| Abstract: | Recent changes in the structure of initial teacher education have resulted in teacher training institutions having to think again about how they address the issue of inclusion within their provision. In this article, Sue Pearson, who co-ordinates the MA (SEN) programme in the School of Education at the University of Leeds, and who contributes to Post Graduate Certificate in Education training, reports on developments in the training of secondary phase geography teachers. The article examines the planning, development and evaluation of a session which was designed to complement students' school-based experiences and other university-based sessions. The activity was co-taught by the geography and inclusive education tutors. The tutors used activity theory to analyse the elements of inclusive education and drew upon the literature related to the training of health professionals to design the session. This led to the adoption of a problem-based learning approach involving simulation activity. Sue Pearson provides details of the planned session together with evaluations from the tutors and students. She argues that this type of session, early in the university-based part of the course, provides a productive environment in which prospective teachers can be alerted to some of the complexities and uncertainties of inclusive education. While the initiative described here was matched to circumstances at the University of Leeds, the collaboration between tutors, the planning process and the style of activity have wider implications. |
