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Leave no girl with disabilities behind: Ensuring efforts to advance gender equality in education are disability-inclusive.

DIAMOND, Gloria
CASTRES, Pauline
April 2021

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This advocacy brief from the UN Girls’ Education Initiative (UNGEI) and Leonard Cheshire draws attention to the main barriers to education for girls with disabilities, in the context of major opportunities for advocacy and tangible change in 2021.  The recommendations outlined are targeted at world leaders, governments, ministries, UN agencies and NGOs. They offer a framework for rights-based action and principles towards gender-responsive and inclusive education, to ensure that no girls with disabilities are left behind. 

Combatting the costs of exclusion for children with disabilities and their families

MONT, Daniel
UNICEF
March 2021

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Compared with other children, children with disabilities are less likely to receive an education, less likely to be employed as adults, more likely to be victims of violence, less likely to start their own families and participate in community events, and more likely to live in poverty. 

The exclusion of children with disabilities affects not only them, but imposes costs on the whole community. If these children lack the opportunity to be productive, society loses out on what they could have produced.  The barriers faced by people with disabilities can also create more responsibilities for their family members, which can limit their opportunities to work or get an education.

Moreover, the impact of exclusion extends beyond the economic cost. If people with disabilities are absent from public discourse, the community cannot benefit from their ideas. If they are excluded from political participation, the government cannot truly represent the interests of all citizens. 

A growing body of research suggests that the costs of exclusion are high. Fortunately, evidence also demonstrates that there are effective ways to ameliorate these costs. A strong case can be made for the social and economic benefits of inclusion. This paper is an effort to begin making that case.

 

Social classroom climate and personalised instruction as predictors of students’ social participation

ZURBRIGGEN, Carmen L A
HOFMANN, Verena
LEHOFER, Mike
SCHWAB, Susanne
2021

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Previous research has repeatedly confirmed that students with special educational needs (SEN) are generally less accepted by their peers. Although inclusive teaching strategies and classroom characteristics are frequently hypothesised to improve students’ social participation, empirical evidence is scarce. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to investigate classroom characteristics and teaching practices that can help foster social participation, in general, and reduce the effect of lower social participation among students with SEN, in particular. The sample includes 518 students in 31 Grade 4 and 7 classes from Austria, of whom 99 are students with SEN. The results show that students with SEN receive fewer peer nominations and perceive their social participation to be lower compared to their peers without SEN. However, the association between SEN and self-perceived social participation is moderated by the social classroom climate, i.e. the difference becomes smaller when the social classroom climate is more positive. Furthermore, the higher the personalised instruction was rated by a student, the higher was his or her social status. The results suggest that interventions should focus not only on the improvement of individual students (with SEN) but also on changing the whole classroom environment.

Comprehensive support for pupils at risk of school failure in inclusive education: theory and school practice in the Czech Republic

SLOWÍK, Josef
GAŽÁKOVÁ, Eva
HOLEČEK, Václav
ZACHOVÁ, Markéta
2021

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The paper presents possibilities of comprehensive use of support tools for pupils at risk of school failure in the Czech primary schools practice in order to support the implementation of inclusive education. The research data obtained during the project implemented in the Pilsen region in period of 2016–2019 brought the results of assessment of new support tools that are not yet systemically introduced in the Czech educational system and commonly available for all schools, although these instruments seem to be very effective or even necessary for quality inclusive education. The most important new tools include the position of inclusion coordinator in schools, strengthening the counselling services available directly in schools, as well as new strategies for promotion of cooperation between the schools, families, and social services – including some specific techniques, such as parenting workshops on child support in education, case conferences with child’s participation or seminars for parents and teachers on collaboration with social services. However, the exploitation of the results of this research and assessment will depend largely on political decisions at both local and governmental levels.

Education, girl, disability: an equation to solve. Ensuring the right to education for girls with disabilities in the Sahel

HUMANITY & INCLUSION (HI)
January 2021

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Most girls with disabilities do not have the opportunity to access education and to thrive in school. They are exposed to multiple  discrimination owing to their identity as girls and as children with disabilities. Comprehensive measures are needed to ensure their right to inclusive and quality education.

The factsheet builds on the findings of a research conducted by Humanity & Inclusion in Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger and conveys messages and recommendations aiming to inspire action and thus improve educational opportunities for girls with disabilities.

Key recommendations so that girls with disabilities are not left behind are made to governments, donors and civil society organisations

Ensuring the right to quality inclusive education for persons with disabilities: From commitment to action

UNESCO
November 2020

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The international symposium "Ensuring the right to quality inclusive education for persons with disabilities: From commitment to action", co-organized by UNESCO, the Leonard Cheshire, and the Ministry of Education of Portugal brought together a wide range of stakeholders across the globe to discuss progress, successes achieved and challenges to ensure full participation and access to quality learning opportunities for all learners.

The symposium aims were to:

  • review persisting, as well as new challenges, due to the COVID-19 pandemic that are hindering the fulfilment of the right to inclusive education for learners with disabilities.
  • facilitate the exchange of experiences on factors influencing successful inclusive policies and practices for learners with disabilities and strengthen dialogue and cooperation amongst stakeholders at policy and practice levels.
  • explore how the inclusion of learners with disabilities in inclusive settings can be more effectively addressed by governments with regards to the commitments of Article 24 of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), the CRPD General Comment 4 on article 24, and Sustainable Development 4 SDG 4, to ‘ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all.

The programme included:

Opening session - Accelerating efforts towards inclusive education for learners with disabilities. (Video recording: English - French - Spanish)

Session 1 - From legislation to inclusive practices: Re-designing policy frameworks, funding and monitoring arrangements across sectors for inclusive education for learners with disabilities. (Video recording: English - French - Spanish)

Session 2 - Revisiting the teaching and learning process to ensure access and participation of learners with disabilities.

Session 3 - Moving towards inclusive and safe learning environments, including by addressing violence and bullying against learners with disabilities.
 

Closing session - Rebuilding a Stronger Global Disability Inclusive Education System post COVID-19. (Video recording: English - French - Spanish)

Teachers’ strategies for enhancing shy children's engagement in oral activities: necessary, but insufficient?

NYBORG, Geir
MJELVE, Liv Heidi
EDWARDS, Anne
CROZIER, W R
2020

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Shy children can present challenges for teachers aiming at inclusive classrooms. Their educational attainments can be lower than their peers, they may have difficulties in adjustment to school and they can be at risk of meeting clinical criteria for social anxiety disorder. One recurrent finding is that they are often quiet across a range of school situations. The study reported here focused on teachers’ strategies to engage shy students in frequently occurring oral activities, such as group work, in elementary school classrooms. Data were gathered through post-observation stimulated-recall interviews with eight teachers who had experience of success with shy students and three focus groups with 11 similarly experienced teachers. The analysis examined teachers’ actions with these children to enhance their visible engagement in activities that require oral participation. The findings suggest that although teachers attended to the psychosocial aspects of student engagement, there was little emphasis on the pedagogic purposes of oral activities with these children. We conclude that more attention should be paid to the academic aspects of oral activities when aiming at inclusion for shy children.

Instating settings of emergency education in Vienna: temporary schooling of pupils with forced migration backgrounds

PROYER, Michelle
BIEWER, Gottfried
KREUTER, Linda
WEIß, Jekaterina
2019

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In the year 2015, Austria was one of the main European destinations of displaced persons. According to education authoritiesaround 15,000 children with a forced migration background of school age who arrived in Austria over the course of a few months from late2015 to the beginning of 2016 called for immediate and partly temporary solutions. Due to Austrian legislation and unlike other countries,every child living in Austria between the ages of six to fifteen (or for nine years of schooling) is entitled to receive compulsory education. Though the school administration of Vienna generally promotes an inclusive approach to education in regular schools, schools inneighbourhoods with a large refugee population were reportedly unable to provide appropriate and adequate education for all children. Inresponse, the local school authority in Vienna decided to establish temporary classrooms in refugee accommodations. This article describesand analyses the emergence of new educational structures from the point of view of university students and lecturers who took part in theone and a half years of its implementation. The article thereby aims to document specific perspectives on educational emergency measuresat a certain point of time. In both the primary and secondary sectors, the emergence of a new temporary field of specialised and exceptional education were observed and recorded in a thick description of dynamic processes of trans-institutional, trans-organisational, transprofessional, communal, and individual development. Thus, the article presents a multifaceted picture of problems in refugee education under exceptional circumstances. The findings illustrate how insufficient educational opportunities for those falling outside the age of compulsory schooling – in particular, preschool children as well as youth older than fifteen – diminish possibilities for the inclusion of these children within and beyond education.

Teachers talk on student needs: exploring how teacher beliefs challenge inclusive education in a Norwegian context

AAS, Hanne Kristin
2019

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This study explores teacher talk in the early phase of a project in a Norwegian elementary school where Lesson Study is used as a method for professional development. The study focuses on inclusion and aims to explore what beliefs about student needs and teacher role and responsibilities become evident, and how these beliefs can challenge development towards a more inclusive practice. To this end, content analysis is applied to audio recordings of teacher teams’ planning meetings. Despite an overall positive attitude towards inclusion, and inclusive structures in the school, findings point at factors in teachers’ beliefs that can challenge the inclusion process. These factors are: student needs understood as individual problems, adaptation understood as individualised and laborious and a limited view on teacher role, where their responsibility mainly regard academic learning.

Between duty and right: disabled schoolchildren and teachers’ ableist manifestations in Sweden

GILLBERG, Claudia
PETTERSSON, Andreas
2019

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In this article we discuss ableist manifestations about chronically ill and disabled schoolchildren in Sweden. On claiming their right to schooling, these children risk being excluded due to not conforming with norms while being refused alternative formats that would enable participation. They are then accused of not attending school and construed as problematic. Parents are derided as mollycoddling perpetrators by teachers who perceive themselves as superior knowers of disability and illness, polarising an already infected school debate. Alternative formats for participation are derided, claiming that certain disabilities do not exist or that parents exaggerate their children’s symptoms. We concede that teachers’ poor work environments due to underfunding and unreasonable workloads are problematic, but we are adamant that unfavourable work conditions must not entail unethical professional conduct. We hope this article will contribute to putting the situation of chronically ill and disabled schoolchildren in Sweden on the radar of Critical Disability Studies as well as in relevant fields of practice and that it might stimulate a change in public debate.

Every learner matters: Unpacking the learning crisis for children with disabilities

McCLAIN-NHLAPO, Charlotte
et al
June 2019

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This paper was developed by the World Bank in partnership with Leonard Cheshire and Inclusion International. It is an attempt to add knowledge to the current understanding of the importance of learning achievements, with a focus on children with disabilities. While the premise is that inclusive education refers to the inclusion of all children, the focus of this paper is on children with disabilities.

The aim of the paper is to:

  • Provide an evidence-based review of educational participation of children with disabilities.
  • Establish a case for focusing on learning achievements for students with disabilities.
  • Take stock of current mechanisms of measurement of learning outcomes and review their inclusivity.
  • Explore evidence of practice and systems which promote disability-inclusive learning for all. 

Four case studies are provided - from Pakistan, South Africa, Canada and UK.

Informe regional America Latina Bajo El enfoque de la convencion sobre los derechos de las personas con discapicidad

March 2019

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Este primer informe regional de la situación de las personas con discapacidad en América Latina ha sido elaborado por RIADIS con la finalidad de realizar un primer acercamiento al estado de la implementación de los ODS bajo el enfoque de la CDPD y la reformulación del Programa de Acción del Decenio de la Organización de los Estados Americanos (OEA). En este sentido, el informe pretende identificar los avances y buenas prácticas que se encuentran realizando los gobiernos de la región en materia de la aplicación de la CDPD a través de la implementación de los ODS en la región, así como establecer las oportunidades y los desafíos que se presentan para que las organizaciones de personas con discapacidad puedan seguir conquistando nuevos espacios y haciendo efectivo el ejercicio pleno de sus derechos. El presente informe se enfoca en diez principales áreas temáticas, identificadas como prioritarias por las personas con discapacidad de la región, quienes aportaron al abordaje de las mismas, tanto a través de las respuestas que se recopilaron de la encuesta inicial, como a través de las contribuciones grupales e individuales obtenidas en el taller de revisión del borrador del informe regional.

 

Las diez áreas temáticas que se abordan en el presente informe son las siguientes: 1. Educación inclusiva 2. Mujeres con discapacidad 3. Personas indígenas con discapacidad 4. Inclusión laboral de las personas con discapacidad 5. Reducción de riesgos de desastres y acción humanitaria 6. Accesibilidad 7. Acceso a la justicia 8. Derecho a vivir de forma independiente y ser incluido en la comunidad 9. Recopilación de datos 10. Participación de las personas con discapacidad

Pedagogical Relational Teachership (PeRT) – a multi-relational perspective

LJUNGBLAD, Ann-Louise
2019

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This article presents a theoretical relational perspective of education, Pedagogical Relational Teachership (PeRT), which supports the development of new knowledge about teachers’ relational proficiencies to create opportunities for students to participate in their education and to emerge as unique individuals and speak with their own voices. Within the field of inclusive education, it is a relational approach where teaching is to be understood relationally. The fundamental bases in this inclusive perspective on education are the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Salamanca Statement. The concept of relational teachership is elaborated on to emphasise the importance of teachers’ relational proficiencies in the classroom. The article also clarifies how PeRT includes a multi-dimensional model to illuminate relational processes and relationships on different levels within the educational system. PeRT is a relational approach for scholars and practitioners, which can be seen as a new beginning and an invitation to a relational pathway that explores participation, accessibility and equity.

Disability & the Global South (DGS), 2019, Vol. 6 No. 2

2019

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Articles included are:

  • A comparison of disability rights in employment: Exploring the potential of the UNCRPD in Uganda and the United States
  • Reimagining personal and collective experiences of disability in Africa
  • Social participation and inclusion of ex-combatants with disabilities in Colombia
  • ‘Inclusive education’ in India largely exclusive of children with a disability
  • Participation, agency and disability in Brazil: transforming psychological practices into public policy from a human rights perspective

Governmentality of disability in the context of lifelong learning in European Union policy

KAUPPILA, Aarno
KINNARI, Heikki
NIEMI, Anna-Maija
2018

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The possibility to participate in education and lifelong learning has been introduced in EU disability policy in recent decades as one of the key means to improve the socioeconomic position of disabled persons. Simultaneously, lifelong learning has been developed as the defining concept of EU education policy to increase social cohesion and economic competitiveness. However, the education, employment rate and socioeconomic status of disabled persons have remained far below the EU average. In this article, we theo- rize governmentality to explore (1) how EU lifelong learning and disability policy discourses constitute and govern disabled persons and (2) how disabled persons are positioned in the policy dis- courses. The data consist of the most relevant EU policy documents concerning lifelong learning and disability policy in the twenty-first century. We argue that the policies constitute and govern disabled persons as a group who do not fulfil the premises set for the lifelong learner, and that consequently, policy dis- courses marginalize disabled persons instead.

Assistive technology applications for students with reading difficulties: special education teachers’ experiences and perceptions

NORDSTRÖM, Thomas
NILSSON, Staffan
GUSTAFSON, Stefan
SVENSSON, Idor
2018

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Purpose: Reading and writing applications (with text-to-speech, TTS and speech-to-text, STT functions), used as assistive technology (AT) for students with reading difficulties are increasingly used in education, however, research has not sufficiently enough evaluated its potential. The purpose of this study was to explore how assistive reading and writing applications were perceived to function with regard to students’ possibilities to assimilate (i.e., “read”) and communicate (i.e., “write”) text.

 

Methods: Following a six-week app intervention, this follow-up survey contained 54 special education teachers’ perceptions of how the use of apps impacted student motivation, learning, and its usability in special education. A total of 59 students with reading difficulties from Grade 4, Grade 8 and from high school, were assessed. Analyses included quantitative and qualitative analyses of teachers’ responses and written material.

 

Results: The results showed individual differences in how teachers perceived app usage for text-interaction purposes, including how app usage affected student motivation and autonomy for text-based learning. Eighty-two per cent of the younger and forty-seven per cent of older students continued to use the technology after the intervention, but in various degrees.

 

Conclusions: Based on these findings, students with reading difficulties seem to be able to use AT in order to assimilate text (i.e., to read) and to communicate text (i.e., to write), and, thus, AT has the potential to promote participation in regular education. Future research should focus on how to customize assistive technology support in order to better utilize the potential.

What do Dutch general education teachers do to facilitate the social participation of students with SEBD?

DE LEEUW, Renske Ria
DE BOER, Anke
MINNAERT, Alexander
2018

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Few studies have addressed the daily practice of applied teacher strategies aimed at facilitating the social participation of students with social-emotional problems or behavioural difficulties (SEBD). In this paper, we present two interlinked studies that address this topic. The main study reports on the development of the Teacher Strategy Questionnaire on Social Participation in the Classroom (TSQ-SPC). We tested the questionnaire’s construct validity by performing a second-order confirmatory factor analysis. The follow-up study presents the results of a survey of 163 Dutch general primary education teachers of inclusive classes using a modified version of the TSQ-SPC. It provides insights on the strategies that teachers apply in their daily practice to facilitate positive social participation of students with SEBD. The findings of both studies suggest that general primary education teachers apply a limited repertoire of strategies. Accordingly, there is an urgent need for further research focusing on the development of interventions and revisions of the pre- and in-service teacher development curricula aimed at adequately supporting and preparing general education teachers.

Disability inclusion and accountability framework

McCLAIN-NHLAPO, Charlotte
et al
June 2018

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The main objective of the Disability Inclusion and Accountability Framework is to support the mainstreaming of disability in World Bank activities. It lays out a road map for (a) including disability in the Bank's policies, operations and analytical work, and (b) building internal capacity for supporting clients in implementing disability-inclusive development programs. The primary target audience of the Framework is Bank staff but it is also relevant to the Bank's client countries, development partners and persons with disabilities. The framework provides four main principles for guiding the World Bank’s engagement with persons with disabilities: nondiscrimination and equality, accessibility, inclusion and participation, and partnership and collaboration. 

 

The appendices to this framework highlight key areas in which the Bank can have a significant impact on the inclusion, empowerment, and full participation of persons with disabilities. These areas include transport, urban development, disaster risk management, education, social protection, jobs and employment, information and communication technology, water sector operations, and health care. 


Report No. 126977
 

INCLUDE US! Good practices in the inclusion of persons with disabilities in Myanmar

HUMANITY & INCLUSION (HI)
2018

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In 2015, Humanity & Inclusion HI began the project: “Empowering persons with disabilities to contribute to equal access to basic social services and local policymaking processes in under-resourced areas of Ayeyarwady and Mandalay”. The project supported Disabled Peoples Organizations and other civil society groups to participate in the development of inclusive regional policies and programmes, and to promote good practices contributing to greater access to services for persons with disabilities. An aim was also to document, publish and disseminate these good practices throughout Myanmar, increasing awareness and understanding in order to sensitise people to disability inclusion and influence policy change. Rather than focusing on what is not working, this report seeks to shift attention to what has worked locally and how it could be replicated in other parts of the country, providing constructive, practical recommendations to decision-makers, service providers and other community groups in Myanmar. The report is related to two projects. The second is “Advocacy for Change: Fostering protection and rights of men and women with disabilities in Myanmar”. 

 

There are global recommendations. There are seven good practices:

  • Related to education:  Case Study I: Promoting Inclusion of children with disabilities in Middle Schools of Ayartaw. Case Study II: How the development of the teacher training promotes inclusion of all children in education
  • Related to economic life: Case Study III: How partnerships between private companies and organizations of people with disabilities can improve access to employment and vocational training
  • Related to social/community life: Case Study IV: Giving the Myanmar Deaf Community access to information.  Case Study V: How parental advocacy can make a difference
  • Related to political life: Case Study VI: Community advocacy in obtaining the National Registration Card. Case Study VII: Supporting people with disabilities to participate in Myanmar elections

 

Growing Together. Child participation through the project journey. Management of a children’s club by the children themselves

HANDICAP INTERNATIONAL
December 2017

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An overview is presented of a project in Bangladesh, Pakistan and Thailand to:

  • To support communities in raising socially and emotionally healthy kids in refugee/IDPs camps and in host communities.
  • To create opportunities for children with disabilities and other vulnerable children (0-12 years old) including children at risk of developmental delays/psychological distress in displacement contexts, to learn and develop safely while having fun.
  • Using “play” as key driver to learn and develop safely children’s potential while having fun.

The project was implemented using:

  • Existing HI tools (Personalized Social Support, Adapted Physical Activity, etc.)
  • Tools piloted in IKEA project (Blue Box, low-cost toy making, inclusive playgrounds, Ideas box)
  • Environmental Footprint Assessment across 3 project sites

Monitoring & evaluation was carried out using techniques including

  • Scopeo (Sc-ore O-f Pe-rceived O-utcomes) Kids
  • Participatory M&E approaches (digital story telling, child-child video interview etc) 

Presented at the People at the centre Seminar, Dec 2017 

 

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