The use of the Index for Inclusion in a regional educational learning community

This project utilised the materials of the Index for Inclusion (Booth & Ainscow, 2002) to enhance the development of a learning community of educators in Education Queensland in 2009. The values, dimensions and indicators of the Index for Inclusion, were incorporated into the professional development package, On the Same Page (Education Queensland, 2008), to enhance its wider purpose to improve inclusive education practices explicit within the P-12 Curriculum Framework (Education Queensland, 2008). The incorporation of the values, dimensions and indicators of the Index enabled deeper reflection by participants about their expectations of students and their resulting teaching practices. The subsequent development of action plans assisted participants to develop “a curriculum for all” (Education Queensland, 2008, p. 9). Deeper reflection, action planning and ‘distance travelled’ in understanding of inclusive education were apparent in the comments by participants and their evaluation of the professional development package.

Using the index for inclusion to develop inclusive school communities

This chapter provides an overview of how school communities can work together in processes or review and development to strive towards a more inclusive approach to education. The writers of this chapter have been using a resource called the Index for Inclusion (Booth & Ainscow, 2005, 2011) for a number of years in Australia and in a pilot trail in New Zealand to support education staff in processes of review, with the aim to increase the participation and learning of all students. The resource supports the development of collaborative community processes and defines inclusion as ‘putting values into action’ (Booth & Ainscow, 2011, p.18). The process of review and development for more inclusive and socially just schools supports the development of a school culture, policy and practice where people are valued and treated with respect for their varied knowledge and experiences. In our experience, this resource has been useful to challenge our thinking about education in school communities and in region/districts about inclusive school development. We suggest the Index framework is broad enough to be used in a range of settings and countries. The resource is also useful for pre-service and in-service teacher development to provoke reflection and discussion about inclusion. This chapter provides an overview of the dimensions and framework that inform the Index of Inclusion. We discuss how the Index can be used in school contexts and draw on our own experience to give real examples of how teachers, paraprofessionals, students, principals and parents have experienced the Index when used in their local school communities in Australia and New Zealand. The chapter concludes with some points for discussion to challenge the status quo in schools and to inspire teachers to work towards a more socially just society through making changes at a school level.

Learning about inclusion from developing countries : using the index for inclusion

There is a need for a more critical perspective and reporting about the value of taking a model of inclusion developed in western countries and based upon the human rights ethos applying it in developing countries. This chapter will report firstly on how the Index for Inclusion (hereinafter referred to as the Index) was used in Australia as a tool for review and development; and secondly how the process of using the Index is adjusted for use in the Pacific Islands and other developing nations in collaborative and culturally sensitive ways to support and evaluate progress towards inclusive education. Examples are provided from both contexts to demonstrate the impact of the Index as an effective tool to support a more inclusive response to diversity in schools.

Evaluación y mejora de la educación en el CEIP Nuestra Señora del Paso mediante la aplicación del 'index for inclusion'.

Estudio descriptivo a partir de los cuestionarios elaborados y dirigidos a familias, alumnos y profesores. Se trata de escalas tipo Lickert y diseño experimental 'ex post facto'

Aplicación del Index For Inclusion tras el análisis y evaluación del CEIP Nuestra Señora del Paso.

Este proyecto es la continuación de otro anterior presentado en el 2008 y que se encuentra en REDINED con el código: 01820081004164

Index for Inclusión : una guía para la evaluación y mejora de la educación inclusiva.

En este artículo se presenta de forma resumida la traducción y la adaptación al sistema educativo español del 'Index for inclusion'2 (Índice por la Inclusión) que se ha constituído como una obra esencial para impulsar los procesos de cambio hacia una mayor inclusión educativa en los centros escolares, teniendo en cuenta los puntos de vista de los diferentes miembros de la comunidad educativa. Este material contempla el proceso de inclusión educativa desde un planteamiento global, ya que está dirigido al aprendizaje y la participación de todos los estudiantes vulnerables de ser sujetos de exclusión y no sólo aquellos diagnosticados con 'Necesidades Educativas Especiales'.

Processos de inclusão e exclusão escolar: um estudo em uma escola pública do ensino fundamental I utilizando o “Index para Inclusão”

Pós-graduação em Psicologia do Desenvolvimento e Aprendizagem - FC

Ageing of people with an intellectual disability: Effective training for frontline workers

While the attainment of late life represents a significant achievement for people with an intellectual disability, increased life expectancy has resulted in growing concerns about the extent to which disability service providers are ready to meet the changing needs of increasing numbers of older people and facilitate their ongoing social inclusion. Training of frontline disability staff is widely accepted as an effective strategy for increasing organisational capacity to contribute to improved quality of life for people with an intellectual disability. The study identifies training needs analyses and 'ready-to-deliver' training programs for frontline disability services staff working with adults with an intellectual disability who are ageing, assesses whether the training programs contribute to improved quality of life outcomes for service users, and makes recommendations for future research and development of training for disability services staff who work with older people with intellectual disability.

Livable housing design : the voluntary provision of inclusive housing in Australia

This paper reports on a study of the voluntary provision of inclusive housing. The impetus for the study is the Livable Housing Design initiative, an agreement among Australian housing industry and community leaders in 2010 to a national guideline and voluntary strategy with a target to provide minimum access features in all new housing by 2020. Situated in and around Brisbane, Australia, the study problematises the assumption that the housing industry will respond voluntarily; an assumption which this study concludes is unfounded. The Livable Housing Design initiative asks individual agents to consider the needs of people beyond the initial contract, to proceed with objective reasoning and to do the right thing voluntarily. Instead, the study found that interviewees focused on their immediate contractual obligations, were reluctant to change established practices and saw little reason to do more than was legally required of them. This paper argues that the highly-competitive and risk-averse nature of the industry works against a voluntary approach for inclusive housing and, if the 2020 target of the Livable Housing Design initiative is to be reached, a mandated approach through legislation will be necessary. The Livable Housing Design initiative, however, has an important role to play in preparing the Australian housing industry to accept further regulation.

The Cooperative Research Centre for Living with Autism (Autism CRC) conceptual model to promote mental health for adolescents with ASD

Despite an increased risk of mental health problems in adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), there is limited research on effective prevention approaches for this population. Funded by the Cooperative Research Centre for Living with Autism, a theoretically and empirically supported school-based preventative model has been developed to alter the negative trajectory and promote wellbeing and positive mental health in adolescents with ASD. This conceptual paper provides the rationale, theoretical, empirical and methodological framework of a multilayered intervention targeting the school, parents, and adolescents on the spectrum. Two important interrelated protective factors have been identified in community adolescent samples, namely the sense of belonging (connectedness) to school, and the capacity for self and affect regulation in the face of stress (i.e., resilience). We describe how a confluence of theories from social psychology, developmental psychology and family systems theory, along with empirical evidence (including emerging neurobiological evidence) supports the interrelationships between these protective factors and many indices of wellbeing. However, the characteristics of ASD (including social and communication difficulties, and frequently difficulties with changes and transitions, and diminished optimism and self-esteem) impair access to these vital protective factors. The paper describes how evidenced-based interventions at the school level for promoting inclusive schools (using the Index for Inclusion), and interventions for adolescents and parents to promote resilience and belonging (using the Resourceful Adolescent Program (RAP)), are adapted and integrated for adolescents with ASD. This multisite proof of concept study will confirm whether this multilevel school-based intervention is promising, feasible and sustainable.

Organisational Self-Evaluation and Teacher Education for Community Relations in a Transforming Society?

During 2004, the School of Education at the University of Ulster embarked on an innovative three-year project designed to embed community relations objectives within initial teacher education. With the advent of more peaceful times in Northern Ireland, this was a precipitous time for initial teacher educators to review the preparation given to beginner teachers for teaching in an increasingly pluralist society emerging from conflict. The present paper reports on one very specific and time-limited element of the broader project. That is, development work designed to investigate the possibilities of using processes of self-review and evaluation as a lever for improvements in initial teacher education for community relations. Following a brief contextualisation, the background to, and the development of, a set of materials designed to support rigorous and systematic self-review of all aspects of provision in a university-based initial teacher education department is described. The Community Relations Index for Initial Teacher Education (Cr-ITE) was envisaged as being of use to initial teacher education establishments in order to help teacher educators take responsibility for rigorous learning from their practice, whilst placing inclusive values at the centre of organisational development. The final section includes further critical reflection on the role of organisational self-review in transforming teacher education for inclusion in a society emerging from longstanding communal conflict.

Un recorrido por la inclusión educativa española. Investigaciones y experiencias más recientes.

Este artículo se incluye en el monográfico 'Educación Inclusiva'. Resumen tomado de la publicación

Pr??cticas inclusivas de los docentes en la convivencia escolar y en la organizaci??n y funcionamiento de los centros de educaci??n primaria de la zona norte de C??rdoba

Resumen basado en el de la publicaci??n

Percepções dos professores sobre as culturas, políticas e práticas inclusivas

O movimento de inclusão na escola, preconiza uma mudança como o mundo percepciona a diferença e o direito à educação. O objectivo deste estudo, ao encontro da actuais directrizes para uma escola inclusiva, é contribuir para uma reflexão sobre a problemática da percepção dos professores dos grupos disciplinares de Educação Física, Humanidades, Ciências e Expressões com referência às Culturas, Políticas e às Práticas inclusivas. Este estudo vem no seguimento de uma linha de investigação relacionada com a inclusão educativa, criada no âmbito do Mestrado da U.L.H.T. em Ensino da Educação Física nos Ensinos Básico e Secundário. A recolha de dados foi elaborada com base no questionário “Index for Inclusion – developing learning and participation in schools” (2002), da autoria de Tony Booth e Mel Ainscow, tendo sido inquiridos setecentos e noventa e nove docentes que leccionam em escolas do Distrito de Lisboa. No que concerne às questões de avaliação de desempenho e importância dada a cada um dos aspectos das várias dimensões da inclusão, todas estas se caracterizaram por ser uma variável discreta do tipo ordinal. Metodologicamente recorremos à Anova, sendo este um teste paramétrico utilizado com o propósito comparativo dos grupos em função da sua média. Uma vez que não se verificou os pressupostos para a sua utilização (distribuição normal dos grupos e homogeneidade das variâncias), como reforço, utilizamos a metodologia aplicativa não paramétricas na comparação dos grupos, ou seja teste de Mann-Whitney.