€¦ · Web viewAlso impressive: the casualness the young people display when they take the word in this environment - often in English, but often also in their native language

European Hearing 2011 Brussels Report by the Austrian Delegation

For the third time, the European Agency for Development in Special Needs Education, supported by the European Commission staged an international hearing where adolescents with and without disabilities from all over Europe had the opportunity to present their opinion on inclusion and education to a large auditorium in the European Parliament. 31 delegations from 27 countries participated in the meeting.

The Austrian delegation consisted of Barbara Geher (student in grade 3 at the commercial school at the Federal Institute for the Education of the Blind), Philipp Steinberger (student in grade 4 at the business college at the school centre Ungargasse, wheelchair user), Thomas Kroyer (student in grade 3 at the HTL - secondary technical school at the school centre Ungargasse). The Austrian participants were chosen due to their good school performance, their personality and their commitment to their school's community. They were accompanied by Renate Czajka (School Centre Ungargasse - SZU) and Elisabeth Stanetty (Federal Institute for the Education of the Blind - BBI).

Before the event, each participant replied in writing (in English or his or her native language) to the following questions:

In your opinion, what is inclusive education? Can you describe how inclusion is achieved at a practical level in your school? For example,

how the class is organised, what programmes are in place, what type of support is in place etc.

In your opinion, what are the main benefits and challenges that inclusion brings or could bring to your education?

Do you have any other comments?

Furthermore, each participating delegation was asked to create a poster showing how inclusion is understood, lived and put into practice at their school.

The journey of our delegation was perfectly prepared and organised by the Federal Ministry for Education, Art and Culture and the European Agency for Development in Special Needs Education.

Our delegation was accommodated in a modern, accessible and disabled-friendly hotel in the centre of Brussels. On the day of our arrival (Saturday, 5th November) we had some time for sightseeing by foot and the underground.

On Sunday, the 6th November, the official opening of the international meeting took place in the seminar area of the hotel. Subsequently, the 90 young delegates prepared in work groups for the hearing in the European Parliament. During the whole morning the adolescents could discuss their concepts, impressions and visions of inclusive education. In the afternoon the results of these discussions were summarised and the diverse statements were prepared.

Report by the Austrian Delegation Page 1

YOUNG VIEWS ON INCLUSIVE EDUCATIONBrussels - November 5-7, 2011

In the evening the Agency invited all participants to a Gala dinner, which took place in a beautiful setting and was followed by jolly dancing.

On Monday, the 7th November, the 31 delegations were received in the European Parliament. A large conference hall and simultaneous interpreters for more than 20 languages were available for the hearing. The results of the work groups were presented. Each participant had the opportunity to speak for more or less time. Some with a longer statement, others by just saying their name and nationality. A considerable amount of time was also dedicated to the speeches and friendly statements of the diverse official representatives. The hearing was closed with a standing buffet.

On Monday evening the Austrian delegation returned back to Vienna - a bit tired, but rich in impressions.

EXTRACTS FROM THE PERSONAL STATEMENTS OF THE DELEGATION MEMBERS:

In unison we want to highlight the good organisation by the Austrian Ministry for Education and the Agency in Brussels and the cordial and always friendly assistance by the Agency team on site. They have done an excellent job. Also the evening events were lovingly organised and were received well by all.

The following statements shall be seen as suggestions for possible improvements for the next meeting.

Disabled-friendly environment/Ms. Czajka: "... for the first time in my life I accompanied a wheelchair user on a journey abroad. Many good support means already do exists (good support before and during the flight, best facilities at the hotel), but during a short city centre trip (curbs without bevelling, cobblestone pavement) and an underground ride (broken lifts, no signposts) I saw how much still has to be done to reach true inclusion."

Disabled-friendly environment/Ms. Czajka/Philipp: "From the official side there were fancy words about inclusion, and then came the break and I accompanied Philipp to the bathroom. We spent the break in a long line of wheelchair users waiting in front of one disabled cubicle. Although there must be many disabled-friendly bathrooms in this huge building, only the way to one of them was guided by signs. …“

Disabled-friendly environment/Ms. Stanetty: "... difficulties to meet the manifold requirements became evident to me

- in Brussels generally there is little relief for visually disabled persons.- in the European Parliament ... at the standing buffet, which was an extreme challenge

for participants with visual disabilities."

Work groups/Barbara: "To me, the discussion was very interesting, because I learnt a lot about inclusion in other countries. The only thing I found a pity was that we only had two hours’ time and many topics that I was very interested in could not be discussed."

Work groups/Philipp/Thomas: "... the discussion of the questions elaborated before the journey was started. We were divided into groups and had two discussion leaders. The language used was English. A vivid discussion evolved, especially on the topic class size. We discussed really many different topics. The task we were given in the afternoon was summarising our results and formulating them as concisely as possible. We put our results in a very simple PowerPoint presentation template we were given. It was not



possible to start new discussions. We were told that in the Parliament we would not have much time for our explanations, which turned out to be wrong."

European Parliament/Ms. Czajka: "... there was no wardrobe in front of the conference hall. Where to put all the coats, the luggage, the diverse means of transport of persons with disabilities etc.?"

Hearing/Philipp: "... Each group presented their rather general results and the present politicians also added rather general statements. Finally, the politicians had the opportunity to lay out their points of view on the topic. Again, their speeches were rather general. If the politicians had had been more concise, we adolescents would have had the opportunity to elaborate more on our points of view. Afterwards we asked questions, which were not answered in great detail by the politicians. For example, no one could explain the concrete results of the meeting in 2007 which was about the same topics.

Conclusion/standing buffet/Philipp: "After the meeting in the Parliament we were invited to a buffet. Wheelchair users had to be waited on, because the dishes were not reachable while being seated. In addition, there was not much space due to the crowd of people. There was no seating. The ambiance was not very inviting, despite the excellent dishes. I think that is a pity, because we had just discussed in the Parliament that persons with disabilities must not be disadvantaged in any situation.

Inclusive elaboration of contents/Ms. Stanetty: "To me, difficulties in the inclusive elaboration of contents became evident:

- In the small group (where Barbara [blind] participated in): a practically deaf adolescent who did not speak English sat between Barbara and a young man with ADHD. The tutor had to translate very loudly - Barbara and the young man with ADHD could not concentrate at all - only after an intervention they changed seats, which naturally only reduced the problem a little.

- In the European Parliament - where the young man again received his loud additional information in his native language, not only Barbara but at least 6 further participants suffered from reduced access to information."

Language/Ms. Stanetty: "Some suggestions to minimise the costs of the overall project: profound command of English as a criterion for participation ... much more time could be used by the participants to exchange experiences; it would be considerably more effective if there were no language barriers. Many participants could not even really follow the team conversations and, naturally, "switched off". The English speaking participants definitely ought to serve as a mouthpiece and representatives for other affected persons in their home country. During preparation before the event answers to potential questions should be collected, evaluated and then conveyed in English.

Meeting of different nations/Thomas: "To me, the contacts and short conversations with people from other countries were really impressive. It would be great to allocate more space and time to such encounters.

Barbara "speaks" representing the whole group: "To me, the EU Hearing on Inclusive Education was an enriching event. I could collect many experiences which I could not have made otherwise. I am happy that young people with special needs were given the opportunity to share their experiences in that way. Finally, I would like to express my gratitude to all who gave me the opportunity to attend this hearing. It was an honour for me to represent Austria.



PICTURE GALLERY


Our posterBoth the Federal Institute for the Education of the Blind and the School Centre Ungargasse understand themselves as important cogs in the wheelwork of inclusion in Austria.

A - like Austria Our poster is the first in the small exhibition in front of the conference hall in the European Parliament.

Thomas marvelling: so small and thus so famous ...The Manneken Pis



The Austrian delegation on the Grand Place

On the first evening there is enough time to take the underground to the famous Atomium.

Philipp and Thomas are in the same work group. They are well-prepared for the discussion in English - which is often vivid.

The great Gala dinner - we are in a festive mood.After an excellent dinner we dance. All participate - regardless of disabilities or age!This moment of lust for life and joy is a highlight of the event!



Impressive: the large conference hall. Also impressive: the casualness the young people display when they take the word in this environment - often in English, but often also in their native language.

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€¦ · Web viewAlso impressive: the casualness the young people display when they take the word in this environment - often in English, but often also in their native language