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The eBulletin presents updates and news on projects from the European Agency for Special Needs and Inclusive Education and its member countries.

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AGENCY eBULLETIN October 2016

This issue of the newsletter brings you news about new forms of Agency co-operation at European and international levels.

Agency staff collaborated with the Emerald Publishing Group in a book exploring how to more effectively support the implementation of policy for inclusive education.

With the aim of developing a policy guidance for Uganda on the use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) in education for people with disabilities, the Agency has been working together with the UNESCO Eastern Africa Office and Ugandan stakeholders.

Read more updates here about the Agency’s Financing Policies for Inclusive Education Systems project implementing a peer-learning approach, which is a new and innovative way of working for the Agency.

This issue features more news from Agency member countries. Italy held a series of events in Lampedusa, focusing on migrations and the rights of refugees and asylum seekers. Calderglen High School in Scotland has reported increased attainment levels thanks to work undertaken as part of the Agency’s Raising the Achievement of All Learners in Inclusive Education project.

Scroll down to find out more about Agency and member country activities.

Implementing Inclusive Education: Issues in Bridging the Policy Practice Gap

How can the implementation of policy for inclusive education be more effectively supported? A new publication entitled Implementing Inclusive Education: Issues in Bridging the Policy-Practice Gap explores this question in detail.

This book constitutes Volume 8 of the International Perspectives on Inclusive Education series by the Emerald Publishing Group, which has a global audience especially among researchers and academics. All of the articles were drafted by Agency staff in co-operation with international experts, drawing on the Agency’s past twenty years’ work in the field.

This volume explores the policy-practice gap, aiming to identify the factors that hinder as well as support the implementation of policy for inclusive education in practice.

The starting point for this examination is a discussion regarding changing conceptions of inclusive education underpinning policy, presented in the first chapter. The subsequent chapters in Section 1 examine key policy areas for inclusive education that all European countries are currently debating and considering: early childhood education and care; financing of inclusive education; educating all teachers for inclusive practice and vocational education and training.

Section 2 considers support and provision, by exploring a range of critical policy implementation issues relating to support for all learners; meeting the needs of learners from diverse multicultural backgrounds; using ICT as a tool for supporting learning and addressing the challenges of raising the achievement of all learners.

The focus of Section 3 is on considering three different aspects of monitoring the implementation of inclusive education. These are: the challenges associated with inclusive approaches to learner assessment; possibilities for identifying the efficiency, effectiveness and equity within education systems and finally, the crucial aspect of listening to the voices of learners (both with and without special educational needs and/or disabilities) who are the end users of educational provision.

Overall conclusions focus on what lessons there are for bridging the policy-practice gap and better supporting the implementation of policy for inclusive education systems in countries.

The publication is available for purchase online at this link.

Peer-Learning Approach to Review Financing Policies for Inclusive Education Systems

The Agency’s Financing Policies for Inclusive Education Systems (FPIES) partnership project (2016–2018) set out to examine the following main questions:

What do coherent financing mechanisms for systems for inclusive education look like?
Which critical levers impact upon the effectiveness of funding policy mechanisms to reduce disparities in education?

FPIES is based on direct co-operation between the Ministries of Education in Italy, Lithuania, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal and Slovenia, the Universitat Ramon Llull (Barcelona) and the Agency. In the next phase of the project, each of the six partner ministries will host a Country Study Visit. These visits will give key national stakeholders and FPIES project partners the opportunity to examine different educational funding approaches.

Peer-learning approach

During the Country Study Visits, information will be gathered using a ‘peer-learning’ approach, which is a new and innovative way of working for the Agency. This methodology has proved to be effective in supporting policy-makers to objectively review their country policy and practice. The approach is geared towards facilitating self-review and experience exchange that will support longer-term policy development and implementation. The findings collected and analysed from across the six visits will lead to the development of a policy guidance framework. This will present the most up-to-date information for policy-makers dealing with the financing of inclusive education.

Ahead of each visit, the host country will produce a detailed report about the funding mechanisms in its inclusive education system. A further report will be produced after each visit, presenting the visit discussions and analysing key issues in the country’s system of financing inclusive education.

The first Country Study Visit will take place in Norway from 23 to 25 November.

Further information

FPIES is funded by the European Commission’s Erasmus+ Key Action 3 ‘Forward-Looking Cooperation Projects’ framework. More information is available on the project web area and on the European Commission’s dedicated project area.

Developing Policy Guidance on the Use of ICT for People with Disabilities in Uganda

The United Nations Partnership to Promote the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNPRPD) is a unique collaborative effort to advance disability rights around the world. Within this framework, Uganda's Ministry of Education and Sports has been working with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Regional Office for Eastern Africa to develop policy guidance on the use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) in education for people with disabilities.

One element of this guidance has been developed by the Agency, working in collaboration with the UNESCO Eastern Africa Office and stakeholders in Uganda. This takes the form of an Annex to be included in the Ugandan policy on Special Needs and Inclusive Education. The Model Policy for Inclusive ICTs in Education for Persons with Disabilities – developed in 2014 by UNESCO and the Global Initiative for Inclusive ICTs (G3ict) in collaboration with the Agency – was used as a framework when drafting the Annex and the associated materials. The works aims to support the learning of people living with disabilities in Uganda. It has involved analysing existing ICT and disability policy documents from different countries – including a number of African states – to identify learning points for a policy for Uganda. The Annex also contains a framework for a national implementation strategy, which is a detailed roadmap for achieving the policy vision, mission and objectives outlined.

The Annex was developed based on a series of previous relevant work, including the Model Policy for Inclusive ICTs in Education for Persons with Disabilities, the outcomes of the November 2014 conference on the Role of ICTs for Persons with Disabilities, and the UNESCO ICT Competency Framework for Teachers.

The work has also drawn on the Agency’s extensive knowledge base regarding the use of ICTs in education, notably the ICT for Inclusion and the ICT for Information Accessibility in Learning projects.

Country News

Italy: Europe begins in Lampedusa

Europe begins in Lampedusa is an initiative involving Italian and European students in educational activities and discussions concerning the issues of global interdependence and human rights, with a particular focus on migrations and the rights of refugees and asylum seekers.

The initiative supported by the Italian Ministry of Education, Universities and Research and Minister Stefania Giannini comprised of a series of events and activities. Agency representatives participated in events which took place between 30 September and 3 October on the island of Lampedusa – an Italian island closest to Africa which has become a byword for Europe’s migrant crisis.

On 3 October 2013, 368 migrants died in a dreadful shipwreck off the island of Lampedusa. This event was one in a long line of tragedies that have occurred place since mass migrations from North Africa began. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) estimates that since 2011 more than 2,600 people have perished in the Mediterranean. The Italian Parliament established a Remembrance Day on 3 October to honour the people who died and to raise awareness of the tragedy of migrants.

The four days of the Europe begins in Lampedusa initiative saw 300 participants, including students and teachers from European Union countries, take part in meetings and workshops about media and communication focusing on the issue of migration.

For more information about the events, visit the project website or the Facebook page.

UK (England): New SEND Data Comparison Tool

A new Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) tool has been developed by the Local Government Association (LGA) in close cooperation with the UK Department for Education, which allows anyone in England to compare the performance of local areas, statistical neighbours and national averages on a range of metrics. The Local Government Inform (LG Inform) online service enables users to access, compare and analyse data in the field of special educational needs and disability.

LG Inform contains information on:

Local area SEND information
Implementation of the reforms
Attainment of pupils with SEN
Preparation for adulthood
Experience of the system.

LG Inform is freely available to everyone, including parents and carers. It aims to help promote evidence-driven decision making in the sector and to drive improvement of services through data transparency.

Users of the online tool can now compare local authority performance against a series of metrics and create their own SEND report. The tool is intended to support local areas' use of data and intelligence to measure progress and success.

You can access the SEND data comparison tool on the Local Government Association’s website.

UK (Scotland): All in

A South Lanarkshire High School is participating in a European Agency project to raise the achievement of learners in an inclusive setting, representing Scotland on an international stage

In 2014, Calderglen High was one of the three learning communities selected to participate in the Agency’s Raising the Achievement of All Learners in Inclusive Education project. The selection was based on the school’s excellent reputation for meeting the needs of all learners and its strong links with Sanderson High school, which shares the same campus and caters for young people with more complex additional support needs.

As part of the project, key areas of focus for each school were identified and shared through an online forum, allowing all participants (school leaders and researchers) from the Agency’s 29 member countries to share their knowledge and expertise and to build school capacity.

Project focus areas for Calderglen included:

How do we keep engagement and innovation high and prevent innovation fatigue?
How do we raise the achievement of the most vulnerable and most disengaged?
Which pedagogical strategies are most useful in ensuring inclusion and achievement for all?

Calderglen recently hosted a European delegation who observed lessons, took part in workshops with business and community partners as well as parents, and spoke directly with pupils and staff.

Delegates were particularly interested in how the schools have amended their curriculum to reflect the interests and abilities of pupils in the senior phase, offering Open University modules as well as tailored programmes such as Music with Technology, Dance, Photography, Scottish Studies, Media Studies, Electronics, Cosmetology and more. Thanks to the courses offered and the qualifications attained in the Calderglen learning community, a senior pupil with additional support needs has secured a college place to further his studies in photography.

Elizabeth White, Headteacher of Calderglen High School explains:
'Involvement in this project has allowed us access to a wide range of sources and resources on inclusion, many of which have been used to further support classroom teachers in meeting the needs of all.'

'As well as networking with educators from across Europe, we have also benefited from Skype meetings with two specialists in inclusive education from the European Agency for Special Needs and Inclusive Education and their invaluable support has shaped our plans for improvement.'

As a result of its involvement in the project, the school has embraced a number of new approaches and highlighted some key learning, including:

the introduction of a mentor system for all new staff with a particular focus on meeting diverse needs;
involving parents in the delivery of in-service training to all staff;
sharing of best practice for staff in both schools during high quality collegiate staff development sessions
the extension of possibilities for joint campus activities;
a joint Rights Made Real Initiative in both schools with plans for the new session to devise pupil, staff and parent charters;
increased sharing, planning and designing of new courses and the sharing of assessment standards with staff in both schools;
scheduled meetings of joint Parent Councils with a focus on pedagogy and the curriculum, as well as self-evaluation.

Calderglen High also offers an increasing number of courses leading to qualifications in key skills. Moreover, a small number of pupils have also been supported to move into mainstream education on a full-time basis.

Staff from Calderglen High have also visited the other learning communities involved in the Raising Achievement project, based in Poland and Italy, to discuss their approaches to inclusive practices and share ideas to support Calderglen and Sanderson High schools in making progress in their focus areas.

The insights gained from their visits to Europe have supported the school’s Developing Young Workforce strategy. Specifically, they now use business partners for learning in all curricular areas and have increased vocational pathway opportunities for those at risk of disengaging. A successful foundation apprenticeship scheme has recently supported seven boys into higher levels of attainment and/or positive destinations.

Over the period of the school’s involvement in the Raising the Achievement of All Learners in Inclusive Education project, early insight data indicates improved attainment levels and positive post-school destinations among pupils whose attainment is in the lowest 20%. This shows that the commitment and hard work of all staff at Calderglen and the approaches taken are improving the choices and life chances of all learners and in particular, of young people with additional support needs.

For more information about the Raising Achievement project, visit the project page.

Netherlands: Pre-announcement of a Joint Call for Proposals for Inclusive Education

NordForsk and The Netherlands Initiative for Education Research (NRO) have issued a pre-announcement for research projects on inclusive education across borders: Research projects oriented towards practice and policy. The tentative application deadline is April 2017.

The Research Council of Norway, the Academy of Finland, The Icelandic Ministry of Education, The Swedish Research Council, The Netherlands Initiative for Education Research (NRO) and NordForsk (an organisation that facilitates and provides funding for Nordic research co-operation and research infrastructure) are issuing this call to strengthen research co-operation by funding joint research projects in the field of education.

The funding available for this transnational call is estimated at EUR 2.25 million and up to three projects will be funded, subject to quality. Applications should be for projects of three years' duration.

The objective of this call is to broadly explore the many and various research questions related to inclusive education. By bringing together excellent scholars and practitioners from the participating countries, the joint research projects will stimulate innovative research in transnational co-operation with benefits for policy and practice in the field, and promote international collaboration in the research field of inclusive education.

For more information on this call, visit the NRO and the Nordforsk websites.

For questions and feedback on the eBulletin contact us at ebulletin@european-agency.org

The European Commission support for the production of this publication does not constitute an endorsement of the contents which reflects the views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.

logo of the European Commission, Co-funded by the Erasmus + Programme of the European Union

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