ISSA Co-hosts Major International Conference on Inclusive Education

ISSA Co-hosts Major International Conference on Inclusive Education

From 11-13 July 2010, ISSA was pleased to co-host Riga 2010: Embracing Inclusive Approaches for Children and Youth with Special Education Needs. The conference was co-hosted by The Division of International Special Education and Services, the Council for Exceptional Children, the Center for Education Initiatives, and the International Step by Step Association, under the patronage of the Latvian First Lady Lilita Zatlere and took place in Riga, Latvia. This conference was intended for all those who believe that children and youth with special education needs deserve all possible support to develop their potential and become equal members of society; who agree that inclusive education is the best way to guarantee the rights of each child; who want to learn about interesting innovations and best practices for making the world a more inclusive place for every child, as well as to contribute their own experiences.

As more and more countries around the world strive towards the goals of the Education for All initiative, there is growing political will and pressure from the grassroots to demand for education systems to turn to increasingly inclusive approaches in order to meet the needs of children and youth who have traditionally been excluded from mainstream education or have been denied education at all. To explore the latest research, best practices, and innovations in making the world a better place for each child, regardless of their abilities and needs, more than 500 educational practitioners, researchers, policy makers, and NGO activists from more than 60 countries from Europe and around the world gathered in beautiful Riga to attend the conference, which was organized in partnership with and with support from the Open Society Institute, and also with the technical support and participation of UNICEF CEE/CIS.

The conference was also a very important event for Latvia and the whole region. The Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Latvia, UNESCO LNK, Riga City Council, Soros Foundation-Latvia, and many other organizations and municipalities were instrumental in preparing for and hosting the event, as well as enabling more than 110 researchers and practitioners from Latvia to take part in the conference, learn from the guests, and share experiences from the event's host country. Participants discussed how more extensive partnerships can be developed at all levels around the Baltic Sea and in the post-communist region, as well as how the East and West can work together more closely, benefiting and learning from each other's experiences.

In the opening keynote Dr. Phyllis Magrab, Director of the Georgetown University Center for Child and Human Development, reminded participants that the desired results of an inclusive approach are a sense of belonging and membership, positive social relationships and friendships, and the development and learning of each child with special educational needs to reach their full potential. Twenty years of research have proved that there are three important aspects for gaining success: valuing differences promoting a culture of equality of opportunity, partnering with families individualizing learning opportunities and creating a wide range of teaching strategies to promote collaboration across the human service delivery system.

Gunta Anca, Chair of the Latvian Umbrella Body for Disability Organizations SUSTENTO, told her story of being a girl who was excluded from school on the 1st of September, a widespread and well-loved holiday celebrating the beginning of the new school year in the region, to becoming an advocate for the rights of people with disabilities. SUSTENTO unites 32 organizations, members of these organizations are people with different kinds of disabilities and chronic diseases who work together toward better policies for people with disabilities and chronic diseases, which prevent discrimination and safeguard human rights. Over the years, NGOs have become one of the key players in the governmental negotiation process, have a specialized knowledge, technical expertise, research capacities and local contacts, and therefore should take on a more important role in reinforcing changes in the education systems to ensure that high quality education is available and accessible to all pupils with disabilities.

The concept of the conference was based on research and practice findings that have shown abundant benefits, both academic and social, to all children and youth involved in inclusive education programs. However, simply placing children with special educational needs in mainstream classrooms without appropriate planning, commitment, and support does not guarantee positive outcomes. As emphasized by one of the speakers, Prof. Ulf Janson from Sweden, inclusive education should not be considered a strategy for how to work with children with special educational needs. Inclusion reflects fundamental principles in society celebrating diversity, aims at promoting development and learning for everyone, and providing areas for social participation in learning and caring environments, peer relations, and interactions

The conference participants welcomed to the conference a diverse roster of distinguished keynote speakers whose inspirational speeches addressed the issue of inclusive approaches from many different angles: Gunta Anca, Chair, Latvian Umbrella Body for Disability Organizations SUSTENTO, Riga, Latvia; Dr. Elena Kozhevnikova, Director, Early Intervention Institute, St. Petersburg, Russian Federation; Dr. Phyllis Magrab, Director, Georgetown University Center for Child and Human Development, Washington, D.C., USA; Marope Mmantsetsa, Director of Division for the Promotion of Basic Education, UNESCO, France; Dr. Deborah Ziegler, Associate Executive Director, Policy & Advocacy Services, Council for Exceptional Children, Arlington, Virginia, USA.

In the closing session Mrs. Ingrida Circene, Member of the Latvian Parliament and a medical doctor by education and professional background addressed participants, emphasizing how important it is to join forces of different specialists to make sure that each child, especially children with social educational needs, receive more love, more understanding, and more support from society. The essence of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, according to Mrs. Circene, can be expressed in a very simple way: "life-long equal opportunities for everybody; life-long equal rights for everybody." Our task is to make it happen.

In this exciting and prestigious international event, participants shared and learned about evidenced-based practices with an emphasis on access, quality, and equity; creative, comprehensive inclusive education approaches; innovations in creating inclusive schools; and integrating research into practice to create stronger links with stakeholders. Participants worked together to explore opportunities to align inclusive special education implementation with the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, and UNESCO's Education for All.

A special Early Years Strand in the conference was hosted by the International Step by Step Association (ISSA), a leading network of ECD professionals and organizations primarily from Central and Eastern Europe and Central Asia. This strand emphasized the importance of early intervention and support for development, explored special needs as an outcome of complex interactions between health conditions and the physical and social environment, and offered practical solutions to deal with complex issues which may prevent young children from learning and from developing to their full potential.

ISSA's approach to inclusive education was reflected also by the presentation of Marope Mmantsetsa, Director of Division for the Promotion of Basic Education, UNESCO, who with great passion reminded us that we have to start at the beginning, not at the end, and early childhood education and care is a critical entry point to inclusive human capital development. In the September 2010 UNESCO World Conference on Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) Building the Wealth of Nations will take place in Moscow and will provide another opportunity to raise important questions and to mobilize political will, research findings, and professional expertise to effect change on behalf of children and their families.

Describing differences between inclusive and traditional approaches, Dr. Elena Kozhevnikova, Director of the Early Intervention Institute, St. Petersburg, Russian Federation, reminded us that we have to create possibilities for children to be children, to play and be happy, making the environment and life more "normal" and suitable for them and their families, not trying to correct children to fit better in the existing systems.

Deborah A. Ziegler, Associate Executive Director for Policy and Advocacy Services at the Council for Exceptional Children, highlighted various provisions of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and identified key aspects of successful advocacy campaigns. She emphasized the importance of well articulated policy that emanates from a body of research and the responsibility of State parties to provide appropriate fiscal resources consistently in order to provide for high quality education that is aligned to high standards.

In the week following the conference, when many conference participants continued enjoy Latvia or other Baltic States, Latvian First Lady Lilita Zatlere invited representatives of the organizers and participants of the conference for reflection on the event and what should be next steps in the direction of the inclusive education towards inclusive society in Latvia.

Embracing inclusive approaches is a work in progress - for ISSA, for all its member organizations and countries, as well for all other countries, professionals, and individual across the globe.

A full program of the event and more information about the organizers can be found on the conference website.

Presentations will be posted on the conference website late this summer.

For more information about the conference, please contact Eva Izsak.