Over the past few months, the Changing Role of Specialist Provision in Supporting Inclusive Education (CROSP) team has been developing a report covering the first round of Phase 2 workshops. The workshops took place in October 2020 and included representatives from 21 countries.
The report includes countries’ insights into policies and strategies that can support the changing role of specialist provision and promote inclusive education in Europe. This will inform the second round of workshops, scheduled for autumn 2021. It will also inform the development of the project tool, which will focus on four main areas: governance, funding, capacity building and quality assurance.
During the Agency’s Bi‑annual Meeting in November 2020, member country representatives discussed issues related to specialist provision. Additionally, at a recent virtual meeting of the CROSP Project Advisory Group, members discussed upcoming activities and shared ideas about the project’s analysis framework and the project tool.
Currently, the CROSP team is also preparing an online platform to be used for further communication and reflection on project work.
Meanwhile, the Agency has released a new animation video and infographic as part of the CROSP project. The video and infographic convey key messages from the project. They explain what specialist provision is, why its shifting role to support inclusive education is important and how policy can aid in this shift. As you will find, they illustrate that specialist provision isn’t always inclusive, as it can separate learners from their peers. Finally, they outline some of the many benefits of changing the role of specialist provision to support inclusion in mainstream classrooms. These benefits extend to teachers, learners and families.
Subtitles for the animation video are available in 25 languages. Feel free to share the video and infographic at events, and via email and social media, using the Agency hashtag, #EASNIE.
The CROSP project video