Inclusion and education

BOX 6.3: 
Learning communities widen teachers’ professional development opportunities
A collaborative learning community with shared goals can increase 
teaching staff skills, knowledge and confidence, thus improving 
support to learners and ultimately raising achievement (European 
Agency, 2018b). In total, 17 education systems in the region 
indicated that legislation or policy supported development of 
learning communities.
School networks are one such mechanism. In Kosovo,
1
each network 
comprises a mentor school and a few cooperating schools that 
share experiences and effective practices. In all, 21 of these learning 
communities, involving over 100 schools, benefit from intensive 
exchanges. Cluster schools in Kyrgyzstan each act as a centre for 
several schools in the vicinity, provide training for teachers and 
create and distribute teaching materials. The Russian Federation also 
takes a network approach, in which schools may share teaching tools 
and highly qualified teachers in the Modern School project.
However, relatively few learning communities focus on equity and 
inclusion. In the Russian Federation, the Association of Inclusive 
Schools helps disseminate information about inclusive education 
in regions, provides professional support, shares good practice 
and supports innovation. Some countries establish collaboration 
between special schools and resource centres. In North Macedonia, 
mainstream schools collaborate with a resource centre, which 
uses its material and human resources to provide expert support 
to students with special needs as well as to teachers, support 
staff, parents and the inclusion teams of other students in the 
municipality.
Finally, 12 countries indicated they had cooperation programmes 
between schools and universities or other higher education 
institutions, partly to foster inclusive education and focus on 
student teachers’ professional learning in the form of internships, 
professional development (e.g. inclusive education teacher training, 
assessment and evaluation, language instruction) and research into 
innovative practices for inclusive education development. 
1 
References to Kosovo shall be understood to be in the context of Security Council Resolution 1244 (1999).