Jennifer Spratt and Mhairi Beaton represented the University of Aberdeen on the Scottish Teachers Education Committee inclusion group (STEC) has revised the National Framework for Inclusion in light of the new GTCS standards.
STEC Framework
The updated version of the National Framework for Inclusion seeks to guide the future development of inclusive education in Scotland in line with the newly revised Standards for Teacher Education in Scotland.
Since 2008, with the support of Government, the Scottish Teacher Education Committee (STEC) has coordinated a working group consisting of course directors and inclusion specialists from the seven universities involved in initial teacher education (Universities of Aberdeen, Dundee, Edinburgh, Strathclyde, Glasgow, West of Scotland and Stirling). Representing the University of Aberdeen were Jennifer Spratt and Mhairi Beaton.
The STEC Inclusion Group works collaboratively to ensure a coherent model of professional learning in inclusive education is embedded in the university teacher education programmes across Scotland. The purpose of the STEC Framework is to ensure that all teachers are prepared to work inclusively with the new Standards for Teacher Education in Scotland. The shared values that underpin these standards include a commitment to the idea that teachers should be prepared and supported to address the learning needs of all pupils. As with an earlier edition of the National Framework, the newly revised Framework for Inclusion aims to be comprehensive but not prescriptive, leaving the universities free to determine how best to turn the underlying principles into practice. It is question-based to encourage teachers to accept a shared responsibility for finding answers to questions about how best to support all learners. It attempts to promote inclusion as being the responsibility of all teachers in all schools and aims to identify and to address the needs of teachers at all stages of their careers and to emphasise the need for career-long and life-long learning.
The new Framework can be found at:
http://www.frameworkforinclusion.org/pages/index.php?category=0