During the mid-twentieth century, discontent was initially expressed regarding the existence of a segregated educational system, i.e. there was a tendency towards abolishing the extant dualism between regular and special schools. Such tendencies were at the roots of the integration process development, and the later inclusion of children with developmental disabilities in regular schools. The theoretical part of this paper presents the concept of educational inclusion, its conceptual definition and development within the context of global and national educational policies. The first part of the paper also covers educational specialists1 and their role within the context of inclusive practice. The second part of the paper presents the results of research conducted among educational specialists in the Republic of Croatia on the views and competencies of educational specialists regarding inclusive practice. The objective of this research was to explore the views of educational specialists working in primary and secondary schools on the inclusion of children with developmental disabilities in the regular education system, and to determine the self-perception of these educational specialists in view of their competencies regarding inclusive practice. The results show that educational specialists have positive views on the inclusion of children with developmental disabilities in regular schools, and that they consider themselves competent enough for work in an inclusive environment.