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Reaching Out to All Learners
Ghana Education Services Special Education Division, Ministry of Education, Science and Sports,
Accra, GhanaDecember, 2007
Target of Inclusion
Mary Hooker Education SpecialistGlobal eSchools and Communities InitiativeDublin, [email protected] 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 grade-
level 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
DevelopmentCommunity
Forms of Evaluation
Fig. 2 High impact levers for change (Ainscow, 2004)
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 Multi-stakeholder 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]