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Target of Inclusion Reaching Out to All Learners Ghana Education Services Special Education Division, Ministry of Education, Science and Sports, Accra, Ghana December, 2007 Mary Hooker Education Specialist Global eSchools and Communities Initiative Dublin, Ireland. [email protected] 00353 863378219 Global Overview of Exclusion • • • • Over 77 M children out of school (GMR) Aprox 30-40% are children with disabilities 90% live in low and lower income countries Countless others excluded from quality education within school systems • Large numbers of drop outs before CPE • 781 M illiterate persons (2/3 women); 61% Sub-Saharan Africa Exclusion in the Community • Exclusion from meaningful participation in the economic, social, political and cultural life of communities is one of the greatest challenges facing individuals in society today. • Such societies are neither efficient nor desirable. UNESCO, 2005 Exclusion in Schooling Schooling can be ‘exclusive’ by not responding adequately to difference and diversity among the student population. Fig. 2 Some examples of Marginalised, Excluded and Vulnerable Groups (UNESCO, 2005) Marginalised, Excluded and Vulnerable • Most countries of the South have concentrated their IE efforts on moderately and severely disabled children in four categories: – physical/mobility impairments, blindness, deafness and cognitive impairments • The vast majority of children with disabilities have mild impairments Marginalised, Excluded and Vulnerable • These children are more likely to: – constitute a significant percentage of drop-outs and gradelevel repeaters – engage in illegal activities and socially deviant behaviour than their moderate/severely impaired peers. • A number of countries in the South report growing numbers of: – street children (many of whom have impairments) – orphans of HIV/AIDS parents – children who suffer from various forms of abuse and neglect – children disadvantaged in terms of ethnic, linguistic, and gender barriers Peters, 2004 Obstacles to Inclusion Attitude • Society’s general negative attitudes towards PWDs • Education of CWDs undervalued by families • Lack of awareness about the potentials of CWDs • CWDs in mainstream receive less attention from teachers • Some parents of non-CWD children believe that their children’s learning capabilities may be slowed if CWD children are integrated Obstacles to Inclusion cont Lack of knowledge • regarding incidence and typologies of disabilities in Ghana • on early identification of impairment due to insufficient assessment centres/ kits/teams in the country and districts • on enrolment of children/young people with special needs in mainstream schooling • in mainstream schools on special education issues and on low, medium or high technology Obstacles to Inclusion cont Physical access: • regarding facilities such as transport, ramps, handrails, toilets to facilitate access to school buildings Economic access (to affordable schooling): • Less than 2% of school-aged CWD/SEN have access to education in special schools. • Children who gain access to special schools are primarily residing in urban areas. Obstacles to Inclusion cont Academic/program access (to curriculum and instruction through adaptations and supports): • Lack of accessible curricula with flexible time-frames and teaching strategies • Lack of sufficient learning support materials to help address literacy and numeracy based difficulties • Inadequate specialist equipment (i.e. hearing aids, Braille paper and styluses, tape recorders, books in large print, magnifying reading glasses etc.). • Weak understanding of assessment keyed to the differentiated needs and interests of the individual Obstacles to Inclusion cont Wrong ways of working: • focus on individual “generic” deficits and categories of dis-ability. • teacher education programmes that do not equip teachers for the realities of the classroom • autonomous isolation of teachers inside classrooms • weak teacher-to-teacher links for mutual assistance or collaboration • non inclusion of school administrators in CPD, who may impede reform rather than facilitate or support it. Obstacles to Inclusion cont Lack of clear policy • Infrastructure lacking resources and/or commitment to enforce compliance • Little critical awareness of why policies and legislation are needed • Lack of support and conscientiousness – particularly at grass-roots levels where policy is enacted Casely-Hayford and Lynch, 2003; SpED, 2005; Fullan, 2007; Peters, 2004 Inclusion is about • recognising that all people learn differently and that everyone needs extra help once in a while • welcoming and valuing diversity and individual differences as well as similarities • modifying strategies and materials for the benefit of all learners, not only targeting the excluded • providing equal access to education or making certain provisions for certain categories of children without excluding them Reaching Out to All Learners Engagement with differences can stimulate our thinking about the issue of reaching out to all learners Ainscow, 1998:20 Moving towards Inclusion: What are the Levers for Change? Principles Education Services School Review and Development Forms of Evaluation Fig. 2 High impact levers for change (Ainscow, 2004) Community School Review and Development • School represents all centres of learning • Focus needs to be on how to bring about change in the classroom, in the school environment and in the community in relation to the school • Many factors have high leverage for change 1. Education Services Teacher Education Can have high leverage when • special and general teacher education are integrated and or/complimentary • teachers learn – innovative child-centred strategies to teach a diverse range of abilities – strategies to promote active student learning and adaptations to meet individual students needs Teacher Education cont • teachers learn curriculum development strategies that – encompass broad common goals – facilitate flexible structure – provide alternative/multiple assessments based on individual progress – address cultural /religious /linguistic diversity of the learners – provide content, knowledge and skills relevant to learners´ lived experiences Teacher Education cont • teacher development provides – hands – on experiences and opportunities for critical reflection – continuous on-going feedback and support in classrooms – school-wide professional learning communities twinning individual and professional development Peters, 2004; Fullan, 2007 1. Education Services School Principals Can have high leverage when the principal is instrumental in – setting directions: shared vision, values and group goals – developing people: individual support, intellectual and emotional stimulation, modelling – redesigning the organization: collaborative cultures and structures, building productive relations with parents and the community Leithwood et al in Fullan, 2007 1. Education Services District Services Can have high leverage when • there is co-determination by school and district levels • administrators help principals work with teachers • investment in teacher development has a strong emphasises on ‘learning in context’ • there is a focus on deprivatizing teaching and motivating teachers to improve as part of a collective action • there is monitoring of the improvement process Fullan (2007) 2. Community Community, NGO and Multistakeholder Participation Can have high leverage: • when based on a holistic and rights-based conception of children, beginning with early identification, treatment and child development as important influences on health and well-being, school-readiness • when developed along specific coordination plans, including time-lines, designated lead agencies, clear roles and responsibilities Community cont • when active and targeted outreach activities and IE awareness education reach a broad audience in the community, particularly parents • when Disabled Person’s Organizations and Parent Groups are included as decision-makers and resources at all stages of development • when formal parent-training is provided and encompasses families of children with disabilities, and those at-risk. Peters, 2004 3. Forms of Evaluation Assessment Can have high leverage when • student assessments measure individual progress in the general education curriculum, with clear standards and benchmarks • when multiple forms of student assessments (formative and summative) are used to inform and facilitate teaching and learning Assessment cont • teachers as a group and in subgroups examine together – how well students are doing – relate this to how they are teaching and – make improvements • teachers become ‘assessment literate’ with skills encompassing both Assessment for Learning (AfL) and Assessment of Learning (AoL) • external accountability is accompanied by development of internal accountability Peters, 2004; Fullan, 2007; NCCA, 2007 4. Principles IE as a Guiding Philosophy Can have high leverage when • when IE principles and practices are considered as driving reform as well as integral to reform, and not an add-on program • when diversity and individual differences as well as similarities are recognized, valued and embraced, not ‘tolerated’ or ‘accepted’ Principles cont • when new roles and responsibilities are clearly identified, and all staff systematically prepared for these new roles and provided with adequate supports • when individualized education is considered a universal right and not a special education need • when school reform includes active involvement and participation of community members, parents and students Peters, 2004 Inclusion and Reform Education reform in Ghana: – is an extremely complex task – tendency is to seek change at the margins rather than at the core of established practice – reliance on a plethora of small projects rather than on more coherent and substantial redesign Kadingdi, 2003:14 Inclusion as a means for transforming school systems • Radical reform requires – bringing the issue of inclusion to the centre of policy discussions as an essential element of EFA – developing strategies that integrate top-down and bottom-up forces in an on-going dynamic manner of permeable connectivity. – coordinating all three levels - school-community, district and state - to interact regularly across and between levels in processes of continuous action and learning. – capacity building for results in a highly interactive professional learning setting - all else is clutter! Ainscow, 1998; Fullan, 2007 Reaching Out to All Learners Mountain diagram activity •What do we want to achieve (the goal at the top of the mountain)? •What are the barriers that have to be overcome in order to reach the top? •What have been the signs of hope (actual solutions at national, district and local levels) that have already been encountered on the journey? •What are the ideas (suggested solutions) for removing the barriers? References • • • • • • • • • Ainscow, M. 1998. Understanding the Development of Inclusive Schools. London: Falmer Press Ainscow, M. 2004. What are the Levers for Change to Develop Inclusive Education Systems? IN: Final Report: Regional Workshop on Inclusive Education: Getting All Children into School and Helping Them Learn [Online]. Available from: UNESCO <http://www2.unescobkk.org/elib/publications/Inclusive_Edu/> [Accessed 15 July 2007] Casely-Hayford, L. and Lynch, P. 2003b. ICT Based Solutions for Special Educational Needs in Ghana, Imfundo Report - Phase 21 [Online] . Department for International Development. Available from: <http://imfundo.digitalbrain.com/imfundo/web/papers/refpapers/?verb=view> [Accessed 16 July 2007] Fullan, M. 2007. The New Meaning of Educational Change. Fourth Edition. New York: Columbia University Kadingdi, S. 2003. Policy Initiatives for change and innovation in basic education programmes in Ghana. Accra: Critical Review Lewis, I. 2007. Inclusion in Action: Report of an Inclusive Education Workshop, Zanzibar, 7 – 10 February 2006. Oslo: Atlas Alliance National Council for Curriculum and Assessment 2007. Assessment in the Primary School Curriculum. Dublin: NCCA Ministry of Education Science and Sports 2004. White Paper on the Report of the Education Reform Review Committee. Accra: Ghana UNESCO 2007. EFA Global Monitoring Report [Online]. Available from UNESCO <http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0014/001477/147785E.pdf> [Accessed 16 November 2007]