Suzanne Carrington

Queensland University of Technology | QUT · Center for Inclusive Education

Tackling mental health difficulties in adolescents on the autism spectrum requires a comprehensive prevention approach. A 3-year multisite proof-of-concept longitudinal study implemented an evidence-based multilevel resilience intervention in schools to promote protective factors at the adolescent, parent, and school level. The intervention, consis...

School connectedness is an important protective factor for adolescent mental health. The researchers interviewed 21 mothers of students aged 11–16 years on the autism spectrum in urban and regional Australia to explore factors that influenced school connectedness and how these mothers constructed roles in supporting their children’s school connecte...

This paper reports on a participatory action research project that investigated how a resource called the Index for Inclusion was used by a secondary school community to improve school connectedness at a whole school level. The researchers worked with the Australian case study school over one year to engage in review, development, and change. This...

Children on the autism spectrum (AS) often struggle with writing tasks at school. They commonly experience difficulty with two key aspects of writing: the skills required for handwriting (fine motor and perceptual) and the conceptual and language skills required for written composition. Specialist intervention to assist with written expression is,...

This paper focused on six adolescent Australian schoolboys with ADHD, their perspectives about managing and maintaining friendships at school and why the classroom environment was challenging for them. Utilising qualitative phenomenographical methodology, data were collected using semi-structured individual and focus group interviews. Findings sugg...

More than two decades ago, UNESCO’s (1994) Salamanca Statement and Framework for Action on Special Needs Education galvanised the inclusion movement by providing a framework for inclusive education. The Statement succeeded in raising awareness of the concept of inclusion internationally, yet genuine inclusion is still the exception and not the norm...

Background: People with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) face many psychosocial challenges throughout life, highlighting the need for programs and resources promoting psychosocial wellbeing. Indigenous peoples with ASD and/or other neurodevelopmental disorders must overcome cultural and social barriers to access such supports. This study aimed to id...

The educational field is traditionally characterized by a distinction between general and special education in educational practice, theory and research. Especially in cross-professional collaborative processes related to inclusion, it becomes evident that the professionals represent different perspectives and positions with different roles, functi...

Implementing inclusive education requires on-going commitment to teachers’ professional learning. One way of implementing professional learning is to develop learning communities based on Lave and Wenger’s ideas of situated learning and learning as social practice. Learning communities, drawing on models of Professional Learning Communities and com...

High depression rates for adolescents with autism indicate a need for a comprehensive prevention approach. Parents can promote parent–child factors that buffer adolescents from depression. However, parenting adolescents with autism presents challenges which can diminish parental self-efficacy and mental wellbeing with potential negative sequelae fo...

The purpose of the research collated in this monograph was to document disability-inclusive education in Fiji, Samoa, Solomon Islands and Vanuatu, being the first phase of an ADRAS funded research project entitled: Strengthening capacity for disability-inclusive education development policy formulation, implementation and monitoring in the South Pa...

This study examines the influence of foreign aid and local ownership in the introduction of inclusive education in Kiribati. The data reported in this paper were collected through interviews with key local stakeholders and these data are part of a larger study. Data were analysed under the major theme of ownership, and were grouped into the four su...

Bhutanese educators are facing the challenge of implementing inclusive education for students with disability throughout their schooling system. Selected schools have started to implement inclusive policies and practices, and it is timely to investigate the progress of inclusive education in these schools. In this qualitative study, 14 Bhutanese pr...

This paper reports on the implications of participation in an Australian Award Short Course Awards programme for inclusive educators from South Asia. Seventeen educators from Nepal, three from Bangladesh, and one from Sri Lanka participated in the short course in Brisbane, Australia with a follow up component in Kathmandu, Nepal. The aim of the sho...

Previous research has focused on the prevalence of bullying of students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), with little attention given to its emotional effect. This mixed methods study examined levels of worry about bullying and bullying experiences reported by students and parents. To determine whether some students with ASD are differentially a...

In this chapter, we consider the impact of an international service-learning experience on six final year pre-service teachers' preparedness to be inclusive teachers in terms of Kiely's (2004) "transforming forms" (p. 9). These forms are "political," "intellectual," "moral," "cultural," "personal," and "spiritual." The analysis of the six participa...

In Australia, teachers are expected to teach a diverse range of students, including children adopted from overseas who have experienced attachment disruption and complex trauma early in life. International research identifies the potential vulnerability of this minority group at school. However, teachers’ backgrounds, knowledge and experience, as w...

In this qualitative study, we explored the perspectives of 10 adolescents with a diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and their experiences of bullying. Through individual semistructured interviews, they were asked to describe their understandings and experiences of bullying. Details of their experiences are described as well as the perceive...

This final chapter draws together the lessons that have emerged from the work of the research network. In so doing, it focuses on the overall project agenda, which was identified in Chapter 1. This focuses on: how evidence can be used to promote equity in schools; the barriers to making this happen and how these might be overcome; and the implicati...

Around the world, countries are searching for ways of making their schools more effective for all children and young people. This book offers a new way of thinking about how to address this challenge. It sees improvement as requiring a collective effort that involves contributions from all members of a school community. Crucial to this is the idea...

Students with ASC are at heightened risk for bullying and their understanding of bullying is known to protect them from involvement in it (Humphrey and Hebron 2015). However, only a handful of studies have examined how students with ASC understand traditional bullying and none of them focused on cyberbullying. To fill this gap, we investigated how...

All forms of bullying, physical, verbal, social, and cyber, are prevalent among youth worldwide. An especially vulnerable population for involvement in bullying is students with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Although there are some studies that have investigated bullying in these students, many of these are beset by methodological issues. We s...

Service-learning as a transformative pedagogy within university education is becoming increasingly popular in Australia. Advocates of service-learning indicate that the practice of combining community based voluntary work with theoretical in-class academic knowledge leads to a greater awareness about diversity and difference in students. While such...

Accumulating evidence suggests that the prevalence of bullying is significantly higher for students with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) than for typically developing students. Additionally, the prominence and growth of social networking and resultant focus on cyberbullying in the last 10 years has added a new dimension to the traditional definition...

This article reports on a multi-method study of the ways in which special and mainstream schools support the educational needs of children with disabilities in Fiji. The aims of the study were: (1) to identify capacity and functions of special schools to support inclusive mainstream schools for children with disabilities; and (2) to explore the cap...

In this chapter I take a critical and self-indulgent perspective and reflect on my professional life as a teacher and academic in the fields of special education and inclusive education in Australia. Inclusive education is not a simple matter of progression from special education. Rather, it requires a fundamental paradigm shift because it is an in...

Inclusive education in general, and disability-inclusive education in particular, is a high-level priority for development work in aid-supported countries. This paper presents a bottom-up process of developing disability-inclusive education policy in one country – the Solomon Islands. It is well understood that the promotion of quality in disabilit...

This article presents a critical analysis of the development and implementation of the 2014 inclusive educational policy in Samoa. While Samoan culture is traditionally founded on inclusive social practices, rather than reflecting these practices in their policy, Samoan policy developers have been under pressure to adopt or borrow policy from other...

Experiential learning pathways within education programmes such as Service-learning are a means to enrich the learning of pre-service teachers. As a pathway, Service-learning provides value-oriented learning focused on inclusion, diversity, and difference. This paper adopts critical social theory to examine how, along with these values, critical Se...

This study reports data from teachers in regular classrooms about their experiences of inclusion for 143 young children with disabilities. Children were recruited from early intervention programs and their experiences were tracked across 3 years, from a Preparatory year to Year 2 of school. Children's teachers rated the appropriateness of the child...

Despite an increased risk of mental health problems in adolescents with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), there is limited research on effective prevention approaches for this population. Funded by the Cooperative Research Centre for Living with Autism, a theoretically and empirically supported school-based preventative model has been developed to al...

Aim: Adolescents with intellectual disability experience poorer heath than their peers in the general population, partially due to communication barriers and knowledge gaps in their health history. This study aimed to test a health intervention package against usual care for a range of health promotion and disease detection outcomes. Method: A p...

Since the turn of the century there has been an increasing focus on inclusive education in Australian schools, and growing interest in understanding how the values of pre-service teachers impact on their willingness to implement inclusive principles in their future classrooms. The current qualitative study explored the values and views toward diver...

This study explored the experience of schooling of six adolescent boys diagnosed with AD/HD from the perspectives of the boys, their mothers and their teachers. The study utilised social constructionism as the theoretical orientation and the Dynamic Developmental Theory (DDT) of AD/HD as the explanatory framework. Utilising a multiple, instrumental...

Background: Adolescents with intellectual disability have high levels of unrecognized disease and inadequate health screening/promotion which might be addressed by improving health advocacy skills. Methods: A parallel-group cluster randomized controlled trial was conducted to investigate whether a health intervention package, consisting of class...

Inclusive education focuses on addressing marginalisation, segregation and exclusion within policy and practice. The purpose of this article is to use critical discourse analysis to examine how inclusion is represented in the education policy and professional documents of two countries, Australia and China. In particular, teacher professional stand...

With international and national policies requiring teachers to adopt inclusive practices worldwide, this paper examines the impact of transformational learning in a critical service-learning program on final-year pre-service teachers’ approaches to inclusive teaching. Data from emailed questionnaires and focus group interviews are analysed through...

In this chapter, we discuss an approach for teaching pre-service teachers how to critically reflect on their experiences in a Service-learning program in an advanced subject about inclusive education. The approach was informed by critical social theory, with the expectation that students would engage in transformational learning. By explicitly teac...

There is a need for a more critical perspective and reporting about the value of taking a model of inclusion developed in western countries and based upon the human rights ethos applying it in developing countries. This chapter will report firstly on how the Index for Inclusion (hereinafter referred to as the Index) was used in Australia as a tool...

New ways of thinking are required in teacher education to promote beginning teachers as change agents in education. Twenty years after the Salamanca Statement (UNESCO, 1994) that called for schools to provide equitable opportunities for all children, teaching practices in many classrooms are still informed by the deficit view of learning. Beginning...

Information on the use of psychotropic medications in adolescents with intellectual disability is scant. Such information can guide interventions to improve psychotropic medication use in this population. We investigated the prevalence of, and factors associated with, psychotropic medication use in adolescents with intellectual disability in Austra...

The focus of this paper is on an Australian research project that evaluated the effectiveness of a resource called the Ask Health Diary, which is used in the school curriculum to promote self-determination for better health and wellbeing for adolescents who have an intellectual disability. Education and health researchers used questionnaires and in...

This paper describes a program called Patches that was implemented to assist a group of Australian and Malaysian pre-service teachers to enhance their intercultural competence through their involvement in a series of reciprocal learning activities. Each learning experience was considered a “patch” that eventually created a “quilt of intercultural l...

This paper reports how one Australian university and the Queensland Department of Education and Training (DET) are working together to increase the number of school students from low socio-economic backgrounds enrolling in undergraduate university degrees. This innovative program involves university lecturers and school teachers working together in...

Background Adolescents with intellectual disability often have poor health and healthcare. This is partly as a consequence of poor communication and recall difficulties, and the possible loss of specialised paediatric services. Methods/Design A cluster randomised trial was conducted with adolescents with intellectual disability to investigate a he...

The transition from early intervention programs to inclusive school settings presents a range of social challenges for children with developmental disabilities. In Queensland, in the year of transition to school, many children with developmental disabilities attend an Early Childhood Development Program for two to three days each week and also begi...

In this article we report on data analysed from a student project about attitudes to school and student perception of engagement and disengagement. The data were collected by students in an Australian study that employed the Young People as Researchers model. Middle year students devised and administered a questionnaire to students in grade 8, 9 an...

This is an edited book with chapter contributions by Australian and New Zealand researchers and teachers. It is aimed primarily at audiences in teacher education and education research and provides the reader with a research, theoretical and ethical framework for the development of inclusive school communities.

This chapter describes the theoretical underpinnings of inclusive education and explores aspects of Australian and New Zealand legislation and policy to support inclusion. It provides a rationale for teachers to explore and understand inclusion in their practice as a way of contributing to social justice in schools and and their communities.

This paper discusses Service-learning within an Australian higher education context as pedagogy to teach about inclusive education. Using Deleuze and Guattari’s (1987) model of the rhizome, this study conceptualises pre-service teachers’ learning experiences as multiple, hydra and continuous. Data from reflection logs of pre-service teachers highli...

This paper reports on the first stage of a study that used Young People as Researchers to investigate the phenomenon of middle-year student engagement and disengagement. The first stage of the study focused on a two-day workshop that provided training for students and teachers from four secondary schools in conducting research in their schools. An...

This paper reports on the opportunities for transformational learning experienced by a group of pre‐service teachers who were engaged in service‐learning as a pedagogical process with a focus on reflection. Critical social theory informed the design of the reflection process as it enabled a move away from knowledge transmission toward knowledge tra...

Australian policy initiatives and state curriculum reform efforts affirm a commitment to address student disengagement through the development of inclusive school environments, curriculum, and pedagogy. This paper, drawing on critical social theory, describes three Australian projects that support the cultivation of teachers’ beliefs, knowledge and...

This article reports on the first stage of a study that uses Young People as Researchers methodology to investigate the phenomenon of middle-year student disengagement. The study obtains student perspectives on the meanings of engagement and disengagement using a variety of innovative research methods. The first stage of the study focused on a two-...

The outcomes of a two-pronged 'real-world' learning project, which aimed to expand the views of pre-service teachers about learning, pedagogy and diversity, will be discussed in this paper. Seventy-two fourth-year and 22 first-year students, enrolled in a Bachelor of Education degree in Queensland, Australia, were engaged in community sites outside...

This article reports on the pilot work for a collaborative National Health and Medical Research Council project in Australia involving education and health professionals to improve the health and well-being of young people who have an intellectual disability. The pilot study was a qualitative exploration of teacher experiences using a health diary...

This article reports on the pilot work for a collaborative National Health and Medical Research Council project in Australia involving education and health professionals to improve the health and well-being of young people who have an intellectual disability. The pilot study was a qualitative exploration of teacher experiences using a health diary...

A social-cultural theory of difference informed the development of a university unit on inclusive education with a focus on broadening students' experience and understanding about the backgrounds and values of people in society. One of the aims of the unit was to "develop and work within legal and ethical frameworks that promote diversity, equity a...

The outcomes of a pilot Service-learning Program designed for pre-service teachers enrolled in a unit about inclusive education in an Australian University will be discussed in this paper. Service-learning requires university or school students to become involved in their community in order to utilize knowledge learned at university. The program in...

This chapter will focus on the development of inclusive relationships between homes, schools and communities. Collaboration, team work and good communication have long been recognised as important qualities for teachers and a characteristic of high performing schools. We know that when teachers collaborate and solve problems, they develop new knowl...

Through their involvement in research and action, young people are able to give an authentic voice to their concerns and experiences regarding schooling. Image-based research can highlight students' views about their social and cultural environment and contribute to change, including progress towards more democratic secondary schools. This chapter...

In Queensland, inclusive education reform is on the political agenda, following the report of the Ministerial Taskforce on Inclusive Education (students with disabilities) in 2004. The government’s responses to the initiatives outlined in the taskforce report emphasise a commitment to social justice and equity so that all students can be included i...

This paper reports on a project that involved Australian secondary school students working as participatory researchers in collaboration with a researcher and two teachers. Research methodology using visual narrative techniques provided the students with a conceptual lens to view their school community. The examples of visual narrative shared in th...

The purpose of this study is to investigate the writing processes of second language (L2) writers, specifically examining the writing strategies of three Chinese post-graduate students in an Australian higher education institution. The study was prompted by the paucity of second language writing strategies of Chinese students in an authentic contex...

This paper addresses the question: why is it so hard for school communities to respond to diversity in learners, staff and parents in inclusive ways? The authors draw on theory and recent professional experience in Queensland, Australia, to offer four guiding principles that address traditional assumptions about learning that result in inequality o...

Schools are being challenged to review their organisational structures, the curriculum they teach, and their pedagogical practices to ensure that all students are truly included in the school community. This philosophy of inclusion involves students actively participating with others in learning so that they valued as members of the school communit...

Qualitative research methods were used to conduct case studies of two secondary schools in Australia, focusing on the provision of support for students with different learning needs. Interview data were used to report differences in collective beliefs, values and descriptions of school practice that foster two contrasting school cultures. One of th...

This paper reports on processes employed at a secondary state high school in Australia, where students directed inclusive school development. The procedures used in the study were developed from the Index for Inclusion and included a student forum; a student presentation to parents, principal and teachers and a focus group interview with members of...

This paper reports on processes employed at a secondary state high school in Australia, where students directed inclusive school development. The procedures used in the study were developed from the Index for Inclusion and included a student forum; a student presentation to parents, principal and teachers and a focus group interview with members of...

Schools are currently undergoing a process of reconstructed educational thinking and prac¬tice in Queensland. They are being challenged to review their organisational structures, the curriculum they teach and their pedagogical practices with the intention of transforming their structures, curriculum and pedagogies to ensure that all students are tr...

A global recognition of students' rights requires school organizations to recognize, value and provide for diversity. The move towards more inclusive schooling in Queensland, Australia, requires schools to address professional development on two levels: reculturing of the school to reflect inclusive beliefs and values; and enhancement of teacher sk...

This qualitative study investigated the perceptions of friendship faced by teenagers diagnosed with Asperger syndrome. This research aimed to provide teachers with an insight into the social world of Asperger syndrome from a student perspective. A multiple-case study approach was used to collect data from 5 secondary school students in Australia. D...

This phenomenological study investigated the social experiences and perceptions of friendship among teenagers diagnosed with Asperger's syndrome. Data were collected through the use of semi-structured interviews from five secondary school students in Australia. Data analysis resulted in the identification of a number of recurring themes used to ill...

Teachers increasingly need to manage and interact effectively with a broad range of students, including those with disabilities. Positive interactions require positive attitudes towards children with disabilities. In this qualitative study from Australia, Joanne Brownlee and Suzanne Carrington investigate the beliefs and attitudes towards people wi...

Professional development aims to impact upon teacher knowledge, teacher practice and thus change student outcomes. Some of the most effective examples of professional development have focussed on active involvement of staff and administration in the process and have been extensive and progressive in nature. In this paper, we report on the implement...

Organisational support from a number of levels needs to be in place if schools are going to achieve success in developing an inclusive school culture. Support at policy level is frequently in place, however the gap between policy and practice is a continuing challenge. In this in-depth study of an Australian secondary school Suzanne Carrington and...

This qualitative study investigates the development of preservice teachers' attitudes toward people with disabilities during a semester-long unit. Ten students enrolled in a special education teaching elective were interviewed before and after they were engaged in a teaching program designed to expose them to direct, structured interactions with a...

This qualitative study aimed to develop an understanding of the challenges faced by teenage boys with Asperger syndrome and their mothers. A case study approach was used to collect data from two 13-year-old boys who have Asperger syndrome and their mothers in Queensland, Australia. Data were collected through the use of semistructured interviews. T...

Nearly 500 secondary students in 24 classes were surveyed and four students in each class interviewed concerning their approaches to learning and perceptions of their classroom environment. While interviewed students with deep approaches to learning generally demonstrated a more sophisticated understanding of the learning opportunities offered to t...

.Students with Asperger's syndrome present a particular challenge for their parents, teachers, and peers. Therefore it is important for teachers working in inclusive settings to become aware of the unique needs of these students. In this paper, challenges for students with Asperger's syndrome are discussed in terms of five aspects; communication, m...

Teachers' beliefs and values are affecting the emerging organizational paradigm called inclusive education. A social constructivist perspective on teachers' beliefs acknowledges that teachers have their ideals and this knowledge influences their actions in the implementation of inclusive schooling. This happens within a social and cultural context...

Children who have Asperger's syndrome frequently have difficulties understanding and interpreting emotions and lack the skills that are necessary to initiate and sustain a conversation. This case study investigates the use of a multimedia computer programme (Hyperstudio) to develop an understanding of feelings and emotions and to practise conversat...

This paper investigates issues surrounding the inclusion of students with Asperger's Syndrome in primary school classrooms by first identifying the unique needs of these students, and secondly, by examining some strategies which can facilitate the inclusion of these students into inclusive school settings. These effective methods take into account...

This paper investigates issues surrounding the inclusion of students with Asperger’s Syndrome in primary school classrooms by first identifying the unique needs of these students, and secondly, by examining some strategies which can facilitate the inclusion of these students into inclusive school settings. These effective methods take into account...

For many years researchers and practitioners in education settings have attempted through processes of educational reform and inclusive school development to break down the industrial age assumptions about schools, learning, and teacher-student relationships. This project involved Australian secondary school students working as participatory resear...