Agency eBulletin January 2022

This eBulletin presents a new Agency publication on reviewing and analysing country policies for inclusive education. There is also information on the outcomes of the Supporting Inclusive School Leadership project.
  
This issue provides details of a new Agency project about promoting the voices of learners and their families in decision-making, and updates on the Agency’s collaboration with the Portuguese Ministry of Education and the European Commission’s Technical Support Instrument.

Read more in this newsletter about an evaluation of the Netherlands’ ‘Education that Fits’ Act, a recent peer learning event in Serbia, and Agency participation in a teacher training event for higher education staff.

Country Policy Review and Analysis: Key messages published

A new report outlines the key messages of
the Agency’s Country Policy Review and Analysis (CPRA) work to date. Since 2014, 24 Agency member countries have participated in the CPRA activities to examine and reflect on their policy for inclusive education. The new report and a related Policy Brief provide the main CPRA findings and processes up to 2020, outlining the benefits of working collaboratively with and across countries while considering developments across Europe and internationally. Find out more about the CPRA report and Policy Brief on the news page.    

Supporting Inclusive School Leadership project outcomes

Four peer learning activities (PLAs) took place in November to mark the end of the Agency’s Supporting Inclusive School Leadership (SISL) project. The PLAs took place online and were hosted by and for a cluster of Agency member countries: Hungary, Ireland, Malta and Sweden. Despite the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, these countries have been working together with the Agency throughout Phase 2 of the project to develop and pilot a Self-Reflection Tool for school leaders and policy-makers to reflect on their leadership practice and supportive policy measures. The news item contains more information on the SISL project outcomes. A summary of the SISL project Policy Messages is also now available on the Agency website.  

New Agency project on promoting the voices of learners and their families in decision-making processes

The Agency’s new Voices into Action (VIA) project aims to find effective ways to promote the voices of learners and their families in decision-making processes. The project will identify effective ways to include the voices of learners and their families in policy development and implementation. It will analyse current policy and research evidence, look at examples of learner voice in previous Agency work, and explore approaches used in Agency member countries. Read more about the VIA project on the news pages.

Monitoring the implementation of inclusive education in Portugal: School visits

A series of school visits is taking place in Portugal as part of the Agency’s work with the Portuguese Ministry of Education and the European Commission’s Technical Support Instrument (TSI, successor to the Structural Reform Support Programme, SRSP) to design a system to monitor the implementation of the Decree-Law on inclusive education. Find out more on the TSI news page.

The Agency team at Antonio Arroio school in Lisbon.

Preventing school drop-out: peer learning event in Serbia

The Agency has participated in an event in Serbia to explore the different methods used in European countries to combat school drop-out. The event, which took place both online and live in Belgrade in early December, was an opportunity for stakeholders in Serbia and across Europe to learn how different countries work to reduce the number of learners dropping out of school. Find out more about the peer learning event on the Agency news page.

Teaching excellence for higher education staff

The Agency’s Teacher Professional Learning for Inclusion (TPL4I) team recently took part in a training event on teaching excellence, organised by the European Network on Teaching Excellence (E-NOTE). It aimed to provide training on practices for teacher training excellence in higher education. The event featured panel discussions and practical workshops on best practice. The Agency team presented the TPL4I project and its main findings in relation to developing inclusive teachers. Read about the training event on the website.