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, Ireland.mary.hooker@gesci.org00353 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]