The Work of the European Agency and a European Perspective on Inclusive Education Cor Meijer (PhD), director

The Agency 14th year of operations Main secretariat in Odense, Denmark and European Liaison office in Brussels, Belgium

Funding The Agency is financed by: The member countries’ Ministries of Education European Commission as one of the 6 organisations supported by the Lifelong Learning Programme

Member countries of the Agency ● Presently, the Agency has 27 full member countries: Austria, Belgium (French), Belgium (Flemish), Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom (England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales).

The Agency’s Mission Member countries’ platform for collaboration in the field of special needs education (SNE) Our ultimate aim is to improve educational policy and practice for learners with special educational needs

The Agency’s Activities Collection, analysis and dissemination of information on priority themes Participation and organisation of conferences, seminars and political events Liaison with the European institutions and international organisations – OECD, UNESCO

Agency Information Resources The Agency offers various information resources, which can all be accessed via the website – Thematic Reports – Thematic Databases – Newsletters and Electronic Bulletin Agency publications can be downloaded in up to 21 member languages

Some working parameters Countries are at different starting points and have different ‘histories’ – we need to account for that and see it as a strength No-one has all the answers – countries have clear examples of good practice, but all countries are still ‘moving ahead’

International Policy Context for SNE UNESCO Salamanca Statement and Framework for Action in Special Needs Education (1994) UN Convention on Rights of People with Disabilities (2006)

Selection of Past Agency Priority Themes Early Childhood Intervention Provision of special needs education Financing and inclusion Transition from school to working life Classroom Practice to support Inclusive Education Assessment of learners with Special Educational Needs Immigrants and Special Needs

Current Agency Work New Priority themes –Teacher Education for Inclusion –Organisation of Provision for SNE –Vocational Education - policy and practice in the field of SNE –Inclusive Education in Action (IEA) Information Provision –Qualitative and quantitative indicators –Key Principles for policy and practice –Higher Education Accessibility Guide

IEA – Starting Points ● Partners: – European Agency for Development in Special Needs Education – UNESCO/UNESCO-IBE – GPDD joined the work in 2010 ● Duration of the project: – 1 st November 2009 to 31 st October 2010 (12 months) ● Subcontractor: – Institut für Technologie und Arbeit (ITA), Germany

IEA - Goal ● The starting point for the project was the UNESCO Policy Guidelines on Inclusion in Education, which consider in detail how the ‘policy cycle’ for inclusive education can be supported ● The IEA project web-site presents examples of policy and practice for inclusive education that exemplify the Suggested Actions listed in the Policy Guidelines document

Progress to date…. ● The web-site was launched on 1 st September 2010 to coincide with GPDD’s involvement in the UN side event relating to the CRPD ● Project information has been presented at a number of key events across Europe ● The Project Framework and Rationale and glossary are available from the web-site ● Over 40 world-wide examples are now on the website, with others currently being processed

Project Developments The use of the IEA website is growing steadily but in order to fully exploit the potential of the project we need to: -collect examples covering all of the suggested actions for the Policy Guidelines -provide information in multi-lingual formats (the 6 official languages of UNESCO as a minimum) -develop the website to accommodate a wider range of examples in different formats

Project development In order to achieve our goals we need resources for: - Translation - Networking with other key organisations to provide a comprehensive resource for policy makers worldwide - Technically enhancing the website

Teacher Education for Inclusion Key questions: ● What kind of teachers do we need for an inclusive society in a 21 st century school? ● What are the essential teacher competences for inclusive education? Essential Focus ● The training of mainstream, general teachers and how they are prepared to work in inclusive settings ● The initial training phase as a priority

Special Events ● European Parliament Hearing in Brussels 2003 ● Portuguese Parliament Hearing in Lisbon 2007 ● European Parliament Hearing in Brussels 2011

European Hearing in Portugal European Hearing of Young People with Special Educational Needs organised by the Portuguese Ministry of Education and the Agency. The event took place in Lisbon within the framework of the Portuguese Presidency of the European Union and the European Year of Equal Opportunities.

European Hearing in Portugal The Lisbon Declaration ‘Young People’s Views on Inclusive Education’ is the main result of this event. We see a lot of benefits in inclusive education: we acquire more social skills; we live more experiences; we learn about how to manage in the real world; we need to have and interact with friends with and without special needs. Inclusive education is mutually beneficial to us and to the others

UN convention on the rights of people with disabilities (2006) – Article 24 - Education  States parties are requested to ensure an inclusive education system at all levels 147 signatories to the Convention 90 signatories to the Optional Protocol 99 ratifications of the Convention 61 ratifications of the Optional Protocol

Ratification of the optional protocol by European Agency member countries Austria - 26 September 2008 Belgium – 2 July 2009 France - 18 February 2010 Germany - 24 February 2009 Hungary - 20 July 2007 Italy – 15 May 2009 Latvia – 31 August 2010 Lithuania – 18 August 2010 Portugal – 23 September 2009 Slovenia - 24 April 2008 Spain - 3 December 2007 Sweden - 15 December 2008 United Kingdom – 7 August 2009

Map of signatures and ratifications,

Social Cohesion and Inclusive Education ● Key Questions ● Normative position? ● Role of research?

In promoting friendship and loyalty, and in safeguarding the commitment to freedom and peace requires….…that children be exposed to ideas from many different backgrounds and perspectives. Basic education is not just an arrangement for training to develop skills; it is also a recognition of the diversity and richness of the world, an appreciation of the importance of freedom as well as friendship. The need for that understanding – that vision- has never been stronger. (Sen, 2004)

Percentage of pupils in the compulsory school sector recognised as having SEN in 2010 (in all educational settings) < 2.0%2.01% - 4.0%4.01% - 6.0%6.01% %> 10% SwedenAustria France Greece Italy Luxembourg Poland Portugal Spain UK (England) UK (Wales) Belgium (Fr) Cyprus Denmark Germany Hungary Ireland Latvia Malta Netherlands Switzerland UK (N.I.) Belgium (Fl) Czech rep. Estonia Finland Norway Slovenia UK (Scotland) Iceland Lithuania

Percentage of pupils with SEN in segregated settings Up to 1.0%1.01 %- 2.0%2.01%- 4.0%4.01% and above Cyprus Greece Ireland Italy Malta Norway Portugal Slovenia Spain Austria Bulgaria France Iceland Lithuania Luxembourg Poland Sweden UK (England) UK (Scotland) UK (Wales) Denmark Finland Hungary Latvia Netherlands Belgium (Fl) Belgium (Fr) Czech Rep. Estonia Germany Switzerland

Factors related to differences between and within countries Funding Population density

Financing Funding explains differences on segration-integration continuum Funding explains differences between policies and practices Funding changes may contribute to development of inclusive practices

More in detail  Input funding: negative consequences  Throughput funding: positive results  Pupil bound budgets: disadvantages

Developments in Europe Developments A wider range and more flexible provision Developing funding models The development of resource centres Challenges Academic achievements (output) versus SEN Secondary and higher education 2% of pupils in separate settings across Europe Preparing all teachers for inclusive education

Inclusive Education and Classroom Practice What works within inclusive settings? How inclusive education works? Why it is working?

Some general conclusions ● What is good for pupils with special educational needs is good for all pupils ● Behaviour, social and/or emotional problems are the most challenging ● Dealing with differences in the classroom forms one of the biggest problems

Effective practices within the context of inclusive education Co-operative teaching Teachers need support from colleagues Students get their support in the classroom Teachers learn from each others’ approaches and feedback. Thus, it also meets the needs of teachers

Effective practices within the context of inclusive education Co-operative learning  Peer tutoring is effective in both cognitive and affective areas  Moreover, there are no indications that the more able pupil suffers from this situation

Effective practices within the context of inclusive education Heterogeneous grouping  Students of the same age stay together in mixed ability classrooms, to respect natural variability in characteristics of students.  Heterogeneous grouping is effective when dealing with a diversity of pupils in the classroom

We deal with differences! Climb the tree!

Contact Us European Agency for Development in Special Needs Education Østre Stationsvej 33 DK-5000 Odense C Denmark Phone: