Highlighted session: Inclusion and diversity in educational practices, policies, and systems

Group Submission Type: Highlighted Paper Session

Proposal

The proposed panel explores inclusive education as indispensable condition for the successful attainment of Sustainable Development Goal 4 - Ensure inclusive and quality education for all and promote lifelong learning. The panel proposes that existing notions of inclusive education such as those that are aligned with SDG4 must be implemented at all levels of the system to ensure sustainability. Thus, the panelists will make the case for inclusive education at the macro, meso and micro levels, referencing the synergies between each level, as well as their individual merit. Further, each panelist with present practical applications of the research, and will comment on their replicability.

The panel will start with a reflection on policy development for inclusive education that is responsive to, and advances, SDG4. Inclusive education will be discussed from the point of view of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities – General Comment nº4, in particular the obligations of each signatory State in developing education systems that are responsive to children with disabilities, and further expand notions of “diversity” and “inclusion” to ALL children.

The following paper with discuss how education data collection strengthens the case for inclusive education for ALL children, by highlighting the need for data that goes beyond the number of children with disabilities in a school and looking at a variety of the measures that lead to informed decision-making. By exploring how Education Management Information Systems (EMIS) in various countries are expanding to include data related to diversity, the argument will be made that data is essential in transforming policy into practice.

The last paper will focus on pedagogy that is inclusive of ALL and on the learning process that takes place when different countries with different practices collaborate with a view to enhance inclusive education that is responsive of diverse populations. In this paper, as in the previous two, inclusive education is discussed from a comparative perspective, as a reform effort that is best practiced when multiple actors engage in collaborative work.

Sub Unit

• SIG: Inclusive Education

Individual Presentations

• 1. Inclusive education as a global development policy - Paula Frederica Hunt, DED Lda

• 3. Adapting Education Management Information Systems to Support Inclusive Education - Daniel Mont, Centre for Inclusive Policy

• 3. Teaching diverse learners in Europe: Inspiring practices and lessons learned from Germany, Iceland, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Spain and Sweden - Justin J.W. Powell, University of Luxembourg

Discussant

• Christopher Johnstone, University of Minnesota