Building Inclusion from the Ground up: A Review of Whole School Re-Culturing Programmes for Sustaining Inclusive Change

This paper suggests that whole school re-culturing programmes can potentially assist in the creation of more inclusive value orientated schools. The relationship between school culture and successful inclusion has been demonstrated in the literature. Furthermore, the structure of whole school programmes in inculcating inclusive values and practices reflect evidenced based research for sustainability in professional learning and development. Research indicates that change is more sustained when teachers, with the support of school leaders, are given time to explore ideas and integrate them into their practice. This paper reviews whole school inclusive re-culturing programmes developed throughout the world that incorporate best evidence practice. It concludes with a recommendation that whole school reculturing frameworks can be an effective way to build sustainable inclusive change within our schools.