Inclusive education in co-teaching teams: collaborative teaching practicum byFinnish and Southeast Asian teacher education students

The project involves teacher education students and teacher educators from Finland, Indonesia and Malaysia. The project’s main activity is annual 1-month teaching practicum at the Kuala Lumpur Cempaka International School which implements Finnish National Core Curriculum adapted to the local context in Malaysia. The school has Finnish and Southeast Asian teachers who act as the school-based supervisors of the teacher education students’ practicum. During the teaching practicum Finnish, Indonesian and Malaysian teacher education student will practice inclusive pedagogies together in multicultural co-teaching teams.

The project involves teacher education students and teacher educators from Finland, Indonesia and Malaysia. The project’s main activity is annual 1-month teaching practicum at the Kuala Lumpur Cempaka International School which implements Finnish National Core Curriculum adapted to the local context in Malaysia. The school has Finnish and Southeast Asian teachers who act as the school-based supervisors of the teacher education students’ practicum. During the teaching practicum Finnish, Indonesian and Malaysian teacher education student will practice inclusive pedagogies together in multicultural co-teaching teams.

The project includes an annual 1-month virtual preparation phase during which Finnish, Indonesian and Malaysian teacher education students and teacher educators co-design the teaching practicum experience in collaboration with the practicum site, Kuala Lumpur Finland International School. During the onsite practicum period, teacher educators from each country will visit the practicum school at Kuala Lumpur to guide their teacher education students and instruct a professional development program on inclusive pedagogies to the teachers at the school. The project targets teacher education students who are an underrepresented group in international mobility. By creating new kind of mobility opportunities for teacher education students, the project aims to increase international mobility figures of teacher education students in the participating countries.

In addition to supporting international mobility and intercultural competence, the project aims to develop teacher education students’ skills in implementing inclusive education by involving them in teaching practicum in multicultural co-teaching teams. This aim is aligned with education policies in all participating countries. Finland, Indonesia, and Malaysia are all committed to inclusive education through national and international policy documents and agreements (UNESCO, 2023a; UNESCO, 2023b; European Agency for Special Needs and Inclusive Education, 2023a). Inclusive education aims “to ensure equity, equal opportunities and rights for all learners, in particular those who are vulnerable to marginalization and exclusion, such as learners with disabilities and/or special educational needs” (European Agency for Special Needs and Inclusive Education, 2023b).While the development of inclusive education in the three countries is at different stages, they all share the challenge of teachers not being fully prepared to use inclusive pedagogies in their teaching (Mitchell & Sutherland, 2020). Therefore, it is vitally important to develop their skills in inclusive teaching already during their teacher education in teaching practicum with focus on inclusive pedagogies.