incluD-ed was present at the FIESTA Network Final Conference 'Facilitating Inclusive Education and Supporting the Transition Agenda'
Mon, 06/10/2014
Martine Aitken and Annett Räbel represented the European Network of Inclusive Education & Disability, incluD-ed, at the FIESTA Network Final Conference “Facilitating Inclusive Education and Supporting the Transition Agenda” that took place on 4 October 2014, Casa del Mar, Barcelona, Spain.
The FIESTA Network is a 3-year project in form of an online network that ran from 2011-2014 with the aim to develop (1) a multi-disciplinary learning approach for professionals in education, health and social services in order to facilitate the additional learning and support requirements of children with special needs during periods of transition and (2) tools and resources for pupils and parents to facilitate successful transition and inclusive education. Next to a literature review, the FIESTA Network published a Best Practice Report and several learning tools and resource packs.
The conference used a participative and holistic approach to harness inclusive methods during transition for children with special educational needs. It promoted collaborative working during periods of transition for all stakeholders involved - e.g. pupils with special educational needs, parents/families, educators, health professionals, social workers, NGOs. As Alan Bruce, Conference Chair, underlined in the opening of the conference “transition is not a linear process. Transitions are multifaceted involving a wide range of stakeholders.”
All in all, the conference focused on the outcomes the FIESTA network developed in order to facilitate children with special educational needs during periods of transition. International specialist guest speakers in the field of inclusive education, transition and collaborative working as well as Universal Design for Learning gave attendants new insights and a greater understanding of inclusive education, in particular how to manage the transition process to benefit children with additional educational needs.
The conference brought together teachers, school principals, parents, educational psychologists, guidance counsellors, social support staff, researchers, and health professionals who had the opportunity to network and exchange key learning experiences.
Ms. Kate Kearney, FIESTA Network Coordinator and representative of Enable Ireland Disability Services Ltd. from Cork, Ireland, spoke about the achievements of this 3 year project. Of those tools presented, several resources available to FIESTA members (registration for free) include: 3 Managing Transition E-Learning Modules (Design, Evaluation & Impact), Self Assessment tool for Schools (Design, Evaluation & Impact) and a Transition Starter Kit (for Parents)
Dr. Pere Pujolàs, Emeritus Professor at the Faculty of Education at the University of Vic, spoke about collaborative learning in his speech ‘How to Learn Together- Diversity in the Classroom’ underlining the existing “collective indifference” towards parts of the school population which is excluded. Some schools want to “get rid of some students which special educational needs as if they were disturbing the development of their others non-disabled students”. He advocated for a change in the dominant culture to give place to inclusion and cooperative teaching and learning environments, saying that “what we need are extraordinary schools and universities!”.
Professor John Davis, Professor of Childhood Inclusion School of Education, Teaching and Leadership at the Department of Educational Studies Moray House, who researches on inclusion underlined nevertheless that today around 40% of students with disabilities are involved in decision making processes when it comes to educational transition. This might seem few, but compared to the situation 20 years ago at the beginning of his career where it was about 0% this is an amazing development.
The objective of incluD-ed’s participation at the conference was also to present the network, specifically our recent EU policy actions such as the first ‘Conference on Inclusive Education and Disability in Europe’, as means of supporting legislative actions towards a more inclusive Europe and to encourage European experts in the field and organisations present at the conference the possibility to become part of its virtual community.
The network confirmed its thematic priorities as central for the inclusive education discussion. According to the evidence and experience shared on the topic of transition between preschool and primary and between primary and secondary education level as well as the challenges encountered, incluD-ed confirms that its working lines are well defined and placed at the forefront of the inclusive education discussion.
The contacts that have been made during the conference will be followed-up by the Secretariat. The aim is to gather more best practices and reinforce the experts’ community.
- Conference website
