Introduction: Teacher Education for Inclusion - Policies and Practices in Europe (TEIPPE)

This introduction situates inclusive teacher education within global and policy contexts that link academic quality with social justice. Following Cochran-Smith et al. (2016), it highlights a persistent tension in teacher education between excellence and equity. Growing migration, widening inequalities and diversity movements have intensified these challenges. Since the Salamanca Statement (UNESCO, 1994) and the Education 2030 Framework (UNESCO, 2015), inclusion has evolved from integrating pupils with disabilities to embracing diversity across race, gender, class and ability, while recent research (Artiles & Kozleski, 2007; Walton, 2016) emphasises the cultural and power dimensions of inclusion. Teacher education occupies a strategic position in addressing these systemic inequities. Van Peteghem & Consuegra (2021) reviewed twenty-six meta-studies and identified ten key principles for preparing teachers for inclusion—from integrating inclusive values across curricula to using digital tools that promote accessibility. These principles underpin the Teacher Education for Inclusion: Policies and Practices in Europe (TEIPPE) special issue, which draws on collaborative research within the EUTOPIA European University alliance (France, Belgium, Spain, Sweden, Ireland). The issue analyses how teacher-education programmes enact inclusive policies and practices across contexts, using Van Peteghem & Consuegra’s framework to link empirical studies and theoretical advances. In this introduction of the special issue, we present the context, what is at stake, the ten principles and how each contribution is related to these principles.