Includ-ed, red europea de educación inclusiva

Summary

The educational purpose of the support classroom for students with PDD is that they strengthen and develop the skills they need for successful inclusion into their reference room and the school.

The support classroom is a classroom where pupils undergo training and transition to their reference classroom. It is a structured place, a ‘parenthesis of quietness’ in their daily lives at school – a safe, effective and well-managed place where school and social life are simulated with the guidance and the individual support required.

Context

The school School Amadeo Vives is located in a Madrid neighbourhood, with cultural public services and green areas. There is housing for families from a range of economic and social backgrounds. There are currently over 400 children enrolled, of which 16% have an immigrant background, a percentage that is distributed in a fairly balanced way in the different year groups. There are no special difficulties regarding the integration of these pupils, but some are working at a low level in the curriculum. This makes it necessary to have more human resources to support them and to avoid an ‘achievement’ gap. The average families’ socio-economic and cultural level are middle and lower-middle class, but there are also families with higher education, who are deeply involved in their children’s education and who have chosen the school due to pupils educational results.

The school aims to:

- Encourage the inclusion of children in their familiar, social and school environment, creating the appropriate opportunities and adapting the environment to make it accessible.

- Encourage pupils’ autonomy and to improve functional communication in natural contexts.

- Develop the acquisition of social patterns by learning social skills, appropriate social behaviours and functional and shared playing.

- Establish each pupil’s curricular competence level and elaborate specific programmes for each of the difficulties that may arise.

- Advise and support families by providing information on various resources offered by the community (associations, extracurricular activities, etc.), and agreeing on common standards that promote generalisation of learning.

- Promote professional development initiatives related to expertise, promoting a process of internal and in-service training to help the improvement of the educational response to students with PDD.

Project object:

Educating pupils with PDD in our school aims to help them to make progress in their personal, social and academic development within a standard environment. In addition, all members of the school community will benefit from living and working with these pupils because they provide a rewarding aspect that reflects our society and its citizens. In the educational system we all have a common challenge ‘to develop students’ social and citizenship skills through the promotion of habits of coexistence, mutual respect and responsible participation in different social and cultural rights’.

Methodology

This proposal arose from the need to provide an adequate educational response to two students with PDD who were already enrolled in school. The students had major difficulties in adapting to their classroom and the school (lack of personal autonomy and food hygiene, non-functional communicative functions, disruptive behaviour). The staff expressed a lack of specific training in this area of intervention as well as a lack of available personal resources and specialised materials. The school accepted the offer of the Directorate General of Schools from the Autonomous Ministry of Education to establish itself as a preferred school for pupils with PDD and during the 2005/06 academic year the development and implementation of the project began.

The implementation process

This proposal arose from the need to provide an adequate educational response to two students with PDD who were already enrolled in school. The students had major difficulties in adapting to their classroom and the school (lack of personal autonomy and food hygiene, non-functional communicative functions, disruptive behaviour). The staff expressed a lack of specific training in this area of intervention as well as a lack of available personal resources and specialised materials. The school accepted the offer of the Directorate General of Schools from the Autonomous Ministry of Education to establish itself as a preferred school for pupils with PDD and during the 2005/06 academic year the development and implementation of the project began.

Tasks undertaken include:

- Sequenced and gradual integration of pupils’ into their reference classrooms assisting them to participate safely and confidently in different activities.

- Creating opportunities for positive and affective attention.

- Providing adult guidance through meaningful, motivating, functional and contextualised activities.

- Using space and structured environments and visual aids (pictograms, diaries, photos) that help these pupils to receive information in a more simple, specific and continuing way, creating secure and stimulating environments.

- Establishing, as a main objective for these students, the development of communication skills, using an alternative or augmentative system as a strategy for relationships and social exchange, if needed.

Detailed activities in these areas are as follows:

- Meetings are held in the first 15 days of the course attended by tutors and specialist teachers (Music, English language, P. E. and Religion). These teachers are informed of the characteristics, methodology and learning style.

- Pupils in need of specific support undergo an initial assessment, giving priority to educational needs: information gathering is through meetings with tutors, parents, multi-professional team, individual records and direct observation.

- Organisation of supporting groups takes place. Pupils’ schedules are developed and co-ordinated with the tutors and specialist teachers. This involves determining the time these pupils will spend in the support classroom as well as in the reference classroom and whether they need to be supported by an adult or not. This is continuously reviewed throughout the course as the aim is that these schedules will be modified based on increased attendance in the reference classroom or adapted to new needs that may occur across the course or year.

- Organisation of space: The support classroom is organised into two environments: a ‘working table’ and computer, relax and imitation, symbolic play, manipulative play, stories, art , costumes (role-play / drama) and board game ‘corners’.

- Development of support and materials adapted to the specific needs of students.

- Education: Students are taught to sequence and anticipate, and provided with support for language, social skills, behaviour and rules.

- Elaboration of adapted curriculum and support material for pupils educational needs: This is mainly visual material for different subjects.

- Development of classroom documents: A document portfolio ‘Model D.I.A.C.’ (Individual curricular adaptation portfolio) is developed and contains methodological strategies and resources for working with students with PDD. It records the evaluation of value of activities, kind of learning, social skills, assertiveness, playground / breaktime behaviour and specialist programmes for catering children with PDD including meal-time and hygiene programmes. It also includes guidance for parents on different home materials (children’s books, etc.).

- Participation in the out of school activities: e.g. carnival, cultural week, book day, peace day, dental services, visiting museums, theatre etc. Planning and support are needed to promote integration in their reference group-class.

- Experiences in the classroom and in the general school environment: This means that peers, teachers and non-teaching staff are aware of the support classroom and take it in to account as an other school space.

On one hand peers are invited to visit the support classroom, for example to play, make Christmas decorations etc. On the other hand, schoolteachers and non teaching-staff are informed about the Inclusion Program for pupils with PDD in its most practical aspects. An insight in the specific methodology and practical educational programme: classroom performance, goals, specific and adapted materials and resources are all presented in the support classroom. It provides clearly and graphically printed information on how these pupils are in different areas of development and how we can help them.

The school also welcomes the support classroom teachers and head teachers from other schools starting with the experience of inclusion to show them the way the school works. Sometimes staff visit other schools in order to explain their five-year experience.

Target

pupils with pervasive developmental disorders

> students with autistic-like PDD, a student with Asperger PDD and a student with non-specific PDD

Good practice innovations

The programme started in 2005/06 with the following activity:
 
- An educational psychologist team raised the proposal with the head teacher and, in collaboration with the Specific Developmental Disorders Team prepared a document with the basic aspects of the project and presented it to the Educational Programmes Department.
 
•The Educational Programmes Department reported the proposal to the Educational Inspectorate. The initiative was presented to the Teaching staff and School Council.
 
- The Special Education and Counselling Service was informed of the initiative.
 
- The teachers involved in preferred schooling developed a draft plan to present to the Educational Programmes Department and Educational Inspectorate. Work began on the creation of conditions from the initial budget.
 
- The Director General of Schools appointed the School as a school with preferential schooling of pupils with pervasive developmental disorders.
 
From 2005/06 to 2006/07 a pilot phase began. Two pupils had to leave the school because the programme could not meet their needs, though the 5 pupils total remained as two new pupils joined the school.
 
From 2007/08 to 2009/10 the pilot phase ended and the proposal for inclusion was positively assessed. It stated that the school was an inclusive school. The support classroom currently addresses a group consisting of: three students with autistic-like PDD, a student with Asperger PDD and a student with non-specific PDD.

Good practice achievements

Key outcomes and lessons learned

Students with PDD have achieved the following outcomes:

- Personal autonomy appropriate to their age: clothes, out of school activities, etc.

- Enhanced socio-emotional and communicative development adapted to different contexts. All pupils have achieved some level of conversational expressive language.

- A sense of identity and self-esteem.

- A positive learning process, the acquisition of study habits and learning strategies appropriate to achieving the objectives of their academic curriculum and further education.

- Increased cognitive flexibility and greater functional activity and independence –also improved ability to anticipate, plan and make decisions.

- Enhanced personal self-control, and improved integration and participation in the classroom. Improved emotional self-control prevents problem behaviours.

Tutors and specialist teachers who cater for pupils with PDD outcomes have noted the following benefits:

- Unifying methodological and organisational approaches to work in line with these students.

- Jointly developing curriculum adaptations and specific materials.

- Establishing regular meetings for monitoring and evaluation.

- Planning supports for the reference classroom, promoting pupils’ inclusion and socialisation.

Teaching staff and non-teaching staff outcomes include:

- Being sensitised when working with these pupils to pervasive developmental disorders through training courses.

- Disseminating methods of educational support in the role of resource centre.

- Taking part in regular coordination with the team of educational psychologists (EOEP) to review the different strategies employed in the process of teaching and learning with pupils.

- Developing close collaboration between the family and the school guiding them in the use of environmental resources and services to supplement educational activities developed in the school. Establishing regular and strict monitoring with the parents of the incidents or significant events as they occur through the use of notebooks, diaries, interviews, meetings and emails.

Additional outcomes:

The inclusion of students with PDD offers an appropriate educational response. For teachers, other staff, parents and peers this means:

- To know and understand these pupils;

- To develop positive attitudes, tolerance and sensitivity;

- To adopt the role of guides and mediators on learning, offering safe meaningful social situations as well as natural models of social skills for conflict resolution;

- To enlarge methodological resources and learning materials.

In addition, being an inclusive school introduces the ‘paradigm of natural supports’ that helps students to overcome difficulties in establishing social relationships. Natural supports are effective and feasible, encouraging cooperative learning, social learning and promoting mutual support. Through dialogue and teacher examples, pupils are learning cooperation and mutual support patterns. This methodology is a great benefit for all pupils. Moreover, working on social skills and life ‘rules’ with pupils with PDD involves group dynamics in which all partners participate and achieve the development of objectives that improve their social competence.

Project partners and other stakeholders

• - the Autonomous Ministry of Education
• - the Special Education and Counselling Service
• - the Educational Programmes Department
• - a team of educational psychologists (guidance counsellors and Technical Community Service teachers)
• - a Specific Developmental Disorders Team (for the first two years of the programme)
• - the school involvement: head teacher, teaching staff, education and technical therapeutic teacher.

Evaluation

External assessment: The program assessment has been performed through the Educational Programs Department and Educational Inspectorate that monitors and reports to the Directorate General in addition to the school report carried out by the support classroom teacher at the end of each school year.
 
Within the school: The annual report is included in the Annual School General Plan The school has performed an on going assessment of the teaching process through meetings with tutors, teachers, specialists and the educational psychologists team. Through them, school staff have achieved an adequate, permanent and detailed monitoring of the issues which have occurred and/or improvements that have taken place (setting schedules, prioritised work objectives, methodology, adequacy of specific material, etc.). 
 
Along with the monitoring process, it is necessary to maintain a close relationship with families. A minimum of three meetings are planned through the year. The parents’ participation in their children’s learning process in school requires guidance and needs to develop common patterns of action.
 
Parents show their involvement and comment on the progress of their children especially on the level of autonomy and social openness. They value the education provided by the school. Besides a quarterly assessment report, a detailed record of difficulties and progress of each pupil is developed during the whole year. This written information informs parents quarterly through a Qualitative Report.
 
Future developments

The school has the firm intention to remain a school with preferential schooling of pupils with pervasive developmental disorders because they have seen the benefits of this proposal and hope that the inclusion of these pupils in a mainstream classroom is a step to determine their future inclusion in society. The school and staff always try to convince other institutions to plan and carry out such initiatives.