In France, recent years have seen a national-level acceleration towards embracing inclusive schooling, evident in a series of law and policy reforms since 2019. In particular, the new requirement since 2021 that initial teacher education programmes offer 25 hours of training on school inclusion for all new teachers. While teachers are in theory being better prepared for inclusive practices, France’s egalitarian constitutional model remains in ideological conflict with differentiated treatment of diversity. In this context, is teacher education able to effectively prepare teachers for their work with pupils with diverse learning and special educational needs (SEN) in mainstream schools? What kinds of tensions and conflicts may arise? How are these being addressed within the formal teacher education pathways (by “insiders”) as well as through informal interventions by SEN education specialists (“outsiders”)?

This symposium will respond to these questions, drawing on works from the inclusive education literature (Ebersold, 2017; Kohout-Diaz & Strouhal, 2021; Malet, 2023), and literature exploring equity from a French perspective (Le Maire, 2009; Joly, 2016; Brun, 2018). We will explore how teacher education (insider and outsider) in the Bordeaux region is evolving in response to the challenges and opportunities of the new inclusion training requirements, with examples of findings from our recent studies: teenage migrants and home languages in learning (Smythe, in press), SEN and mainstream teacher approaches to inclusion (Smythe & Malet, in press), and inclusive university practices (Kohout-Diaz, 2024).

Finally, and in response to the ISATT conference theme, this symposium proposes to overview equity and inclusion in teacher education in France, bringing examples of formal and informal initiatives in Bordeaux that aim to better support teachers working in diverse classrooms.