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AGENCY eBULLETIN December 2014
Dear Readers,
I am happy to announce that as of January 2015 Croatia will become a member country of the European Agency. I warmly welcome Croatia into our organisation and I am confident that this will be a mutually beneficial collaboration.
The Agency has been developing its quantitative data collection to provide data from an inclusive perspective. Agency representatives and experts met in September to discuss the guiding principles and further steps in this work.
The findings of the Vocational Education and Training have been disseminated this year in various formats. Read about them and a number of new publications below, including the Agency’s Work Programme for 2015.
The Agency is organising the ‘Inclusive Education: Take Action!’ European Hearing in 2015. The Hearing provides a platform for young people with and without disabilities – the main beneficiaries of Agency work – to express their views on the developments and the challenges they are facing in their education.
This eBulletin continues to feature news directly from our member countries. Find out about events and developments in the Country news section.
Thank you for following our news on the Agency website.
Sincerely,
Cor J.W. Meijer
Director
European Agency for Special Needs and Inclusive Education
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Data Collection Informing Inclusive Education
Since 2012, the Agency has been developing its quantitative data collection work by building upon previous Agency work and examining current data collection work in countries. The development work uses two areas of activity as a starting point:
Agency data collection continues under the European Agency Statistics on Inclusive Education (EASIE) work. The activities involve the now established network of national education data collection experts and have involved additional experts in workshops in 2012, 2013 and 2014, as well as piloting work with 10 Agency countries.
These developments aim to provide clearly focussed data that will inform the European Union Education and Training 2020 (ET 2020) strategic objectives and the implementation of Article 24 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD, 2006).
The main shift in thinking within the EASIE work is to collect data on the entire school population that informs inclusive education and not separate, special education.
Participating countries have agreed that the guiding principles for the work in 2014 are:
- Taking a bottom-up approach;
- Labelling the system and not the learner;
- Use of existing data sources;
- Building on existing international tools and definitions; and
- Sharing information with other organisations.
The added value of the EASIE work for countries is that it will inform countries’ work in relation to the UNCRPD 2006 and EU objectives for education and training. The project will consider inclusive education based on whole potential populations. EASIE will also provide data on the SEN population, but from an inclusive perspective, which informs debates on the rights to have access to – and participate in – inclusive education.
All Agency countries will be involved in the data collection work. In September 2014, data experts from 27 member countries – including a representative from Croatia, the Agency’s observer country – met in Budapest, Hungary, to discuss the data available and reach agreements on how it could be improved.
The final EASIE dataset will be available in early 2015 and will involve a new dedicated web area as well as data analyses linked to key indicators for inclusive education.
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Masonry workshop with Vocational Education and Training students
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Success Factors in Vocational Education and Training
International data shows that people with disabilities and special educational needs (SEN) are still disproportionately excluded from the labour market. The Council of the European Union’s Education and Training 2020 Strategy (ET 2020) invites European countries to undertake policy reforms that will improve educational outcomes, placing particular emphasis on Vocational Education and Training (VET) in order to increase the employment rate of recent graduates and improve completion rates in upper-secondary education.
Between 2010 and 2012, the Agency analysed VET policies and practices in 26 countries from the perspective of learners with SEN and/or disabilities. The analysis focused on: ‘what works’ in VET for learners with SEN and/or disabilities, ‘why it works’ and ‘how it works’.
The main findings of the Agency analysis are set out below:
- The project identified numerous success factors in VET for learners with SEN and/or disabilities. Subsequent analysis revealed a large degree of coherence across countries, with the same success factors often appearing together in successful examples of practice. The identified combinations show why some examples work, while the mutual impact of success factors helps to explain how they work.
- The success factors are grouped into four so-called ‘patterns of successful practice’. These patterns are interlinked and mutually supportive, so any attempt to improve a VET system’s performance must place equal emphasis on all four patterns at the same time.
- What is good and efficient practice for learners with SEN and/or disabilities in VET and in the transition to employment is good practice for ALL learners.
- Improvements in VET are possible and do occur in practice. This is evident in the project analysis, which was based on 28 examples in 26 countries, representing the full spectrum of VET approaches in Europe.
- Successful practice demands the involvement of all stakeholders from the VET field.
In 2014 the project activities have been focussing upon disseminating the project outcomes. These include country reports, a report on European Patterns of Successful Practice in VET, a methodology paper and a report on the ‘state of the art’ in relation to the policy situation and practice for VET with regard to learners with special educational needs in Europe.
In addition, a practical guidance tool has been developed entitled 20 Key Factors for Successful Vocational Education and Training. This flyer presents a list of key factors that have been identified in the majority of the practices analysed, in the course of the project.
For more information on the VET project, visit the project web area.
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European Parliament Hearing in Luxembourg
The Agency is organising a fourth European Hearing on Inclusive Education, which will bring together young participants with and without disabilities and/or special needs from all over Europe.
The ‘Inclusive Education: Take Action! Luxembourg Recommendations’ Hearing will take place in October 2015 within the framework of the Luxembourg Presidency of the European Union.
It will follow on from and pursue the results of the three previous European Hearings that the Agency organised. The previous Hearings were held in 2003 at the European Parliament in Brussels within the framework of the European Year of People with Disabilities, in 2007 at the Portuguese Parliament in collaboration with the Portuguese Presidency of the European Union and in 2011 at the European Parliament in Brussels.
The event aims to give young people from across Europe an opportunity to make their voices heard. Over 65 young people nominated by the Agency’s member countries, and representing secondary education will participate in the Hearing.
The Hearing will give them a platform to express their own views on their education, explain their needs and requirements and share their hopes for the future. They will present and share their personal experiences and discuss what inclusive education means to them, as well as what it offers them in their everyday lives.
The key terms for this event are empowerment and involvement. The Hearing aims to share the Agency’s findings with the young learners and, based on their perspectives, identify progress in the implementation of inclusive education policies since the first Hearing in 2003.
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Five Key Messages for Inclusive Education
- As early as possible: the positive impact of early detection and intervention as well as of proactive measures.
- Inclusive education benefits all: the positive educational and social impact of inclusive education.
- Highly qualified professionals: the importance of having highly qualified professionals in general, and teachers in particular.
- Support systems and funding mechanisms: the need for well-established support systems and related funding mechanisms.
- Reliable data: the important role played by data, as well as benefits and limitations of its use.
These key messages summarise an essential part of the work conducted by the Agency in the last decade and address relevant issues in the field of inclusive education.
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Ambitious Work Programme for 2015
In November member countries approved the Agency’s Work Programme for 2015, which will see a significant increase in activities.
It includes two new priority projects, which focus on Inclusive Pre-primary Education and Financing of Inclusive Education. Two EU Presidency events and pilot activities will take place next year, aiming to review and analyse developments in individual member countries, in light of stated EU priorities in the field of education, and as set out in Europe 2020 and ET 2020 programmes.
The Work Programme 2015 is available in the About Us Section of the Agency website. Also available here is the Agency’s Multi-Annual Work Programme outlining the main long-term goals and activities scheduled for the period 2014-2020.
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New Agency Member Country
Croatia has confirmed its intention to become a full member of the Agency as of January 2015. Agency member countries and staff look forward to working closely with the 29th member country in the near future.
Croatia became an observer country of the Agency in January 2014. Since then, representatives from Croatia have taken part in major Agency events and have had the opportunity to meet policy makers and experts from the Agency’s extensive network.
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Thematic Key Words Glossary
The Agency recently published the fourth edition of its glossary, entitled Thematic Key Words for Special Needs and Inclusive Education. It now contains over 370 terms in 22 languages, encompassing general terms from the area of special needs and inclusive education, as well as more specific key words and expressions from Agency project work.
Project managers, country representatives and project experts worked together to update this glossary. The newly added terms come from recent projects and also reflect the latest developments in the field.
The glossary is available for download on the Agency’s website and is sure to prove useful to all those involved in special needs and inclusive education, including translators working in this field.
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New policy briefs for policy makers
Two new policy briefs based on two recent Agency projects are available online. These briefs have been prepared specifically for policy makers, linking areas of Agency project work to current trends at EU and international level and identifying key areas for further policy development.
Click on the links below to access the policy briefs.
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