The Erasmus+ funded Inclusive Schools (InScool) project held an online event to explore inclusive education in schools in 2020.
The event on 18 November was the final conference of the InScool project. Co-organised by the Lifelong Learning Platform, it was an opportunity to celebrate good practice and explore the challenges still to overcome in inclusive education across Europe.
Agency representative Annet De Vroey took part in a panel discussion, alongside representatives from the European Commission, the European School Head Association and European School Student Unions. The panel discussed the main issues connected to inclusion in schools, including teacher professional learning, which is addressed in the Agency’s Teacher Professional Learning for Inclusion project. They also explored the ways in which digitisation of education, particularly as a result of COVID-19, is connected to exclusion of learners.
The key note speaker was César Bona, a teacher from Spain who was a nominee for the Global Teacher Prize in 2015. He discussed how schools should prepare learners for life and ensure that they are all visible and have the tools to connect with others. He highlighted the importance of social relationships for learners, particularly during the COVID-19 crisis.
After the event, the InScool project shared its final Policy Report on Inclusive School Education, which outlines the lessons learnt during the project. The report includes a methodology to support schools and other stakeholders to understand the diversity within their communities and create a strategy for inclusion.
Visit the InScool project website for more information, or read the Policy Report in full on the Lifelong Learning Platform website