PUB - Publikationen an der Universität Bielefeld

The aim of the project ‘Bielefeld Training on Cooperation in inclusive Schools’ (BiFoKi, reference no.: 01NV1732) was the development, implementation, and evaluation of a practicable in-service training. The program was intended to promote and foster cooperative, inclusive attitudes, structures, and practices in inclusive comprehensive and secondary schools. The training, structured into modules, deals with the interconnected topics of multiprofessional cooperation within year-based teams, as well as cooperation between school personnel and parents. The program systematically includes all those responsible for a child’s education and upbringing, such as general teachers and those trained for special educational needs, other educational staff in the year-based teams, parents, and principals of the respective schools. All these parties play an integral role in shaping a culture and a system of cooperation in school. The training was evaluated in the participating schools based on extensive surveys conducted among the school personnel, the students, and their parents in a longitudinal design. The results of the evaluation point to a positive effect of the training on a cognitive and behavioral level in the participating year-based teams. Impacts of the intervention could not be statistically shown on a system level, as measured by the psycho-social development, and learning outcomes of the students which were indirectly involved. In addition to a number of scientific publications on the results of the evaluation, several articles addressing the practice were published in the relevant journals and presented at conferences. In early 2023, the concept of the BiFoKi-training will also be available as an open access publication in the form of a manual with didactic annotations, including all the material developed for it. This will allow others providing in-service training to implement the program according to the original concept, and for it to contribute valuable ideas for the advancement of inclusive practices in schools.