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Description
Programme outcome the project contributes to: “Competence of educational staff increased, related to working with special education needs (SEN)”.
The pre-defined project will enhance inclusive education and promote the development, testing and implementation of innovative practices in the field of teacher training in inclusive education. The project will help to identify and address the causes that prevent teachers from supporting the integration of pupils with special needs into regular classrooms, as well as to strengthen the competencies and capacity of the Estonian universities in this field. The aim of the project is to equip both acting and future teachers with knowledge, skills and competencies necessary to promote inclusiveness and decrease segregation of pupils with special needs. The donor project partners will provide expertise in developing, piloting and implementing an evidence-based teacher training programme in the field of special educational needs. Activities include organisation of seminars and workshops in Estonia, study visits between researchers and students in Estonia and Norway, publications of scientific articles, dissemination activities etc.
Summary of project results
The aim of the project was to equip both acting and future teachers with knowledge, skills and competencies necessary to promote inclusiveness and decrease segregation of SEN students. This project is complementary to the ongoing national reforms, including a) incentives to local governments to improve the coordination of support services; b) realisation of amendments to the Basic and Upper Secondary Schools Act in order to provide timely and targeted support for all SEN learners; c) changes in the school network and investments into infrastructure.
The policy of inclusive education following the Basic Schools and Upper Secondary Schools Act, which has been implemented in Estonia since 2010, states that students with special educational needs (SEN) should be able to attend a regular class at the school nearest to their home together with their peers. The share of segregated SEN students in Estonia is still relatively high compared to other European countries. The Estonian educational institutions and the parents of SEN students report difficulties in coping with the special educational needs children in inclusive classrooms. The main obstacle for more inclusive approach in education as reported by the schools are associated with teachers’ abilities to notice and skills to support SEN students, with availability of resources, and access to as well as lack of coordination of support services at school and local level.
The first aim of the project was to train Estonian teachers to be more effective in implementing inclusive education principles in schools and kindergartens. In order to provide high-level training activities and carry out research activities, the capacities of research groups at the University of Tartu and Tallinn University had to be developed as well in the area of inclusive education. The latter was the second aim of the project. During the project, five different in-service teacher training programs were developed and carried out for school and kindergarten teams. In total, 129 participants took part in the programs. Based on the training programs, master''s programs entitled Inclusive Education were opened at the University of Tartu and Tallinn University. In total, 183 students have enrolled in these programs. These are unique programs in the Estonian context, awarding graduates with master''s degrees and senior teacher qualifications with recognition of special competences related to supporting students with special educational needs. Related to the capacity building of research group members, four PhD students started their doctoral research in the area of inclusive education. Two of the PhD dissertations are investigating the in-service courses developed during the project. The project team published several articles and introduced project activities in numerous venues. All project activities were carried out with guidance and support from experts from the University of Oslo and the University of Stavanger.
The two main target groups of the projects were i) teachers of Estonian schools and kindergartens and ii) the research group members at the University of Tartu (UT) and Tallinn University (TLU).
All teachers who graduated from the different in-service training courses or university master’s programs increased their competencies related to implementing inclusive education in their everyday work. While all graduates from the in-service training programs carried out an action research project related to inclusive education and completed different assignments related to supporting inclusive education, graduates from the master programs have additionally proven their competencies related to implementing inclusive education in their portfolios. In UT all master students prepare portfolios to show that they have senior teacher competencies and specific competencies related to supporting students with special educational needs, in TLU parts of the portfolio are prepared based on the parts of the assignments in different courses and some competencies which have not been sufficiently dealt with in the course need to be addressed additionally by the students.
Research group members had the opportunity to develop their expertise related to conducting research in the field of inclusive education. One Ph.D. dissertation was defended, and other Ph.D. dissertations are being prepared. Research results have also been presented by the research group members in different articles and presentations.
Both universities have, therefore, benefited a lot from this project due to strong research group members. Both universities carry out master''s education programs and continue to conduct research and training in the field of inclusive education. Moreover, the project supported increasing collaboration between the two universities in the area of inclusive education. This is especially important since this is a high-need development area in Estonia, and due to this project, expertise was jointly developed in both universities. Thanks to the project''s activities, the positions of doctoral students were created in both universities, their research activities and the completion of doctoral theses were supported, which helps ensure the succession of teaching staff and the sustainability of the field in both universities.