Post on 17-Aug-2020
MAY 2015
Inclusion andQuality in education
COLOPHON
ESHA magazine is the official magazine of the European School
Heads Association, the Association for school leaders in Europe.
ESHA magazine will be published nine times per school year. You are
welcome to use articles from the magazine but we would appreciate it
if you contacted the editor first.
SUBSCRIPTION The ESHA e-magazine is free of charge.
You can register through the internet at www.eshamagazine.com
THE ESHA BOARD Clive Byrne (President), Chris Harrison (Board
member), Greg Dempster (Board member), Omar Mekki (Board member),
Barbara Novinec (Board member)
ABOUT ESHA ESHA is an Association that consists of 42 Associa-
tions of Heads and Educational employers in 26 countries in primary,
secondary and vocational education.
CONTACT ESHA Visiting address: Herenstraat 35, Utrecht,
The Netherlands. Postal address: Postbox 1003, 3500 BA Utrecht,
The Netherlands. e-mail: monique.westland@esha.org
THE EDITORIAL TEAM FOR THE MAGAZINEClive Byrne (editor), Fred Verboon and Monique Westland
LAYOUT AND DESIGN: Coers & Roest ontwerpers bno _ drukkers
The ESHA magazine is a platform for sharing vision, knowledge and
experiences of school leaders to their European members. ESHA’s goal
is to inform, share and promote best practice but cannot be associated
with a specific political viewpoint. The author of an article is responsible
for the content unless otherwise stated.
2 ESHA MAGAZINE MAY 2015
In this issueMAY 2015
4 Column Clive Byrne
9 Agenda
10 Report on the GA meeting being held in Podgorica,
Montenegro
15 AHDS 7 Myths about Schooling
22 Best practice of inclusion and recovery in Italian schools
28 Inclusive education – An Croatian Experience
36 Bullying by students with disabilities reduced
by social-emotional learning
Some articles in this issue contain
direct links to websites. Simply click on
the coloured text and you ‘ll be automatically
linked to a specific website or video presentation.
Try it yourself and enjoy.
ESHA MAGAZINE MAY 2015 3
COLUMN PRESIDENT CLIVE BYRNECOLUMN PRESIDENT CLIVE BYRNECOLUMN PRESIDENT CLIVE BYRNE
The Skills Gap and the New Economy
I was delighted to participate in a conference, organised by CFES
and Trinity College Dublin, on “The Skills Gap and the New Economy:
Implications for Low-Income Students and Colleges” which took
place in Essex, New York towards the end of April. Speakers from
the United States, Finland, Ireland and the United Kingdom par-
ticipated with keynote presentations from George Pataki, former
Governor of New York, Dr Pasi Sahlberg, now lecturing in Harvard,
Kelli Wells, Director of Education and Skills at General Electric and
Dean Garfield, CEO of the Information Technology Industry Council
in the United States. The objective of the conference was to explore
strategic steps needed to close the skills gap. In the Eurozone a
rising number of young people are unskilled, unemployed, lacking
a post-secondary degree as thousands of jobs in healthcare, tech-
nology, engineering and other sectors remain unfilled. As many as
twenty five percent of Europe’s youth are unemployed, rising to 50%
in Spain and Greece. In the United States, four million young people
are un- or underemployed while three million moderate to high pay-
ing jobs remain unfilled. In one of the presentations the conference
4 ESHA MAGAZINE MAY 2015
COLUMN PRESIDENT CLIVE BYRNECOLUMN PRESIDENT CLIVE BYRNE
heard that over the next decade, the U.S. will be unable to fill 23 mil-
lion high-paying jobs while 20 million young people, mostly from low
income backgrounds, will be out of work or underemployed. Policy
makers worldwide are seriously worried about negative social and
economic consequences, hence the move to try to close the skills
gap which economists describe as a breakdown between supply
and demand. However there is serious disagreement about the
underlying causes. Paul Krugman, the Nobel Economist, is clear that
what’s happening isn’t a skills gap but a power imbalance where
the super-rich are creating economic inequality. Industry leaders
contradict Krugman and maintain that education and the workforce
can’t keep pace with the rapidly changing economy. Employers
seek to increase attainment and completion rates and to develop
innovative partnerships between business and education. Others in
business seek to put the blame on our education system whereas
David Attis, a competitiveness expert is clear that education is not
only the solution, it is the key to everyone’s improved standard of
living. The conference heard that in the U.S. the skills gap dispropor-
tionately affects impoverished populations – that low-income young
people are eight times more likely to be caught up in the skills gap
vortex than their upper income peers not because they lack ability
but because they don’t have the appropriate skills, training and post-
secondary degrees.
Some quotes from the Keynote speakers:
• “We have to succeed as a society but if we are to succeed as a
society we must link opportunity to education” Gov Pataki.
• “Is the point of high school just to graduate? – If you want a job you
may have to invent one yourself” Pasi Sahlberg
• “We need to train a workforce for tomorrow” Kelli Wells
• “By 2040 the majority in the U.S. will be women and will be
coloured” Dean Garfield. Quoting Jesse Jackson he said “We don’t
have a pipeline problem, we have an opportunity problem”
ESHA MAGAZINE MAY 2015 5
COLUMN PRESIDENT CLIVE BYRNECOLUMN PRESIDENT CLIVE BYRNE
Much of the work of the conference was done at round tables and
a number of points emerged which are not listed in any particular
order.
• Sometimes, industry has an unreasonable expectation of what
the education system can deliver.
• Response times in education are much slower than industry and
time trying to predict what the skills’ needs will be in five years
may not be time well spent.
• Even though the industrial and mechanical infrastructure is
eroding in many parts of the world there is still a place for a
different apprenticeship model.
• Employers need to invest in training and up-skilling new
employees. If schools get the kids to us we’ll take it from there.
• How can companies convey the breadth of roles that are available
to suit the different talents of individuals?
• Close links developed between education institutions and local
industries is the best way to go.
• Parents and teachers should model the behaviours expected of
students.
• We must strive to halt the declining status of teachers.
• We must create a new purpose of schooling so that people
understand the world around them and the talents within them.
• It may be necessary to reduce formal classroom lessons and
create a personalised timetable to focus on team work and
collaborative skills with different and innovative assessment
systems to evaluate the work of students.
• Culture beats strategy every time. The family is powerful and must
be brought along if we are to avoid multi-generational poverty.
• Motivational skills are important in encouraging a culture of
life-long learning where individuals are encouraged to become
independent learners using modular structures where credits can
be built up and transferred.
6 ESHA MAGAZINE MAY 2015
COLUMN PRESIDENT CLIVE BYRNECOLUMN PRESIDENT CLIVE BYRNE
• Equity of access is an equality issue but it is now becoming an
economic issue.
• Teachers, students and parents need to know what jobs will exist.
• Industry must show a commitment to education by offering
internships to educators so that they can be more in tune with the
requirements of the workplace.
• Internships where there is earning and learning are very
successful ways to attract workers, to inspire loyalty.
• There’s no point in having a head full of knowledge and empty
pockets.
The time I spent in Essex was challenging but invigorating. I felt it
was good to speak up for education and to try to demystify some
of the strongly held views about education held by corporate lead-
ers. I really enjoyed the Ryan Lutoki clip on YouTube entitled “This is
Genius” which was part of Pasi Sahlberg’s presentation. Check it out
if you get a chance. The objective of the conference was to draw up
a white paper for consultation and distribution. I’ll post a link when it
is developed. n
Clive Byrne
ESHA President
clivebyrne@napd.ie
@NAPD_IE
ESHA MAGAZINE MAY 2015 7
COLUMN PRESIDENT CLIVE BYRNE
8 ESHA MAGAZINE MAY 2015
COLUMN PRESIDENT CLIVE BYRNE
AgendaMAY 201528th – 29th School Leadership Policy Developments - EPNoSL PLA in
Heraklion, Greece
JUNE 20154th – 5th “How leadership secures access and quality of education:
an international approach” World Education Forum,
Plovdiv, Bulgaria
OCTOBER 20151st Regional Conference in Glasgow, Scotland.
Joint headships: an event for those who lead more than
one school http://ahds.org.uk/joint-headships/
30th – 31st ESHA GA meeting, Bergen, Norway
APRIL 2016To be determined: ESHA GA meeting
OCTOBER 201618th ESHA GA meeting, Maastricht, The Netherlands
19th – 21st ESHA biennial Conference Maastricht, The Netherlands
ESHA MAGAZINE MAY 2015 9
GA PODGORICA MONTENEGROGA PODGORICA MONTENEGRO
General Assembly Spring meeting 2015, Podgorica, MontenegroThe spring 2015 working meeting of the representatives of school leadership associations in ESHA was held in Podgorica, from 27th to 28th of March 2015. The meeting in the Montenegro capital was attended by 32 representatives from 14 countries.
BY BARBARA NOVINEC, SLOVENIA
10 ESHA MAGAZINE MAY 2015
GA PODGORICA MONTENEGRO
The GA meeting was opened by the keynote welcome speech of Mr
Clive Byrne, the president of ESHA, and the host Mr Radiša Šćekić,
the president of the Association of School Leaders from Montenegro.
During the first day of the meeting we discussed the ESHA work plan
2015-2017, the financial report for 2014 and the financial plan for 2015,
as well as the last biennial conference in Dubrovnik, together with the
upcoming biennial conference in Maastricht in 2016, along with the
ICP (International Confederation of Principals) report and the Helsinki
conference, the World Education Forum, the ESHA website, and the
expansion of the ESHA membership. As ESHA connects more than
85,000 leaders in 30 European countries, it was recommended that
the representatives of associations encourage their members to visit
the ESHA website www.esha.org as regularly as possible. All national
association members were also urged to become actively involved in
creating the ESHA magazine, which is published eight times a year on
www.eshamagazine.com and is free of charge. We had the opportunity
ESHA MAGAZINE MAY 2015 11
GA PODGORICA MONTENEGROGA PODGORICA MONTENEGRO
to obtain the overview of the Montenegro education system (both
positive areas and challenges) and throughout the event the tourist
offer of Montenegro with its culture and cuisine was also introduced.
Montenegro being a country with many Entrepreneurship Education
best practices, the introduction to Entrepreneurial Education in
Europe and in Montenegro was presented. Entrepreneurship is seen
as a major engine for economic growth and job creation (Wong,
2005). The educational perspective of entrepreneurial education is to
achieve more interest, enjoyment, engagement, and creativity among
students, along with increased motivation and school engagement
(less student boredom and fewer dropouts).
The second day’s work consisted of discussion at workshops relat-
ed to: the issues arisen on the theme of Entrepreneurial Education,
exploring the potential of Erasmus+ funding program to advance
ESHA goals and priorities (motivation, exchange practices among
12 ESHA MAGAZINE MAY 2015
GA PODGORICA MONTENEGROGA PODGORICA MONTENEGRO
ESHA partners), advocating responsibility of the school principals for
educational outcomes of the students, and also the ESHA magazine
themes. Four EU projects which ESHA is involved in were presented:
European Policy Network of School Leadership: influencing policy
makers (autonomy, distributed leadership, etc.), Iguana: reducing
resistance to change, Quality for Innovation: project approach for
innovative schools, Entrepreneurial Leadership: course for school
heads.
There were group discussions
about what the best learning
practice and the challenging issue
in the schools system in each
partner country were. Throughout
discussions it was common to
all the partners that the budget
cuts and the financial conditions
throughout Europe do not affect
the important goal of all principals
and teachers which is to give stu-
dents the best possible education
and to prepare them for the global
life in the 21st century.
The conclusion of the meeting
was dedicated to the topics that
should be discussed in the future to provide greater value for ESHA
members. Bringing education of all European countries on a higher
level, creating links between delegates from schools of a similar size
and among sectors from different countries, as well as providing the
exchange of ideas, are certainly some of the primary benefits of the
ESHA membership. ESHA helps throughout the project involvement
with the international connections, sharing of best practices, imple-
menting innovations, and lobbying on the EC level.
ESHA MAGAZINE MAY 2015 13
KEY MYTHS ABOUT SCHOOLING
As ESHA has received the proposal from the Norwegian colleagues
to host the autumn General Assembly 2015, the next assembly
meeting will be held in Bergen on 30th-31st of October 2015. ESHA
will also support the organization of the regional conference for the
South-East of Europe, taking place in Belgrade, Serbia on 25th-27th
October 2015.
The General Assembly meeting joins the representatives of the
national associations with the aim of networking as well as further
development of cooperation among all educational institutions in
Europe through different activities and projects. The meeting in
Montenegro was held in pleasant atmosphere and was support-
ed by the generosity of the hosts who did their best to introduce
Montenegro as a well-known tourist destination with a picturesque
coast by the Adriatic Sea and a mountainous northern region in the
South East of Europe. We invite everyone to participate in the next
Assembly meeting in Bergen in October 2015 and also in the upcom-
ing biennial conference in Maastricht in October 2016. n
GA PODGORICA MONTENEGRO
14 ESHA MAGAZINE MAY 2015
KEY MYTHS ABOUT SCHOOLINGKEY MY THS ABOUT SCHOOLING
7 Myths About Schooling“EHSA is keen to work with key partners influencing education in Europe and around the world. We are delighted that Andreas Schleicher, Director of the OECD Directorate of Education and Skills, has agreed to share regular articles and updates through the pages of the ESHA magazine. In this, his first article for us, he explores seven key myths about schooling which are thoroughly debunked by OECD work including the high profile PISA studies.”
BY ANDREAS SCHLEICHER – OECD
GA PODGORICA MONTENEGRO
ESHA MAGAZINE MAY 2015 15
KEY MYTHS ABOUT SCHOOLINGKEY MYTHS ABOUT SCHOOLING
DEPRIVATION IS DESTINYTeachers all around the world struggle with making up for social
disadvantage in their classrooms. Some believe that deprivation is
destiny. And yet, results from PISA show that the 10% most disadvan-
taged 15-year-olds in Shanghai have better math skills than the 10%
most privileged students in the United States and several European
countries. More generally, children from similar social backgrounds
can show very different per-
formance levels, depending
on the school they go to or the
country they live in. The point
is that education systems
where disadvantaged students
succeed are able to moderate
social inequalities. They tend
to attract the most talented
teachers to the most challeng-
ing classrooms and the most
capable school leaders to the most disadvantaged schools, thus
challenging all students with high standards and excellent teaching.
They foster new forms of educational provision that take learning to
the learner in ways that allow students from all backgrounds to learn
in the ways that are most conducive to their progress.
IMMIGRANTS ARE A DRAG ON THE OVERALL PERFORMANCE OF SCHOOL SYSTEMSIntegrating students with an immigrant background can be challeng-
ing, and their performance in school can be only partially attributed to
their host country’s education system. Some observers have attrib-
uted the lower performance of education systems in PISA to a higher
share of immigrants. And yet, results from PISA show no relationship
between the share of students with an immigrant background in a
16 ESHA MAGAZINE MAY 2015
KEY MYTHS ABOUT SCHOOLINGKEY MYTHS ABOUT SCHOOLING
country and the overall performance of students in that country.
Even students with the same migration history and background show
very different performance levels across countries, suggesting that
where students go to schools makes much more of a difference than
where they come from.
IT’S ALL ABOUT MONEYWithout investment in skills people languish on the margins of
society, technological progress does not translate into productivi-
ty growth, and countries can no longer compete in an increasingly
knowledge-based global economy. And yet, educational expenditure
per student explains less than 20% of the variation in student perfor-
mance across OECD countries. For example, students in the Slovak
Republic, which spends around USD 53,000 per student between the
age of 6 and 15, performs at the same level at age 15 as the United
States which spends over USD 115,000 per student. Korea, the high-
est-performing OECD country in mathematics, spends well below the
average per-student expenditure. Similarly, only 12% of the student
performance variation across countries can be predicted by GDP per
capita. The world seems no
longer divided between rich
and well-educated countries
and poor and badly educated
ones and success is no longer
about how much money is
spent, but about how money
is spent.
EDUCATIONAL QUALITY AND PERSONALISATION IS ABOUT CLASS SIZEEverywhere, teachers, parents and policy-makers favour small class-
es as the key to better and more personalised education. Reductions
ESHA MAGAZINE MAY 2015 17
KEY MYTHS ABOUT SCHOOLINGKEY MYTHS ABOUT SCHOOLING
in class size have also been the main reason behind the significant
increases in expenditure per student in most countries over the last
decade. And yet, PISA results show no relationship between class
size and learning outcomes, neither within nor across countries.
More interestingly, the highest performing education systems in PISA
tend to systematically prioritise the quality of teachers over the size
of classes, that is, wherever they have to make a choice between a
smaller class and a better teacher, they go for the latter. Rather than
in small classes, they invest in competitive teacher salaries, on-going
professional development and a balance in working time that allows
teachers to contribute to their profession and to grow in their careers.
SUCCESS IN EDUCATION IS ABOUT TALENTThe writings of many educational psychologists, from Terman on,
have fostered a widespread notion that student achievement is
mainly a product of inherited intelligence, not hard work. This is also
mirrored in results from PISA where a significant share of students in
the Western world reported that they needed good luck rather than
hard work to do well in mathematics or science, a characteristic that
was consistently negatively related to performance. Teachers may
feel guilty pressing students who they perceive to be less capable
to achieve at higher levels because they think it unfair to the student
to do so. Their goal is then
likely to enable each student
to achieve up to the mean of
students in their classrooms
rather than, as in Finland,
Singapore or Shanghai-China,
to achieve high universal
standards. A comparison
between school marks and
performance of students in
18 ESHA MAGAZINE MAY 2015
KEY MYTHS ABOUT SCHOOLINGKEY MYTHS ABOUT SCHOOLING
PISA also suggests that teachers often expect less of students from
lower socio-economic backgrounds even if the students show simi-
lar levels of achievement. And those students and their parents may
expect less, too. This is a heavy burden for education systems to
bear, and it is unlikely that school systems will achieve performance
parity with the best-performing countries until they accept that, with
enough effort and support, all children can achieve at very high
levels.
In Finland, Japan, Singapore, Shanghai-China and Hong Kong-
China, students, parents,
teachers and the public at large
tend to share the belief that all
students are capable of achiev-
ing high standards and need to
do so. Students in those sys-
tems consistently reported that
if they tried hard, they would
trust in their teachers to help
them excel. One of the most
interesting patterns observed
among some of the highest-performing countries was the gradual
move from a system in which students were streamed into different
types of secondary schools, with curricula set to very different levels
of cognitive demand, to a system in which all students now go to
secondary schools with curricula set to much the same high level of
cognitive demand. Those countries did not accomplish this transi-
tion by taking the average of the previous levels of cognitive demand
and setting the new standards to that level. Instead, they “levelled
up”, requiring all students to meet the standards that they formerly
expected only their elite students to meet. In these top-performing
education systems, all students are now expected to perform at the
levels formerly thought possible only for their elites.
ESHA MAGAZINE MAY 2015 19
KEY MYTHS ABOUT SCHOOLINGKEY MYTHS ABOUT SCHOOLING
In these education systems, universal high expectations are not a
mantra but a reality and students who start to fall behind are iden-
tified quickly, their problem is promptly and accurately diagnosed
and the appropriate course of action is quickly taken. Inevitably, this
means that some students get more resources than others because
the needs of some students are greater; but it is the students with
the greatest needs to who get the most resources, for that reason.
EXCELLENCE IS ABOUT SELECTIONFor centuries educators have wondered how they should design
educational school systems so that they best serve student needs.
Some countries have adopted non-selective and comprehensive
school systems that seek to provide all students with similar oppor-
tunities, leaving it to each teacher and school to cater to the full
range of student abilities, interests and backgrounds. Other coun-
tries respond to diversity by grouping or tracking students, whether
between schools or between classes within schools, with the aim
of serving students according to their academic potential and/or
interests in specific programmes. Conventional wisdom has it that
the former serves equity, while the latter fosters quality and excel-
lence. The assumption underlying selection policies somehow is that
students’ talents will develop best
when students reinforce each oth-
er’s interest in learning, and create
an environment that is more con-
ducive to effective teaching. And
yet, international comparisons
show now trade-off between the
quality of learning outcomes and
equity in the distribution of edu-
cational opportunities, the highest
performing education systems
20 ESHA MAGAZINE MAY 2015
KEY MYTHS ABOUT SCHOOLINGKEY MYTHS ABOUT SCHOOLING
combine both. And none of the countries with a high degree of
stratification, whether in the form of tracking, streaming, or grade
repetition is among the top performing education systems or among
the systems with the highest share of top performers. n
ESHA MAGAZINE MAY 2015 21
INCLUSION AND RECOVERYINCLUSION AND RECOVERY
Best practice of inclusion and recovery in anItalian schoolIn the last fifteen years a lot of progress has been made in Italy in pedagogical treatment for unruly children with the aim of improving their real inclusion in the classrooms and reduce the percentage of dropping out of school and their failure. The Italian government doesn’t supply schools in this situation, so the principals have to plan and organize, in autonomy, specific actions low cost for inclusion and treatment of naughty children with entrepreneurial and creative actions.
BY PINELLA GIUFFRIDA, ANP - ITALY
22 ESHA MAGAZINE MAY 2015
INCLUSION AND RECOVERY
A good practice has been undertaken in Syracuse, South Italy, in the
“Chindemi” Comprehensive School which is located in the slums of
the town.
In the past the managing of naughty pupils in this school was very
complicated because of the high number of children and families
with problems. The strategies that the school improved where too
many and too different and not coordinated among themselves.
When the problem became too urgent, the principal stimulated the
teacher's board to plan a unitary strategy that could involve the
whole school for the pedagogical managing of the great number of
naughty children that attended classes and a small number of unruly
pupils who were reaching a dropping out situation.
The teaching board planned an action aimed at promoting support
to students who had linguistic, logic, psycho-emotional shortage,
creating favourable conditions concerning concentration.
ESHA MAGAZINE MAY 2015 23
INCLUSION AND RECOVERYINCLUSION AND RECOVERY
The aim of the project was strengthening human relationship which
made easier the teaching-learning process, integrating diversity,
recovering failure and dropping out school.
The principal was certain that putting the greatest attention on strat-
egies concerning individual curricula would be an effective answer
to both the problems concerning disadvantages of pupils' problems
and development of their potentiality.
The questions posed on a didactic culture, often monopolized by
recovery themes, summoned the necessity to sustain teachers who
were absorbed by unruly pupils who risked dropping out of school.
To focus his attention on a great number of Italian studies concerning
the link between embarrassment for the failure of the scholastic out-
come and the school abandoning, the principal urged the teachers’
board to arrange a school unitary project that improved the quality
of learning conditions concerning pupils frustrated by uneasiness
caused by their failure.
This project, improving easy learning conditions and reducing fail-
ure possibilities, would have raised the educational outcome of the
pupils but particularly decreased the sense of failure and therefore
the drop-out of school.
The school leader has first pressed the team of expert teachers, who
worked in the school, and then the whole teachers' board to plan an
action that involved all school teachers, also those who didn’t have
unruly children in their classes and even a small number of retired
teachers willing to give their contribution to the school.
It was the first time in Italy that a principal employed retired teachers
who had a contract of occasional work without salary, a voluntary
work, and worked as senior tutors in the school cooperating with
teachers teaching to pupils in trouble.
The detailed planning stage of the intervention foresaw, at first, some
24 ESHA MAGAZINE MAY 2015
INCLUSION AND RECOVERYINCLUSION AND RECOVERY
teachers meeting to work out each pupilۥs specific profile and study
deeply, each pupilۥs learning difficulties. At a later time it scheduled
didactic planning and each pupilۥs personalized curriculum timeta-
ble which became belonging to the “school” and not to the “class”.
Each pupil in trouble enrolled in “Chindemi” school, according to his
own skills, inclinations, deficiencies and difficulties, follows a curric-
ulum that starts from some classes attended within his original class
group, which however remains his
reference point in the school, and
winds through the strengthening
of some subjects that the pupils
attend in other classes (according
to their skills)or in small tempo-
rary groups supervised by some
of the teachers in the school or by
retired voluntary teachers.
In this way the first aim of the
project is achieved: stimulate
the pupils to become more moti-
vated towards studying through
the individuation of alternative
curricula, developing in the small
external group the skill to collaborate with the teacher, (quick under-
standing didactic orders, carrying them out, feeling autonomy within
the task, being enterprising) increasing each personal curriculum
with subjects more suitable to the pupil, asking external teachers
to give remedial classes (as Italian or Maths) that the pupil cannot
attend with his classmates because too difficult for him. Teachers
can promote in these pupils, throughout their curriculum, their basic
and character needs.
They can also educate them to stay together opposing and preventing
Teachers can promote in these
pupils, throughout their curriculum,
their basic and character needs
ESHA MAGAZINE MAY 2015 25
INCLUSION AND RECOVERYINCLUSION AND RECOVERY
the troubled children to feel inadequate and losers compared with
their classmates.
Every curriculum is expanded according to each student’s needs;
they participate to more physical education lessons with students
of other classes if they have attitude to Physical Education, or to
more ICT lessons if they prefer using computers. Italian, Maths and
Science lessons will be personalized with the help of the tutors.
In a climate of permanent welcoming where social-cultural-affective
integration is favoured, students start to reach gradually a positive
and a participative attitude even in their normal student life, they fill
the gaps, regaining linguistic-expressive and logic-cognitive skills
and abilities concerning learning methods.
Chess, gardening, ICT and practical activities in the technological
area have completed the curriculum and have made it more appealing.
In this way school has been able to prevent discomfort either in stu-
dents in trouble and in their classmates. It reduced significantly the
percentage of drop out and one of the most interesting thing was the
prevention of the collapse of motivation in the classmates of naughty
students who, until that moment, lived with difficulty the presence of
troubled pupils in their classrooms. n
MARCO, A RESTLESS WANDERERMarco was already fourteen and still attended the sixth class of
primary school with children aged eleven. He lived in a slump and
he spent his mornings running around the neighbourhood with his
motorbike acting as a hooligan especially towards his classmates
and his teachers when they left school.
Marco had become aggressive also by his school failures, he didn’t
follow any rules. When he sometimes came to school he created
confusion and trouble.
26 ESHA MAGAZINE MAY 2015
INCLUSION AND RECOVERYINCLUSION AND RECOVERY
Unwillingly teachers tolerated Marco: when he was in his classroom
disorder and anarchy reigned, classes weren’t concluded. His class-
mates couldn’t stand him because they were afraid of being beaten
and were annoyed about his presence.
Parents were apprehensive for the safety of their children and angry
because Marco was not an example of good behaviour.
At the beginning of the new school year Marco, integrated in the
‘Tutor Programme’, was picked up outside the school by his former
Maths teacher, that he liked, who had retired two years before and
was working on this project.
Marco’s curriculum scheduled the doubling of Physical Education
and ICT hours in a parallel classroom. Playing chess with the external
group of classmates for two hours a week he developed logic capac-
ity. He had individualized Italian and Maths lessons for ten hours a
week, and took up gardening with his Science teacher developing a
great interest for looking after and growing plants.
In a little time Marco became proud of having a special programme,
happy to work with his favourite teacher, he positively accepted the
proposal to become responsible and get going within the school
among classrooms and laboratories with his personal scheduled
timetable, like a university student.
Marco felt the attention focalized on him, he felt motivated because
his learning became more meaningful every day, it started to be a
pleasure for him to come to school every day because he understood
that he could succeed, he was having his first academic successes.
He became peaceful during Music, Physical Education, English and
Art classes. While his successes grew his uneasiness decreased.
In two years’ time he was able to take middle school exams and
succeed. He is now attending a vocational Agricultural school.
ESHA MAGAZINE MAY 2015 27
INCLUSIVE EDUCATIONINCLUSIVE EDUCATION
InclusiveeducationAn Croatian experienceBY BISERKA MATIC, CROATIA
28 ESHA MAGAZINE MAY 2015
INCLUSIVE EDUCATION
CHILDREN WHO LEARN TOGETHER, LEARN TO LIVE TOGETHER
Inclusive education is an approach focused on educational needs of
all children, youth and adults with disabilities by focusing on vulner-
able groups in terms of marginalization and exclusion. The principles
of inclusive education were accepted at the World Conference on
Special Needs Education: Access and Quality in Salamanca, Spain
in 1994, and at the World Education Forum in Dakar in 2000. The idea
of inclusive education has been supported by the UN Standard Rules
on the Equalization of Opportunities for Persons with Disabilities,
proclaiming that the participation and equality for all human diver-
sities are natural, contributing to the wealth of any society and it
must be reflected in schools. Schools must provide the possibility of
inclusion through wider choice of methods and individual approach.
ESHA MAGAZINE MAY 2015 29
INCLUSIVE EDUCATIONINCLUSIVE EDUCATION
Inclusive education means that schools can provide good educa-
tion for all students regardless of their different abilities. All children
are treated with respect. The school provides equal opportunity of
co-education. Inclusive education is a process that develops and
progresses.
The education system in the Republic of Croatia consists of: pre-
school education, primary education, secondary education and
higher education.
Preschool education in the Republic
of Croatia includes education,
training and care for preschool
children, and it is realized through
programs of education, training,
health care, nutrition and social
care for children from six months
to school age.
The eight-year primary educa-
tion in the Republic of Croatia is
mandatory and free for all children
from the ages of seven to fifteen.
After finishing primary school,
children are becoming part of
secondary education system.
Under the same conditions and
according to his/her own abilities, secondary education provides
everyone to continue their education and acquire knowledge and
working skills.
Inclusive education has been carried out in Croatia since 1980s. In
the beginning it took a lot of patience, understanding and tolerance
to break down prejudices related to children with disabilities and their
education. Schools often disapproved the attempts of integration of
children with disabilities in the regular education system. However,
Inclusive education means that schools can provide good education for all students regardless of their different abilities
30 ESHA MAGAZINE MAY 2015
INCLUSIVE EDUCATIONINCLUSIVE EDUCATION
everybody’s attitudes have changed since then, teachers have been
provided with extra training and our society has realized that children
with disabilities cannot be excluded from real life. They have equal
rights to quality education as well as other children.
The Non Governmental Organizations, especially associations of par-
ents of children with disabilities were of great importance in improving
inclusive education. After having realized that teachers need extra help
in the classroom, they have come up with a project The Classroom
Assistant, in order to ensure children equal access to education and
additional forms of assistance and support for teachers and parents.
The NGOs themselves organized assistant training through various
projects in partnership with schools and the local community. The
training was held by experts (special educators, psychologists, occu-
pational therapists) as well as practitioners from schools.
ESHA MAGAZINE MAY 2015 31
INCLUSIVE EDUCATIONINCLUSIVE EDUCATION
The good practice has shown that, in inclusive education, motivation
is often more important than working conditions. It happened that
schools with poor equipment and inadequate professional support
were among the first in promoting inclusion.
After the project had been realized and showed great improvement
in education and socialization of children with disabilities in regu-
lar schools, local communities started to finance the project The
Classroom Assistant in their areas.
The new Strategy for Education, Science and Technology, adopted
by the Croatian Parliament in December 2014, provides that spe-
cial education will deal only with the most complex cases, and that
special institutions will be transformed into centres of professional
support for the regular educational system.
HOW DOES IT WORK IN PRACTICE?In Croatia, almost all children with disabilities are enrolled in regu-
lar primary schools. Only a very small number of children and with
extremely severe and multiple (combined) disabilities are educated
in special institutions (special schools).
When children enrol in a regular primary school, the expert team
consisting of a school medicine physician, a special educator, a ped-
agogical adviser and a school teacher suggest forms of education
adapted to a child with disabilities.
They create the appropriate educational program with support meas-
ures (including teaching assistants). It is formally approved by the
local education authorities and The Ministry of Science, Education
and Sport. The financing of assistants is left to the local communities.
Children are taught individualized programs with the daily help of
assistants (they help a child all the time during the school day) and a
professional support of a teacher and a special educator.
Classroom assistants are usually students of teacher training col-
leges, special education colleges or young teachers. They all attend
32 ESHA MAGAZINE MAY 2015
INCLUSIVE EDUCATIONINCLUSIVE EDUCATION
additional training related to education of children with disabilities in
the Teacher Training Agency or NGOs.
Duties and obligations of assistants are the following: help with
studying, in communication and social inclusion, in moving, feeding,
fulfilling hygiene needs, assistance in writing, encouraging to do the
given tasks, additional explanations, help with homework, encour-
aging collaboration with other students. In special cases assistants
need to know the sign language
and braille.
With this kind of help, inclusive
education includes children
with cerebral palsy, ADD, Down
syndrome, specific learning diffi-
culties, autism and children with
vision and hearing disabilities.
We can be happy when we see
these children grow up and
develop their abilities to the
limit. The school environment
is supportive, so the children
and their parents feel happy and
accepted.
PRACTICAL EXPERIENCEWe have positive experience
with this type of education.
Since positive experiences create positive attitudes, the benefits are
mutual.
Children with disabilities stay and learn in their natural environment
and, with constant encouragement, they achieve academic skills
that enable them further education. Their emotional and social
development is equally important. It takes place in the atmosphere
It is important to mention that children equally participate in all
school activities, outdoor education,
various events, fairs and public
appearances
ESHA MAGAZINE MAY 2015 33
INCLUSIVE EDUCATIONINCLUSIVE EDUCATION
of acceptance and provides children with a sense of belonging,
security and warmth they cannot get in special institutions.
Their peers learn about tolerance, understanding, helping and
responsibility towards other and different children. The presence
of a child with disabilities in the classroom is accepted as natural,
everybody’s attitudes are changing and the child is seen as an equal
member of the community.
We can say that the education of children with disabilities is an
extremely complex and demanding process: On the other side,
the experience we have got through that process has enriched
our personal and professional development. We have learned that,
in addition to stimulating cognitive development, it is extremely
important to develop a relationship of belonging, tolerance, under-
standing and social sensitivity towards vulnerable groups within
the society. Our children have brought a lot of warmth, love and
kindness to our schools and we hope that we have been able to
give it back to them. n
A mother has once said that caring for a child with disabilities is a
difficult, emotionally painful, physically exhausting and a demanding
job. If possible, every mother would eliminate the handicap of her child.
But very few mothers would renounce the benefits gained by that expe-
rience. (Landsman, according Zaviršek 2007)
34 ESHA MAGAZINE MAY 2015
INCLUSIVE EDUCATIONINCLUSIVE EDUCATION
ESHA MAGAZINE MAY 2015 35
BULLYING PREVENTIONBULLYING PREVENTION
Bullying by students with disabilities reduced by social-emotional learningBullying perpetration decreased by 20 percent over a three-year period among youths with disabilities who participated in a social and emotional learning program, a new study found.
BY EDUCATIONAL PSYCHOLOGIST AND YOUTH
VIOLENCE EXPERT DOROTHY ESPELAGE,
GUTGSELL ENDOWED PROFESSOR OF CHILD
DEVELOPMENT AND HARDIE SCHOLAR, OF THE
UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS.
36 ESHA MAGAZINE MAY 2015
BULLYING PREVENTION
More than 120 students with disabilities at two school districts in
the Midwest participated in the research, which was part of a larger
three-year clinical trial of the widely used social-emotional learning
curricula Second Step.
Funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the study
was led by bullying and youth violence expert Dorothy L. Espelage
of the University of Illinois. Co-authors of the study were: Joshua R.
Polanin, of Vanderbilt University’s Peabody Research Institute, and
Chad A. Rose, of the University of Missouri at Columbia.
During the sixth through eighth grades, stu-
dents in the intervention schools received
a total of 41 Second Step lessons, which
addressed bullying, emotional regulation,
empathy and communication skills.
Forty-seven children received the curricula,
and seventy-six peers were in the control
group.
At the beginning of the study, students were
surveyed on their involvement in verbal and
relational bullying, victimization by peers and
fighting. Students were re-assessed during
each of the three subsequent spring terms.
Self-reported bullying perpetration signifi-
cantly decreased over the course of the study
among students with disabilities who received
the Second Step lessons.
“The significant reduction in bullying perpetration over this three-year
study is a notable finding, because much of the existing literature
suggests that students with disabilities are overrepresented in the
bullying dynamic,” said Espelage, the Gutgsell Endowed Professor
Peer victimization
declines 20 percent over 3-year
study
ESHA MAGAZINE MAY 2015 37
BULLYING PREVENTIONBULLYING PREVENTION
of child development and Hardie Scholar of Education in the depart-
ment of educational psychology. “Evidence suggests that this may
be because they are more likely to have social and communication
skills deficits, and these are foundational skills taught in the Second
Step program.”
Equal numbers - 47 percent - of youths in the intervention and the
control groups had learning disabilities, while the remainder had
cognitive, speech/language or emotional disabilities and/or health
impairments.
According to prior research, students with behavioral disabilities are
more likely to be identified as bullies by their teachers and peers than
are other students.
Espelage and her co-authors
hypothesize that the prev-
alence of peer aggression
among these students may be
a function or manifestation of
their disabilities - perhaps an
aggressive reaction to social
stimuli - and whether they are
placed in inclusive or restric-
tive classrooms.
The potential impact of educational placement is a notable issue,
the researchers said, because more than 39 percent of students
with behavioral disorders are educated in restrictive environments,
according to data from the U.S. Dept. of Education.
In a 2009 study, Rose and his colleagues found that students with
disabilities who received their educational services in restrictive
environments were twice as likely to be bullies compared with peers
without disabilities.
38 ESHA MAGAZINE MAY 2015
BULLYING PREVENTIONBULLYING PREVENTION
They also were 1.3 times as likely to bully peers compared with
students who had similar disabilities but were educated in more
inclusive environments.
Reductions in fighting were not significant among children who
received the Second Step intervention or their peers in the control
group, a finding that was unexpected, given that significant reduc-
tions in fighting were found in the larger clinical trial from which the
sample was drawn, the researchers said.
The researchers hypothesized that the SEL programming may have
been more successful at teaching students with disabilities to reflect
on and actively manage their impulses toward proactive aggression,
but not reactive aggression.
These students’ reactive aggression could be a manifestation of
the social information processing deficits associated with their
behavioral disabilities, prompting them to respond aggressively in
nonthreatening social situations, the researchers suggest.
If these behaviors are disability-related, specific interventions need
to be developed - above and beyond universal SEL programming - to
identify and address possible triggers and social reinforcers for each
child and incorporate them into each child’s Individualized Education
Program, the researchers recommended.
Under federal law, each child eligible for special education services
must have an Individualized Education Program, a document that
specifies how their disability affects their learning process and pro-
vides goals and objectives to help them learn more effectively. n
The paper is available online ahead of publication in the journal
Remedial and Special Education.
ESHA MAGAZINE MAY 2015 39
International ConferenceHow leadership secures
access and quality of educationAn international approach
4th and 5th of June 2015Imperial Hotel, Plovdiv, Bulgaria
The World Education Forum and the Municipality of Plovdiv, Bulgaria will host an international
conference on “How leadership secures access and quality of education: an international
approach” The conference will take place on 4th and 5th of June 2015 at Imperial Hotel, Plovdiv.
The World Education Forum was founded in Toronto and the Netherlands in 2011 and it
currently has many active members in the USA, Finland, Belgium, Great Britain, Slovenia,
Hungary, Norway, Spain, Ukraine, Russia, New Zealand and China. Its objectives are: creating
equal conditions for quality education accessible for all children around the globe, creating a
global network of schools aiming to exchange good practices and innovations, and supporting
national education priorities.
40 ESHA MAGAZINE MAY 2015
ESHA MAGAZINE MAY 2015 41
PARTICPANTS
We are glad to announce the confirmed conference participants:
• Ton Duif, President of World Education Forum, past ESHA president
• Henk Janssen, WEF representative
• Frans Schmitz, WEF representative
• Professor Michael Schratz, University of Innsbruck, Austria
• PhD in economics Yanka Takeva, Chairman of the Teachers Union, Bulgaria
• Lazar Dodev, Director of “Organisation, control and inspection” directorate at the
Ministry of Science and Education, Bulgaria
• Prof. PhD Galin Tsokov, executive dean of the Pedagogical department at University
of Plovdiv “Paisiy Hilendarski”, Plovdiv, Bulgaria
• Metody Terziev, Institutional Partnership Director of “Together in Class”
Foundation
• Ivan Totev, Mayor of Plovdiv, Bulgaria
• Architect Ilko Nikolov, Chairperson of the Municipality of Plovdiv, Bulgaria
• Experts and representatives from the Regional Education Inspectorate and
Municipalities in Bulgaria
Sharing good practices and innovations motivate us to work together towards equal
access to quality education for all children. Now you can become part of the com-
munity of leaders in education through our initiative. All participants will receive a
certificate of participation.
LOCATION
In the links below you can see The Old town of Plovdiv:
http://bulgariatravel.org/en/object/9/Stariq_Plovdiv
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Plovdiv
Accommodation will be at Imperial Hotel, Plovdiv:
http://hotelimperial.bg/
>
42 ESHA MAGAZINE MAY 2015
TRAVELINFORMATION
International visitors should fly to Sofia. They will be picked up and transferred to
Plovdiv by the conference organisation. They should send their flight details to
mariawefbg@abv.bg till May 30th 2015.
COSTS AND PAYMENTS
Participation requires payment of the full participation fee with accommodation which
includes: Transport from Sofia airport to Plovdiv and back, organization and technical
support; access to all program sessions; participation of guests and speakers; two
lunch meals (on 4 and 5 June 2015), one Gala dinner (4 June 2015); two coffee breaks,
simultaneous translation, accommodation + breakfast for 3 June and 4 June and/or
5 June in a single or double room. The participation fee with accommodation is calcu-
lated according to the accommodation type:
Participation+ accommodation
2 nights per personVAT incl.
3 nights per personVAT incl.
single standard room 193 euro 222 euro
deluxe single room 213euro 252euro
double standard room 173euro 192euro
deluxe double room 183 euro 207euro
Participation should be confirmed before June 1st 2015 by sending your application
online with the link http://goo.gl/forms/h0M2jaLRSV
Payment should be made together with sending the registration to the following bank
account:
UniCredit Bulbank
IBAN BG96 UNCR70001522109344 / BIC UNCRBGSF
To: Foundation World Education Forum Bulgaria – WEFBG
For: participation fee for … (participant’s names)
ESHA MAGAZINE MAY 2015 43
Invoices can be issued upon request. Please submit all required invoice details in
the participation form. Invoices are issued only after payment is received and will be
distributed to the participants at conference registration. According to hotel booking
regulations, in case of cancelation only half the amount can be refunded. Deadline for
sending participation forms and payment: 15 April 2015.
You can find additional information for the international conference at:
worldeducationforum-bg.wikispaces.com
PROGRAM
03.06. 2015
Arrival at Airport Sofia and transfer to Imperial Plovdiv hotel
04.06.2015
09.30 — 11.00 Registration
11.00 — 11.30 Opening
11.30 — 12.00 “Globalization and the educational system during 21 century“
Introduction and set up of World Education Forum (WEF) Bulgaria.
Signing the contract by representatives of WEF Global and WEF
Bulgaria.
12.00 — 12.30 Keynote speaker Professor Michael Schratz, University of Innsbruck,
Austria
Teacher Leadership in the framework of the lower secondary school
reform of the Austrian school system
12.30 — 13.30 Lunch
13.30 — 14.30 Presentations of key-note speakers from Bulgaria
PhD in economics Yanka Takeva, Chairman of the Teachers Union,
Bulgaria
Lazar Dodev, Director of “Organisation, control and inspection”
directorate at the Ministry of Science and Education, Bulgaria
14.30 — 15.00 Coffee break >
44 ESHA MAGAZINE MAY 2015
15.30 — 17.00 Good Practices panel – Exchange workshops:
1. ”Teach like a leader” (language: Bulgarian)
2. “Moral leadership in modern education”
(simultaneous translation)
3. Mission and activities of the World Education Forum
(language: English)
17.00 — 20.00 Free time ( Sightseeing of interesting places in Plovdiv)
20.00 Official dinner
05.06.201509.30 — 11.00 Presentations of keynote speakers from Bulgaria Prof. PhD Galin Tsokov, executive dean of the Pedagogical department
at University of Plovdiv “Paisiy Hilendarski”, Plovdiv, Bulgaria, Metody Terziev, Institutional Partnership Director of “Together in Class” Foundation,
Vaska Atanasova, Experts from the Regional Education Inspectorate11.00 — 11.30 Coffee break11.30 — 12.30 Good Practices panel Presentations of good practices from participants in the conference –
Head teachers and teachers12.30 — 13.30 Lunch13.30 — 15.30 Visits in schools in Plovdiv – Good practices15.30 — 16.30 Closure of the conference and receiving certificates Departure-transfer to the Sofia airport
ESHA MAGAZINE MAY 2015 45