Inclusion-Friendly Classroom: The ICF as a Problem-Solving Tool for the Team Around the Child in Educational Settings

"<< Background >>The partners found that despite the commitment of North Macedonia's government to prioritize and improve inclusion in education, challenges persisted. Lack of institutional capacity and mechanisms, and discriminatory attitudes among stakeholders were some of them. Teachers referred to lack of skills and knowledge on inclusion, scarcity of methodologies, didactic materials and resources. WHO’s International Classification of Functioning (ICF), offering a functional understanding of health, was seen as a possible solution. It proved to foster participation, provide a goal-oriented planning tool for teachers, and allow for a full engagement of the ""team around the family”.Our partners brought knowledge, skills, and experience in inclusion, the ICF, and education of students with disabilities. Recognizing the disparities and challenges, project aimed to contribute to fostering inclusion, increasing education quality, and creating synergies between different sectors by introducing the ICF and providing team-teaching methods. The project addressed the need to address the developmental situations of SwD using a common language, fostering cooperation in relevant school teams, and providing concrete methodologies for inclusive education.<< Objectives >>The partners in the project ""Inclusion-Friendly Classroom: The ICF as a Problem Solving Tool for the Team around the Child in Educational Settings"" are driven by the goal of elevating the quality of education through heightened focus on participation goals and fostering inclusion and equity. The consortium actively creates connections between different sectors involved in the education of students/pupils with disabilities (SwD) by introducing the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) and implementing team-teaching methods. The specific objectives designed to realize the project's overarching goal include:• Enhancing the skills of educators to adopt a common ability-based and participation-focused language through the use of ICF.• Increasing participation goal orientation and inclusiveness in the classroom through the implementation of an ICF evaluation tool.• Promoting teamwork within the ""team around the family.""• Facilitating inclusion by encouraging reflective self-learning among teachers to improve teaching processes.<< Implementation >>The partners used their collective expertise to collaboratively develop the project results. The three main project results – The ICF Inclusion Checklist (PR 1), the Participation Goal Incubator (PR 2), and the Teachers-Teamwork-Toolkit (PR 3) - underwent 26 pilot runs before their finalisation (encompassing 638 professionals – 200 in NMK, 243 in AT, 20 in DE, 175 in TR), and then they were disseminated through 7 (6 funded) targeted multiplier events aligned with the identified needs, attended by 271 professionals. External steering group composed of 5 ICF/inclusion expert members of each partner country validated the usability of these outcomes. Focus group interviews were conducted with 13 professionals (school teachers, university professors, and researchers) in Austria. Strategic partnerships with stakeholders in all the four countries enabled the preparation of the tools for widespread integration across schools. The activities and the results were disseminated locally, nationally and globally by each of the partner in the project consortium, reaching at least 36447 persons. The project and its results were presented at 12 international and national conferences, as well as included in a book, conference paper, edited book chapter, and conference posters. << Results >>Addressing the needs of the target groups, including educational staff in primary and preschool institutions (teachers, special educators, teaching assistants, rehabilitators, therapists), as well as parents, administration, policy makers, and students with disabilities, the project aimed to achieve increased communication and exchange about children with disabilities, leading to enhanced efficiency in teaching processes through the use of a common language in school and participation goal orientation, as well as enhanced inclusive teaching competencies and heightened (participation-)goal orientation. This was achieved through the use of provided methodological tools and guidance.The project has three main results:Project Result 1: “ICF Inclusion Checklist” – A tool for educators, including parents, to assess inclusive practices in the classroom, functionally describe the student’s health situation, and identify education support needs.Project Result 2: “Participation Goal Incubator” – An electronic tool offering self-guided teacher training on creating ICF-based meaningful participation goals, relying on functional descriptions, for students with disabilities.Project Result 3: “Teachers-Teamwork-Toolkit” – A toolkit providing team-teaching methodologies to assist teachers in collaborating and coordinating classroom activities.The positive impact of these results includes:• Increased participation goal orientation in schools,• Enhanced inclusive practices in the classroom, where the use of ICF tools fosters inclusive thinking among teachers and improves outcome orientation through WHO classifiers.• Evidence-oriented team-teaching processes that enhance team coordination and cooperation.• Teachers benefit from concrete didactic tools and support methods applicable to all children."