Dissertation

The accompanying study will also be substantiated in terms of research methodology within the framework of a dissertation. The dissertation will be carried out at Bielefeld University and is scheduled to run for three years. The results are to be published in 2022. An overview of the research methodological foundation is given below.

 

Methodological foundation

In methodological terms, this study is based on an international comparative approach. The practice of selecting and evaluating inclusive educational media is an important task of teachers' professional action in Sweden, Italy, Luxembourg and Germany. With reference to the state of research in international comparative inclusion research, it can also be stated that despite intensive research activity in the analysis of inclusive education, there is still a focus on the analysis of disability models (e.g. Bürli, 2010). It can be noted with Richardson and Powell (2011) that large gaps in knowledge exist, especially on the implementation of inclusive education at the level of educational media.

 

Data collection

Group discussions with teachers were conducted as part of the project at four project sites in schools in Luxembourg, Sweden, Germany and Italy. These discussions took place during job shadowing sessions at all project schools at the beginning of 2019. The requirements for the sample participants were that they are teachers in primary education and teach mathematics. The total sample consisted of 32 teachers, 30 of whom were female and two male.

 

Data analysis

First, the large amounts of material were processed in a rule-guided manner through a thematic summary within the framework of qualitative content analysis according to Mayring (2015). The interpretation rules of the summarising qualitative content analysis were used.

 

Hospitations

Within the framework of the research work, research visits took place at all project sites. The aim of these visits was to collect data for the accompanying study, as well as for IOs 1: "Inclusive criteria catalogue" and 2: "Inclusive teaching material" (or "process model"). At this time, the group discussions were also conducted there and the corresponding data collected. In organising and planning the observations, support was provided by the project partners and local cooperation partners. In addition to the collection of data from the group discussions, teaching materials were also reviewed and a corpus of material was created, which was examined in the further course of the project.

In addition to the data collection, there was also observation in the schools' classrooms. Within the framework of these observations, various classes were accompanied. An important observation focus for the observations was how the teachers use teaching materials. Here, too, the support of the schools was important for the implementation of the project.

 

Dates of the observations

 

• 10/2019 Research visit to Esch-sur-Alzette in (Luxembourg)

• 11/2019 Research visit to Örnsköldsvik (Sweden)

• 12/2019 Research visit in Bolzano/Bozen (Italy)

 

Workshops

The accompanying study also includes the conception and implementation of further training and workshops for teachers. In particular, workshops were held at the Bielefeld School of Education (BiSEd).

 

• 6.10.2020 Inclusive teaching materials analogue and digital: (workshop series).

• 16.11.2020 Inclusive teaching materials analogue and digital: evaluation and design. Speaker: Christoph Bierschwale (Faculty of Education).

• 13 & 20.05.2020 Inclusive teaching materials analogue & digital: evaluation and design Speaker: Christoph Bierschwale (Faculty of Education).

 

 

Lectures

Within the framework of the accompanying study, the results were repeatedly presented to the scientific public, including, in particular, lectures at scientific conferences. The scientific conferences also serve as an important quality assurance measure to ensure high academic quality.

 

• 09/2021 The perspectives of categorisation and decategorisation in their interaction with teaching materials (Christoph Bierschwale, Michaela Vogt).

• 9/2021 Quality Criteria for Inclusive Learning and Teaching Materials. International Comparative Reflections (Symposium) at ECER 2021

• 7/2021 Assessing inclusive teaching material - an international-comparative inquiry through the participation of educational Stakeholders (Christoph Bierschwale, Michaela Vogt) at the World Education Research Association (WERA) Conference 2021.

• 4/2021 Shaping Equal Citizens Through Inclusive Teaching Materials? (Christoph Bierschwale, Michaela Vogt) at the American Educational Research Association (AERA) Conference 2021.