with disability in special institutions dropped dramatically from 77% in 2005/06 to 5% in 2023/24. However, even in countries prioritizing inclusion, learning materials and teacher training have often not been sufficiently adapted to support the transition.
In addition, schools in the region are more aware of the challenges related to the inclusion of learners who speak a minority language or belong to an ethnic minority. In total, 8% of 15-year-old students in the region, rising to one third in Estonia, do not speak the language of instruction at home. In Bosnia and Herzegovina, only half of Roma children attend primary school. Furthermore, the influx of Ukrainian refugees has placed significant strain on education systems, with 25% of Polish classrooms now including at least one Ukrainian migrant or refugee student. Students speaking a different language at home than the language of instruction are more likely to experience a lower sense of belonging and face a higher risk of being bullied at school.
The regional edition, entitled Lead for inclusion, documents the important role of school leaders in facing these challenges by fostering an inclusive school ethos. It is being launched with a webinar today, followed by several regional and national events in the coming months.
By building an inclusive school ethos, school leaders help create a school climate where all students feel valued and respected, regardless of their background, ability or identity. They facilitate pedagogical interventions targeted at students with needs, such as individualized education plans, flexible curricula and assessment adaptations. They also help build strong partnerships with families, communities and external support services to ensure the well-being and success of all students.
Four recommendations focus on how to improve school leadership for inclusion in the region:
Recommendation 1: School leaders need to be trusted with autonomy and empowered to promote inclusion.
Among countries in the region that participated in the 2018 Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS), only half of the principals can establish and adapt student assessment policies; less than half reported having significant responsibility for selecting learning materials (44%) or determining course content (40%). School leaders with autonomy in decision making are better placed to create an inclusive school culture and build adequate school capacity. In the Ljubljana municipality, Slovenia, for instance, schools receive financial resources to support personnel needs for inclusion.
Recommendation 2: School leaders need to be recruited with inclusion in mind.
Among countries with available information, 48% have adopted stand-alone professional leadership standards or competency frameworks, but only some explicitly address inclusion. All countries in the region use open competitive recruitment for principals, with Kyrgyzstan introducing one in 2022.
Policy differences translate into a variety of profiles of appointed school principals. For example, most principals – and all in Czechia and Slovakia – had a master’s degree; yet about half in Hungary, Lithuania and Romania – and hardly any in Kazakhstan – had a post-graduate qualification. Roles also vary somewhat. In Estonia, school principals are responsible for the administrative management of the schools, while heads of studies oversee teaching and learning.
Ensuring principals reflect the divert of the population is also important. In the Republic of Moldova, school leaders interviewed for this report said that their diverse backgrounds help them better understand learners’ needs. However, only Hungary, Romania, Serbia and Slovakia have adopted measures to promote diversity in school principal positions.
Recommendation 3: School leaders need better preparation to promote inclusion.
Only two thirds of countries mandate pre-service training and just one fifth mandate induction programmes. In Slovenia, the Mentoring for Newly Appointed Head Teachers programme facilitates collaboration between new and experienced principals. The 2018 TALIS survey had shown that the majority of lower secondary school principals in the region received training after they had taken on their position. Yet, in terms of training content, analysis of principal preparation and professional development programmes based on the PEER profiles suggests that core dimensions of leadership for inclusion were only covered to a limited extent.
Recommendation 4: Leadership development programmes must emphasize the importance of collaboration.
Only 46% of school leader professional standards in the region require principals to promote teacher cooperation. In 2017, Poland’s Ministry of Education established working teams of mainstream and special school leaders to create an inclusive education model for learners with special needs. School leader collaboration with support services is also crucial. Small rural schools in Estonia can consult an expert advisory panel from Pathfinder Centres to appropriately address learners’ needs.
However, the availability of non-teaching support staff, including instructional specialists, psychologists and nurses, may challenge effective implementation. In September 2022, Poland set a target to reach a minimum of 51,000 support staff by 2025. 77% of countries have adopted standards requiring school principals to give parents and guardians information on school matters and student performance. In nearly all focus countries, school leaders reported the challenge of resistance from families of children with special educational needs to inclusion in mainstream schools.
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Download the executive summary
Download the country case studies
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