Laufende Projekte

The project “Gender, Inclusion and Education: Intersectional approaches to inclusive education”
builds on previous research collaboration between the Center for Teacher Education at the
University of Vienna and the Special Education Development Center at the Srinakharinwirot
University in Bangkok, Thailand. The two institutions will continue their research partnership within
this two part project: Part 1 Outgoing for project activities in Thailand and Part 2 Incoming for project
activities in Austria.
While intersectional perspectives to inclusive education have been adopted in previous research
collaboration, the focus areas were strongly related to disability and migration. In addition, the
intersection of gender, disability, special and inclusive education has been identified as a hardly
researched topic in the Thai context, despite ample research on gender and education in general
(e.g. Nakavachara, 2010; Wongmonta & Glewwe, 2017; Chiba, 2021). General findings show that
women are more likely to drop out of education (Leathwood & Read, 2009), receive less support
from families and communities to pursue their educational goals or enter schools at all in the first
place (Rieser, 2006). From a conceptual point of view the majority of research has adopted gender a
binary distinction between male and female However, often not taken into account are approaches
that contextualize gender as a diverse experience and practice (e.g. trans- or intersexuality (Craig et
al., 2017) and relate it to societal discourses (e.g. religious, education, culture). Adopting such a wide
perspective and building on existing findings and knowledge within the research team, the
intersection of gender and disability will be addressed to elaborate gender sensitive perspectives in
inclusive education.
Parallel to producing research-based knowledge to inform teacher education modules and teacher
educators in Thailand and Austria, the project will also contribute to the training and professional
development of in-service teachers and teacher educators at both institutions. Thus pre-service and
in-service teacher training will be enhanced in both countries building on research activities and
knowledge-exchange between the biggest teacher training institutions of the both countries. The
project is in line with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG 4 Education). It will work on the
following research questions:

1. How do participants (teachers, students, parents/families, school directors, teacher
educators, representatives of Disabled Peoples’ Organisations (DPOs)) perceive and
experience the intersection of gender, disability and education with respect to inclusive
education?
2. What teaching and learning practices can be found in Thailand and Austria that enhance
inclusion in education (e.g. emancipatory teaching practices, gender/sex education, etc.)?
3. Which of those practices can be transferred between the two countries in order to enhance
teacher training?

Expected Outcomes
To better understand the intersection of gender, disability and inclusion in education, the project will
engage in participatory research in teaching and learning settings in Thailand and Austria. Empirical
international research covering these diverse contexts will examine gender sensitive teaching
practices, the participants’ perspectives, as well as teacher training. The experiences, challenges
and/or good practices found in both countries will be in the scope of the project. Participants such as
teachers, students, parents, school directors or teacher educators, representatives of DPOs from
both countries will be integral part of the research activities. Data collected during the project will be
used to further develop concrete and solid guidelines for gender based teaching and inclusive
teacher education. (Under/)graduate students who are engaged in inclusive teacher education will
benefit directly from participating in the project.

Part 1 (OUTGOING) is focusing on activities at SWU in Bangkok. The project will strongly engage MA and PhD students in participative and collaborative research and create a platform to exchange knowledge and experiences. Adding an international perspective will allow participants to expand
their existing knowledge even further. The overall objective of the project is to create scientific
knowledge to further develop the capacity of Thai and Austrian pre-service and in-service teachers
and professionals in the area of inclusive education with respect to the intersection of gender and
disability.
PART 1 (OUTGOING) activities:
- Data collection in focus groups with participants and practitioners (teachers, students,
parents, graduate students, other professionals, representatives, experts); the team will
focus on facilitating safe spaces for participants to express and share their experiences.
- Field visits to selected (inclusive) schools in Bangkok
- Document analysis (e.g. regulations, curricula)
- A two-day workshop in Bangkok with teachers, school directors, teacher educators to
exchange knowledge, experiences, challenges or good practices regarding inclusive teaching
and learning practices with respect to the intersection of gender, disability and inclusion. This
seminar will target the participation of at least 10 practitioners. The participation of
practitioners from Austria will be done via digital tools.
- A two-day workshop at SWU with (under)graduate students who are engaged in inclusive
education and inclusive teacher education. The main focus will be on experiences and
perceptions of the intersection of gender, disability and inclusion; inclusive teaching and
learning practices; as well as innovative research methodologies and methods. Austrian
graduate students will join through digital tools. At least 20 (under)graduate students are
expected to join as well as PhD students who are hosted by the Center.
- A one-day data analysis workshop with the academic staff at SWU for data analysis and
evaluation of the outcomes of the workshops in Bangkok.
- A final international conference (including international guests from ASEAN partner
institutions) for researchers, practitioners and the general public (see PART 2)
Regular online meetings will be held for planning, managing and evaluating the project activities. The
project management is set up collaboratively where both of the partners share the lead in terms of
coordinating and planning the activities. The overall project coordination will be taken over by the
project team at the University of Vienna. Project activities in Bangkok will be coordinated by the
team members at the Center for Teacher Education. The Center has taken part in several
international projects that tackle inclusive teacher education, refugee education, teacher training or
disability studies. The findings of activities in Part 1 (OUTGOING) will give insight into the practices
and experiyences in Bangkok and will serve as a starting point for activities in Part 2 (INCOMING).

The project partner, the Special Education Development Center at Srinakharinwirot University is
situated in the Faculty of Education. The Faculty has been founded as the first teacher training
institute in Thailand and is currently one of the leading institutes in Thailand. The Center offers BA,
MA and PhD programs to prepare teachers to become effective classroom teachers, leaders and
researchers in inclusive and special education. The Center has currently seven academic staff who
conduct academic teaching and research related to inclusive teacher education.

Dissemination & Expected Publications
Every partner is committed to disseminating the project on the local, regional and national levels by
leveraging existing networking with schools, and organizations through the dissemination tools.
However, the success of the project really depends on the ability to spread project findings also
beyond the project partners. The outputs will be summarized in a booklet on gender sensitive
teaching practices in inclusive education for practitioners, students and researchers, including main
research findings, good practices, guidelines, and general information on gender sensitive education
practices. It will be distributed via the web pages of the partners and the project team will use their
professional social and academic networks. Apart from the activities that are listed above,
dissemination of the results will be done at national and international levels through publications.
The publications at the end of this project are planned in three languages: German, Thai, and English.