Competences:

… are conceptualised as a combination of knowledge, skills and attitudes and the definition of each key competence states the knowledge, skills and attitudes relevant for it. This approach supported the definition of learning outcomes and its translation into curricula or learning programmes.

• Knowledge – facts and figures, concepts, ideas and theories which are already established … [and] support the understanding of a certain area or subject;
• Skills – ability and capacity to carry out processes and use the existing knowledge to achieve results;
• Attitudes – disposition and mind-sets to act/react to ideas, persons or situations; in the European Framework of Key Competences also including values, thoughts and beliefs.

The definition of the individual competences and their related knowledge, skills and attitudes overlap and interlock; they reinforce each other (European Commission, 2018b, p. 7).

Teachers and leaders need to increase their capacity, skills and motivation to provide all learners with equitable opportunities for academic and wider success. Effective professional development must include activities connected to classroom practice and school improvement priorities. Working with other teachers and professionals within and beyond school can extend knowledge and skills and equip teachers to develop their practice to meet the diverse needs of all learners.

High-quality professional development should support research and innovation, rather than expert inputs or single, short courses. It should move from seeing teachers as users of research produced by others, to seeing teachers as collaborative problem-solvers who share potential solutions and actively consider the relevance of various approaches for different learners and different situations (adapted from European Agency, 2017 and European Agency, 2018b).

(See also ‘Teacher professional learning’)

Refers to a comprehensive model of professional learning support for pre-service, in-service, beginning and experienced teachers, as well as support teachers, specialist teachers, teaching assistants, teacher educators and school leaders.

A multi-faceted concept that can contain many elements and levels of distinction, e.g. age, ethnicity, class, gender, physical abilities, race, sexual orientation, religious status, educational background, geographical location, income, marital status, parental status and work experiences. The OECD defines diversity as: ‘characteristics that can affect the specific ways in which developmental potential and learning are realised, including cultural, linguistic, ethnic, religious and socio-economic differences’ (2010, p. 21).

Diversity refers to the cultural, linguistic, ethnic, developmental and other aspects of human difference that represent some of the many elements of identity that characterise both individuals and groups and account for differences between people (Florian and Pantić, 2017).

Resource allocation mechanisms (financial, human, technical, etc.).

Within an educational context, public funding may come from central, regional or local sources, with variations in transfer of resources between levels and the allocations that schools receive. Degrees of autonomy also vary between system levels.

(See also ‘Education finance’)

Inclusion is both a principle and a process: ‘Inclusion and equity in and through education is the cornerstone of a transformative education agenda […] No education target should be considered met unless met by all’ (World Education Forum, 2015, p. 2).

It can be seen as: ‘A process consisting of actions and practices that embrace diversity and build a sense of belonging, rooted in the belief that every person has value and potential and should be respected’ (UNESCO, 2020a, p. 419).

The term was often associated with disability, but now extends to wider groups as ‘a response to increasingly complex and diverse societies. It treats diversity as an asset which helps prepare individuals for life and active citizenship in increasingly complex, demanding, multi-cultural and integrated societies’ (Soriano, Watkins and Ebersold, 2017, p. 7).

‘An education that promotes mutual respect and value for all persons and builds educational environments in which the approach to learning, the institutional culture and the curriculum reflect the value of diversity’ (UNESCO, 2020a, p. 420).

The Agency views inclusive education as ‘a systemic approach to providing high quality education in mainstream schools that effectively meets the academic and social learning needs of all the learners from the school’s local community’ (European Agency, 2015, p. 2).

Inclusive education supposes a real change at both policy and practice levels regarding education. Learners are placed at the centre of a system that needs to be able to recognise, accept and respond to learner diversity. Inclusive education aims to respond to the principles of efficiency, equality and equity, where diversity is perceived as an asset. Learners also need to be prepared to engage in society, to access meaningful citizenship and to acknowledge the values of human rights, freedom, tolerance and non-discrimination (Soriano, Watkins and Ebersold, 2017, p. 6).

UNESCO stresses the need for a systemic, capacity-building approach to developing inclusive education systems: ‘Implementing changes effectively and monitoring them for impact, recognizing that building inclusion and equity in education is an on-going process, rather than a one-time effort’ (UNESCO, 2017, p. 13).

‘The ultimate vision for inclusive education systems is to ensure that all learners of any age are provided with meaningful, high-quality educational opportunities in their local community, alongside their friends and peers’ (European Agency, 2015a).

An inclusive system in and around schools involves:

… a focus on a supportive, quality learning environment, a welcoming and caring school and classroom climate, addressing holistic needs of students, whether emotional, physical, cognitive or social, and recognising their individual talents and voices, preventing discrimination, as well as being open to the voices and active participation of parents and wider multidisciplinary teams and agencies.

This system takes ‘a particular focus on marginalised and vulnerable groups, including those at risk of early school leaving and alienation from society’ (Downes, Nairz-Wirth and Rusinaitė, 2017, p. 79).

Inclusive pedagogy refers to ‘an approach to teaching and learning that supports teachers to respond to individual differences between learners, but avoids the marginalisation that can occur when some students are treated differently’ (Florian, 2014, p. 289).

Inclusive pedagogy is concerned with redressing the limitations on learning that are often inadvertently placed on children when they are judged ‘less able’. It does not deny differences between learners but seeks to accommodate them by extending what is ordinarily available to all rather than by differentiating for some. Here there is a shift in focus away from the idea of inclusion as a specialized response to some learners that enables them to have access or participate in that which is available to most students. Extending what is ordinarily available to all learners, taking account the fact that there will be individual differences between them is a subtle but profound difference in approaching teaching and learning for all that is the hallmark of inclusive pedagogy (Florian, 2015, p. 13).

‘Pre-service training provided to student teachers before they have undertaken any teaching, eventually leading to a teaching qualification. It usually takes place in higher education institutions’ (European Agency, 2015d, p. 8).

(See also ‘Teacher professional learning’)

Along with the individual education plan, learning support assistants (LSAs) are the most used form of support for learners with disabilities/other additional support needs. They are also called ‘teaching assistants’, ‘special needs assistants’ or ‘paraprofessionals’. Roles, responsibilities, training and qualifications vary across countries, but research now indicates that LSAs should work to support teachers and all learners in class to avoid stigma and reduce possible dependency.

Lifelong learning encompasses all learning activities undertaken throughout life with the aim of improving knowledge, skills and competences, within personal, civic, social or employment-related perspectives. The intention or aim to learn is the critical point that distinguishes these activities from non-learning activities, such as cultural or sporting activities (‘Lifelong learning’ in Eurostat, no date a).

Lifelong learning must cover learning from the pre-school age to that of post-retirement, including the entire spectrum of formal, non-formal and informal learning. … the principles in this context should be: the individual as the subject of learning, highlighting the importance of an authentic equality of opportunities, and quality in learning (Council of the European Union, 2002).

‘Watching, checking something over a period of time to see how it develops, so that necessary changes can be made’ (Oxford Learner’s Dictionaries).

The process of systematically tracking aspects of education/school ‘implementation, with a view toward data collection, accountability and/or enhancing effectiveness and/or quality’ (OECD, 2015, p. 235).

A monitoring framework should be designed to monitor quality at different levels (country, region, schools) and for different groups (school authorities, teachers, learners). It should ‘draw on a number of different tools and components to collect and organize data needed to monitor a system’s performance’. This includes tools at the school level for data on learners and teachers, ‘national education management information systems (EMIS), human resource or teacher management information systems for teacher recruitment and deployment, inspection and appraisal systems, and financial management systems’. The framework may also include system-level learner evaluations.

Monitoring may include compliance monitoring, diagnostic monitoring and performance monitoring, which may all co-exist within the system (UNESCO International Institute for Educational Planning, 2021).

A policy framework brings together policies/policy elements that set out the requirements and processes for reaching policy goals in line with national/organisational values and principles. A policy framework outlines roles and responsibilities for policy development, stakeholder engagement, implementation, dissemination, monitoring/evaluation, governance and operational processes (European Agency, 2018d, p. 17).

Professional learning refers to any activity undertaken by education professionals that aims to stimulate their thinking and professional knowledge and to improve their practice, ensuring that it is evidence-informed and up-to-date. Professional learning includes activities that take place throughout an individual’s professional career.

(See also ‘Teacher professional learning’)

A professional learning community refers to collaborations of education stakeholders ‘around clusters of schools involving …. school and community personnel, together with researchers, local area leaders and policy-makers’ (European Agency, 2015e, p. 7).

Professional learning communities may serve two broad purposes:

(1) improving the skills and knowledge of educators through collaborative study, expertise exchange, and professional dialogue, and (2) improving the educational aspirations, achievement, and attainment of students through stronger leadership and teaching. Professional learning communities often function as a form of action research—i.e., as a way to continually question, reevaluate, refine, and improve teaching strategies and knowledge (‘professional learning community’ in the Glossary of Education Reform).

(See also ‘Learning community’)

This refers to all those in key leadership roles in schools and learning communities. Such leaders may also be referred to as headteachers, school directors or principals. There are various stages of school leadership, including teacher, middle and senior leadership. In this role, they focus on enlisting and guiding the talents and energies of teachers, learners and parents to achieve common educational aims.

Leading a school involves both leadership and management. It is important to acknowledge that school leaders need a balance of these two processes. Leadership is focused on values, vision and the future, whereas management is concerned with making the present work (West-Burnham and Harris, 2015) (European Agency, 2020, p. 42).

Professional learning route preparing teachers or other educators for a learner and teacher support role in inclusion.

Specially-trained personnel who work for the identification/assessment, education and effective care of learners with additional support needs. These may include the following professionals: special education co‑ordinators, special educators (special education teachers), learning support assistants (teaching assistants), educational psychologists, occupational therapists, speech and language therapists (speech pathologists), school assistants (care assistants/school escorts), social workers, etc.

‘Specialist teachers’ refers to all educational professionals collaborating directly with others to enhance the learning and participation of learners at risk of exclusion, marginalisation or drop-out and learners identified as having special educational needs. Specialist teachers have qualifications in education with a specialisation in special and/or inclusive education.

Refers to clear objectives and a shared understanding of professional learning for inclusion. It does not just list what teachers should know, be or do. Rather, it reflects a holistic and dynamic view of the capability, readiness, engagement, responsibility, effectiveness and skill of individual teachers and teacher teams to meet the demands of diverse classrooms and schools.

Teacher professional learning (TPL) covers initial teacher education and continuing professional development, including induction and in-school learning opportunities.

TPL for inclusion involves reflective practice and personal competence development of all teachers, specialists and support staff involved in inclusive education, in the areas of valuing learner difference, learner support and working with others, in line with the Agency’s Profile of Inclusive Teachers (European Agency, 2012c).