Inclusion: theory and practice

Inclusive Education Policy - Queensland, Australia

An email from an EENET reader, currently working as Project Officer - Inclusive Education, Queensland, Australia.

I would like to describe to you all the process that Education Queensland is undertaking to develop inclusive practices in schools across the State. A massive undertaking, but one that is 'work in progress'.

Our senior executives in the Ministry decided that it was time to review the educational provisions for students with disabilities in the light of a re-development of the overall strategic directions for education for all students. (This is set out in the document Queensland State Education - 2010 (QSE2010) which, I think, is available through the Education Queensland web site). That document states that 'Inclusiveness ... is guaranteed".

My task was to put together a 'Summit on Inclusive Education' so that meaningful discussion could take place to provide some operational guidelines. A working party was established by the Director General to assist me in the process. The Working Party was quite small (on purpose so that we could get things done!) and consisted of a Principal of each of a special, primary and secondary school, two parent representatives, a teacher's union representative, a person from our 'Leadership and Culture Unit' to assist in the process, and myself.

After much debate we developed a statement of purpose for the Summit and set down six objectives to provide some direction for the discussions. The purpose and objectives are as follows:

Purpose:

To engage stakeholders in the development of a vision of inclusive education for all students in the context of QSE2010

Objectives:

• To develop a common understanding of the notion of inclusive education.
• To challenge current thinking and assumptions on school structure, curriculum and practices.
• To learn from the experiences of other countries, states and schools that are pursuing an inclusive framework.
• To provide an overview of current Education Queensland practices, policies and cultures and the relationship to an inclusive framework.
• To develop a communication process to progresses the identified actions from the Summit to progress the vision of Inclusive Education within Education Queensland.
• To identify and underline the articulations between students with disabilities and other disadvantaged and marginalised groups pursuant to Education Queensland's goal of inclusive schooling.

The Working Party was concerned that there should be input into the process from members of the school community across the State. Queensland is a fairly large State. I think that from top to bottom it is around 3000 kilometres and east to west would be about 2000 km. The State is divided into 36 education districts. The Working Party decided to conduct a pre-summit focus group in each district in the 10 weeks leading to the Summit. The purpose of the focus group activity was four-fold:

1. To obtain from the participants the issues they have in the implementation of an inclusive education framework in their school, district or classroom.
2. To identify examples of innovative practice that promotes the principles of inclusive education.
3. To allow the participants to opportunity to explore some issues in depth to set future directions in the district, school or classroom.
4. To elect a representative from the group to attend the Summit.

Open Space Technology* was used as the process. Each session lasted for around 4 hours and was held outside of school hours to enable teachers and working parents to attend.

The data obtained from the focus groups was collated and analysed using a framework developed for Local Education Authorities (LEA)s in the UK by Mel Ainscow and Dave Tweddle. The framework was modified somewhat to encompass the directions of Education Queensland. The 10 dimensions are attitudes; curriculum teaching and learning; funding and resourcing; leadership; monitoring and evaluation; partnerships; policy and planning processes; staff development and training; structures, roles and responsibilities; and specialist provision. A set of key issues in each dimension was identified and presented to the Summit for use in their deliberations. The data was also analysed to identify the most common issues across the State. The top ten issues were;

1. Teacher training and professional development;
2. Attitudes, values and cultural changes required;
3. The effective provision and utilisation of resources and funds;
4. The development of a shared understanding of Inclusive Education;
5. Including other categories of need into the funding equation;
6. Curriculum practices - teaching and learning strategies;
7. School/parent/community relationship development;
8. Class sizes - student / teacher ratio;
9. Involvement of parents; and
10. Facilities - such as buildings, classrooms, access.

94 delegates were invited to the Summit which ran over three consecutive days. Delegates represented all sectors of Education Queensland and other government departments, the non-government sector, and parents. Mel Ainscow facilitated the process. Students, who had experiences of exclusion from school, visited the Summit and talked to a group of about 9 Summit participants. Each student discussed their school experiences with this group. The information gave the group an understanding of the issues - from the student point of view - about exclusion. A group of 10 schools, who had begun the journey of school development towards inclusive education, also visited the Summit. These two activities had a great impact on the delegates and helped in the development of a common understanding of inclusive education. The term Education For All seemed to be common language by the end of the Summit.

The delegates were lead through a process that culminated in the development of an action plan in each of the ten dimensions mentioned previously. Delegates were asked to identify actions across System, District, School and Community in each of the dimensions. I am still in the process of editing the Action Plan. A report and set of recommendations has been finalised and sent for approval by the Minister. She has not yet approved it. This process takes some time. I have almost completed an 'Action Plan for Students with Disabilities' for the period 2003 - 2004. That document is in the approval process also.

I trust that this information has given you an insight into the process we used to develop a common understanding about inclusive education. I would be pleased to answer any questions people may have.

Peter Hulme
Principle Education Officer (Student Services)
Coopers Plains District Office
Private Mail Bag 250
Mansfield DC 4122
Brisbane
Australia

* Open Space Technology is a facilitation process developed by Harrison Owens. It has some structure, but allows people to set the agenda. This is an important feature when talking about inclusion.

Inclusion: theory and practice

27/08/2003