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AGENCY eBULLETIN July 2015
The ICT for Information Accessibility in Learning conference in May successfully presented the Guidelines for Accessible Information. This open educational resource has been developed during the past two years and it contains useful information on how to create accessible materials for learning.
The time of the Agency’s fourth Hearing is approaching. The ‘Inclusive Education: Take Action!’ Hearing provides a platform for young people with and without disabilities to express their views on the developments and the challenges they are facing in their education. Preparations are underway for this major event and member countries have gone through selection processes to nominate participants.
This issue of the eBulletin also includes news from member countries, an update on the Agency’s new project on raising the achievement for all learners and various web developments.
Read more about these topics below and follow Agency news on our website.
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Guidelines for Accessible Information
The Guidelines for Accessible Information is a tool to support practitioners and organisations that provide information for learning in creating accessible materials. This resource is the outcome of the co-operation between the Agency and European Schoolnet (EUN), the International Association of Universities (IAU), UNESCO, the DAISY Consortium and the Global Initiative of Inclusive ICTs (G3ICT).
On 27–28 May the International Conference for the ICT for Information Accessibility in Learning (ICT4IAL) project took place in Riga, Latvia. Here project partners presented the document, which contains instructions and resources on how to create accessible materials in text, audio and video, which can be applied to all types of information produced, but will be especially beneficial to learners with disabilities and/or special needs.
The conference was an official event of the Latvian Presidency of the Council of the EU, supported by the Latvian Ministry of Education and the National Centre of Education.
Liesma Ose, Advisor to the Minister on Public Integration Issues, agreed that ‘the guidelines will equip support groups and non-governmental organisations working to advocate for the rights of persons with disabilities …’ and ‘… help decision makers in schools and universities who support accessible approaches and have agreed policies on accessibility.’
The two-day conference brought together experts and practitioners from the field of education and ICT, to discuss the importance of equal access to information, which has an impact on learning and participation in society. In addition, workshops were held to demonstrate the implementation of the Guidelines to make different types of information, media and materials accessible. Participants agreed that the Guidelines are a useful tool for a wide range of professionals, such as school and university staff, librarians, communication officers, authors of teaching and learning materials and publishers. Participants also agreed to the call to investigate the accessibility of one’s own organisation as a starting point.
The Guidelines are available on the www.ict4ial.eu project website as open source educational resource. Register and leave a comment on this website to contribute to their further development.
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Students welcoming the participants of the Raising Achievement project
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Raising the Achievement of All Learners Site Visits
The Raising Achievement project started in 2014 and it aims to provide evidence of effective practice in raising achievement in schools and communities that include and support all learners. In April and May this year, project participants had the opportunity to visit one of the 3 learning communities that are the focus of the project:
- Calderglen Learning Community, East Kilbride, UK (Scotland)
- Schools in Łajski, Commune of Wieliszew, near Warzaw, Poland
- Istituto Tecnico Agrario Sereni (I.T.A. Sereni) and Instituto Comprensivo Antonio Rosmini, Rome, Italy.
The first visit was to Calderglen High School, located in a new building with Sanderson Special school. This 2008 development led to a mix of cultures and partnerships that reach out into the local community. The masterclasses were a particular feature of interest to visitors. These courses held in fields such as photography, cosmetology, electronics have been used to increase engagement and achievement.
Visitors and school staff discussed the school’s current work and challenges such as:
- sustaining engagement and manage innovation fatigue;
- closing the gap for vulnerable groups of learners, and
- ways of developing pedagogical approaches to ensure deep learning.
The schools in Łajski (primary and lower secondary) in Poland developed into a truly inclusive community that started with the acceptance of a student with autism who was struggling to find a school placement. The schools now include many learners with diverse needs and through the use of music and the arts they achieve high standards for all. Project participants began discussions around:
- strategies to support all staff to encourage independence in learning;
- assessment for learning (developing alternatives to grades and noting information that helps inform the learning process, and
- mentoring to support choices after school and engagement with further study.
The two learning communities in Rome, Italy were I.T.A. Sereni – an agricultural technical secondary school, and Rosmini – a primary and lower secondary school.
The schools shared their approaches for including all learners, in particular practical and cross-curricular approaches in different ‘laboratories’. Discussions with visitors centred around:
- developing the capacity of the workforce to support all learners;
- developing broader competences for life and work and increasing the independence of all learners, and
- working with parents and community to raise achievement.
The visits started to build positive relationships between participants – and between participants and the learning communities. The project online forum will provide opportunities to further develop the dialogue and provide on-going support to the learning communities as they try out innovative approaches to tackle their identified challenges.
The three country examples have some key characteristics that will help them to make best use of the opportunities offered by the project. All visited schools have:
- skilled and engaged leaders who trust staff and encourage them to learn and achieve;
- a community of practice among professionals built on a shared view of the challenges and a willingness to explore ways to improve;
- strategies that reach out from the school to parents and other local actors to involve them in the continuous development of the school/learning community.
Project participants will re-visit the schools in May 2016 to discuss the outcomes of the school-based work and input into further development.
Project updates and information on outputs will be made available on the project web area.
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Inclusive Early Childhood Education Project Launched
On 9–10 June, the Agency’s Inclusive Early Childhood Education (IECE) project was officially launched with a kick-off meeting in Brussels. Over 60 researchers and practitioners from Agency member countries attended the event.
The main goal of this new 3-year project on Inclusive Early Childhood Education is to identify, analyse and subsequently promote the main characteristics of quality inclusive pre-primary education for all pupils.
There is a wide policy consensus at EU and international levels that a quality early childhood education and care experience is an essential foundation for successful lifelong learning, social integration, personal development and later employability. At the event, keynote speakers from the European Commission, OECD, UNESCO, Eurydice, Ghent University and the International Society on Early Intervention introduced the latest research and policy developments in the field of early childhood education and care.
In addition to opportunities for networking and discussing the project plan and future activities, participants joined working groups on key thematic areas.
Overall, the kick-off meeting has provided a good basis for moving forward with project activities during 2015 and 2016. More information on this project will be available soon on the Agency website.
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Website and Media Developments
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Language dropdown
The Agency website has a language dropdown which enables users to easily access all publications available in their language.
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Publication in Welsh
Thanks to the efforts of the Agency member country UK (Wales), the Five Key Messages for Inclusive Education report is now available on the Agency website in Welsh.
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National Organisation of Provision
National overviews of how special needs and inclusive education is organised in each Agency member country have been updated and can now be found in the National Organisation of Provision section under the Organisation of Provision project web area.
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The Agency's YouTube Channel
The Agency now has an official YouTube channel.
Visit this link to find Agency video materials, such as the video discussing the European co-operation in the field of special needs and inclusive education, and how the Agency is working towards inclusive education in Europe, backed by its member countries.
Following the ICT for Information Accessibility in Learning conference in May, participants sent video testimonies about what information accessibility in teaching and for learning means to them. These 1-minute presentations can also be found on the Agency’s YouTube channel.
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