Conference “Right to Inclusive Education”

19 and 20 June 2017, Sarajevo, BiH

Anthoula Kefallinou, Project Officer

anthoula@european-agency.org

Overview of presentation

• The European Agency

• The RA Conceptual Framework

• The RA project overview

o Project activities

o Project key themes and practical work

o Project outputs

The European Agency for Special Needs and Inclusive Education

The Agency

• An independent organisation that acts as a platform for collaboration for the ministries

of education in member countries

• Our mission is to help member countries improve their inclusive education policy and

practice for all learners

• Our work is in line with and directly supports international and European Union policy

initiatives on education, equity, equal opportunities and rights for all learners

Currently…

• 30 member countries: Austria, Belgium (Flemish and

French speaking communities), Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech

Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece,

Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg,

Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovak Republic,

Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and United Kingdom

(England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales)

• Secretariat in Odense, Denmark

• European Liaison office in Brussels, Belgium

Key activities

• Provide information for member countries on their progress and developments with

regards to inclusion

• Thematic projects focusing on priority topics identified by member countries

• Data collection and statistics

• Information dissemination

• Organisation of special events (European Hearings, conferences, thematic seminars,

workshops and meetings)

Raising the Achievement of all Learners in Inclusive Education: Conceptual Framework

Project Background

• Highest performing education systems combine quality with equity (OECD, 2012)

• Positive impact of inclusion on academic achievement (European Agency, 2012)

• Children from disadvantaged backgrounds are ‘still getting a raw deal’

(European Commission, 2012)

• Dual pressure in schools: becoming more inclusive and responding to demands to

raise learner achievement (Muijs et al., 2011)

Inclusion

Four different understandings:

1. Inclusion as the placement of learners with disabilities in mainstream classrooms

2. Inclusion as meeting the social/academic needs of learners with disabilities

3. Inclusion as meeting the social/academic needs of all learners

4. Inclusion as the creation of communities

(Göransson & Nilholm 2014)

A rights based approach to education

• The Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) (United Nations, 1989) and the

Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) (United Nations, 2006)

provide a framework for a rights-based approach for all children, ensuring that children

with disabilities in particular are not marginalised (European Agency, 2016)

• Both Conventions highlight the need for education policies to clearly recognise the

rights of all learners to education within increasingly inclusive systems.

Position on Inclusive Education Systems

• Current educational policy framework - incorporating the CRC and CRPD in

many countries – increasingly focuses on inclusive education systems that

aim to meet the rights of all learners

• Agency Vision for inclusive education systems…

...all learners of any age are provided with meaningful, high-quality educational

opportunities in their local community, alongside their friends and peers

Council Conclusions

• Need to pursue equity in the aims, content, teaching methods and forms of

learning to achieve a high quality education for all

• Importance of engagement with the whole school community and a wider range

of stakeholders alongside the community to deal with issues on which schools do

not and cannot possess the relevant expertise

(Council Conclusions, 17 February 2017)

From ‘why’ to ‘how’….

• A move towards a human-rights approach requires a change of culture and a

fundamentally different pedagogical approach

• Rather than revisiting definitions of inclusive education or justifying a move

to more inclusive approaches…

• Move from individual support (compensatory approach) to increasing the

capacity of all schools to provide quality support to all learners (proactive)

(Organisation of Provision project, 2013)

Project Aim

• Raising the achievement of all learners: policy initiative and ethical

imperative

• Project aim: to provide evidence of effective practice in raising

achievement and building the capacity of schools and communities to

include and support all learners

Project questions

• What pedagogical strategies and leadership approaches best support

learning and are effective in raising the achievement (academic and social)

of all learners?

• What collaborative approaches are effective in raising the achievement of

all learners?

Schools as learning organisations

Learning Communities:

‘collaboration of education stakeholders

around clusters of schools involving school and

community personnel, together with

researchers, local area leaders and policy

makers’ (European Agency, 2016)

Calderglen mainstream school & Sanderson special school,East Kilbride

Group of Schools in Łajski, Commune of Wieliszew

Istituto Tecnico Agrario Sereni(I.T.A. Sereni) & Istituto Comprensivo Antonio Rosmini, Rome Lazio region

Networking activities

School-based work

Exchange

• Participants from each country: 1 practitioner and 1 researcher

• Expert visits in 2015 and follow-up visits in 2016

• On-line forum: platform of communication

• Working Conference in Malta (April, 2017)

Learning Communities’ activities

• development of strategies to increase staff engagement - professional development

• examination of pedagogy for deep learning

• implementation of the ‘growth mindset’ learning approach

• cross disciplinary teaching to provide a more relevant curriculum

• examining the ‘quality’ of inclusive practice (focus on self-review)

• increased parental involvement

• closer collaboration with the wider community (e.g. neighbourhood schools,

universities)

Teaching approaches - project examples

• Outcomes that matter for future success… no ‘dead-end courses’

• Sustainable knowledge, deep understanding, lifelong learning:

o Structured learning, meta cognitive strategies, formative feedback, peer learning

and assessment, parental involvement, collaborative teaching

o Use of ICT (and associated pedagogy)

o Promoting personalised learning, increasing learner control

Polish Learning Community: Educating through the arts

school orchestras (School brass

orchestra and ‘Batucada’ drums

orchestra)

meetings with arts

drama club and reciting contest

fairy tales therapy workshops

school debates

foreign language singing contest

recycling art workshops

sports, camps and Paralympic

games

school hero

Leadership - project examples

• Clear vision and values – and view of ‘what counts’ – school improvement

through inclusive lens

• Teams sharing leadership tasks (distributed leadership)

• Leadership support and collective responsibility

• Learning culture – developing willingness to innovate, reflect, growth mindset

• Success of every child is main driver - focus on equity/use of data – high

expectations

• Support for all within learning community

• Updating resources – effective/targeted use of funds

Scottish Learning Community: Distributed leadership

Learner participation – project examples

• Learner representative on project advisory group

• Positive relationships

• Active participation in project visits

• Listening to learners regarding interests, aspirations

Learner workshop in the project Conference (Malta, April 2017): thoughts on achievement

Collaboration - project examples

• Strong family school linkage (parents, grandparents)

• Community involvement -work with other schools/colleges, sporting, musical

and artistic activities

• Local employers/other partners - extending curriculum opportunities,

increasing relevance

• Links to Universities /research institutes – bringing in new knowledge

• International networks – project collaboration – sharing

knowledge/experiences

Italian Learning Community

..INSIDE THE SCHOOL:

Fencing with no limits - Sports for inclusion

Counseling point

Autism training course

..OUTSIDE THE SCHOOL:

Work-related learning

Conclusion

• Inclusive education: an organising principle which ensures the

learning, participation and success of all learners

• Schools as learning organisations: raising achievement through

collaborative practice

…it’s better together!

Project outputs

• International literature review (see: https://www.european-

agency.org/publications/reviews/raising-the-achievement-of-all-learners-in-

inclusive-education-literature)

• Guidance for different stakeholder groups (e.g. teachers, school leaders)

• Implications of project findings for policy makers

• Overview report: information from all participating countries

• Evaluation of the project process (on collaborative approaches)

Contact

www.european-agency.org

European Agency for Special Needs and Inclusive Education

Østre Stationsvej 33, DK-5000 Odense C, Denmark

secretariat@european-agency.org

Tel: +45 64 41 00 20