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Description
The project aims to establish a comprehensive supportive approach designed to engage all segments of society, including non-Estonian speakers and individuals with special educational needs (SEN), emphasizing principles of equality through the implementation of inclusive education and inclusive citizenship education.
The project focuses on addressing the needs and challenges faced by Russian-speaking children with SEN, their parents, educators, support specialists, and the broader societal context. Such children are directed to study in a special class within the general education school. As a result, a child with SEN may feel isolated from their peers because they do not receive the necessary support. Using integration instead of inclusive education, the child with disabilities suffers the most as their specific needs are disregarded and there is widespread assumption that such a child is incapable of being successful.
The activities of the project focus on the development of a better understanding, exploration of the world, and improvement of communication and self-expression skills to enhance the readiness of Children with SEN for social integration by employing various creative art techniques.
The project aims to contribute to the professional development of inclusive education trainers. Training sessions on inclusive education will be organized to enhance the expertise of Russian-speaking teachers and support specialists, including special care teachers, speech therapists, psychologists, in creating an environment conducive to the co-education of children with SEN and other children.
Furthermore, a forum for teachers, support specialists, and parents will be created to contribute to breaking stereotypes within the Russian-speaking population, fostering the development of new attitudes, and instigating a paradigm shift in addressing issues related to inclusive education, social justice, and equal treatment.
Summary of project results
The project focuses on addressing the needs and challenges faced by Russian-speaking children with Special Educational Needs, their parents, educators, support specialists, and the broader societal context.
In recent years, the situation has improved, and majority of Estonian society recognizes that people with special needs exist—that they don''t have to sit behind the doors of institutions or their homes, that they are not contagious, etc. However, especially among Estonia''s Russian-speaking population, there are still many stereotypes and attitudes. On one hand, these attitudes allow all people to exist, but on the other hand, there is reluctance, fear, or other reasons why encounters with people with special needs are not particularly encouraged (starting from kindergartens and continuing through to the labor market). There is a lack of support specialists, inadequate readiness of educational institutions, a lack of social skills of children with special needs, the lack of knowledge among the parents of children with special needs, etc.
Thus, the project aims to establish a comprehensive supportive approach designed to engage all segments of society, including non-Estonian speakers and individuals with special educational needs (SEN), emphasizing principles of equality through the implementation of inclusive education and inclusive citizenship education.
The activities of the project were five-fold:
Development of a comprehensive concept for implementing inclusive education. The concept has been developed, tested, and adapted, focusing on children with special needs and their families, as well as teachers, support specialists, etc. There is now a conceptual framework in place that can continuously be adapted to changing realities be it changes to legislation and practices, new challenges to children and parents (for instance, the pandemic), etc.
Raising the capacity of CSO "Eriline Maailm" to promote inclusive education and raise public awareness. CSO core team has participated in trainings; they have been educating and empowering and engaging members of the organization. In terms of numbers, 17 training sessions, meetings, and seminars were held in 2021, with more planned beyond the project cycle.
Increasing the readiness of Russian-speaking children with special needs to participate in society and joint activities. The project included numerous meetings with parents, where they gained practical knowledge on how to promote the socialization of children with special needs. The core team also engaged in extensive discussions with teachers and support specialists in Russian-speaking schools about the importance of socialization and acquiring practical life skills of children. Towards the end of the project, a fundraising campaign was launched to teach basic cooking skills to teenagers. For some, this will be a vital life skill, and for others, it may open doors to a future career.
Creating an inclusive learning environment for both children with special needs and other students. For that purpose, the project focused on enhancing the competencies of Russian-speaking teachers and support specialists (special education teachers, speech therapists, psychologists, social educators, etc) working with children with special needs. On June 4-5, 2021, the project held the "Inclusion Hub" forum, attended by around 170 participants. It was decided by the participants that the "Inclusion Hub" forum should become an annual event as an opportunity for Russian-speaking residents of Estonia to receive information and exchange experiences related to educational issues with children with special needs.
Increasing the level of knowledge and skills of parents of Russian-speaking children with special needs in positive parenting. As a result of the Parent School that took place as part of the project, the parents'' awareness has significantly raised. Due to the global pandemic and remote learning periods during the project implementation, peer counseling by activists of "Eriline Maailm" increased by 180% compared to what was planned for this project (a total of 786 consultations). Additionally, more parents have been trained to provide support to those needing informational help and assistance. Parents know how to help their child develop, support the work of teachers and support specialists at home, set boundaries for their child''s development, manage their own emotions, and care for and support their child.
The goal of the project was to create a comprehensive supportive approach in implementing inclusive education and inclusive civic education, aiming for the social inclusion of all members of society, including non-native speakers, people with special needs, and others, on an equal footing. The target group of the project was Russian-speaking residents of Estonia. Our focus was on children with special needs, their parents, teachers, support specialists, and society as a whole.
In the project, various creative art techniques were used to enhance the readiness of Russian-speaking children with special needs to integrate into society and participate in joint activities by developing their understanding of the world, recognition, communication, and expression skills. Inclusive education trainers were trained to enhance the capacity of "Eriline Maailm" to support the promotion of inclusive education and raise public awareness. Training sessions were conducted on inclusive education to improve the competencies of Russian-speaking teachers and support specialists (special education teachers, speech therapists, psychologists, social educators, etc) working with children with special needs, enabling them to create a learning environment for inclusive education with other students.
All activities of the project combined contributed to breaking stereotypes among the Russian-speaking population, developing new attitudes, and changing people''s perspectives on inclusive education, social justice, and equal treatment.