INCLUATION: from ex- to INCLUsive educATION

"Out of a common need, secondary schools from Veurne (Belgium), Lagos (Portugal), Maroussi, Athens (Greece), and Villaluenga de la Sagra, Toledo (Spain) wanted to improve social inclusion in their schools. All these schools have a number of pupils for whom it is very difficult to get integrated into the regular education system. Students with social/economic problems, with a different cultural, religious, or language background, or with learning disorders. During the project working methods and activities in which all students, also from our target group, participated, were discussed, developed, implemented, and shared. We got rid of prejudices, discrimination and intolerance. As such, we created better inclusive schools, i.e. schools where all pupils are welcome and where initiatives are taken to adapt learning methods to every student, also the ones from our target groups. In other words, schools that focus on inclusive education or which offer our newly created word “incluation.” With our project, we enabled success for all students.The teachers and staff adopted an inclusive attitude while preparing, educating and evaluating. During the project, there was extensive cooperation with external stakeholders, such as special schools for pupils with learning disorders and/or psychological problems, welfare organisations, schools for pupils with a different mother-tongue, factories for people with fewer opportunities etc. Besides learning from their experience, we established a closer relationship between our schools and these organisations.Last but not least, we made our parents and the local community aware of the fact that “incluation” is not just a choice, but should be inherent to all forms of education. We also crushed the taboo as much as possible which is linked to these types of problems and/or disorders. The participants in the project were pupils from the four schools between 13 to 16 years old, with or without a problem or disorder. They were monitored by a team of enthusiastic teachers and staff in each school. To achieve our objectives, we organised four learning, teaching, training meetings, one in each school. These meetings were prepared by the students and a small number from each school (7; 2 from our target pupils ) were able to participate in a meeting abroad. These meetings were carefully prepared by means of presentations and extensive correspondence via eTwinning between the hosting partner and his/her guest. Unluckily, due to the worldwide Corona-crisis, the fourth meeting in Spain could not take place. In these meetings we organised different activities during which special attention was drawn to inclusion. In Belgium, these were: a hackathon, a multicultural buffet, a refugee walk in Brussels and visits to welfare organisations and a factory for people with fewer opportunities. In Portugal, there were special workshops, visits to special needs institutions and an adapted way of exploring the historical city centre. In Greece the focus was on connection and inclusion activities and drama. In Spain, there would have been a photo contest and a socioincluative”Gymkhana, an escape room and an adapted visit to Toledo. During the implementation of these activities not only the international guests were involved, but also an extensive number of students of the hosting school. There was also a joint staff training event in Portugal during which each partner school presented its view on dealing with special needs students and learning disorders, experiences and good practices were exchanged and common outlines to deal with these students were discussed and developed. Furthermore, there was a job shadowing experience and several workshops and visits to special needs institutions. Last but not least, the teachers attended a national conference on inclusion in education, on which also the Secretary of Education was present. There they presented their educational system and the efforts that are done what inclusion is concerned. There was a massive impact on our inclusive approach in our schools. The project created more awareness and fostered improvements in several types of teaching methods of inclusion (hackathon, drama, radio workshop, public talking/presentation, intergenerational dialogue, etc.) and it allowed us to build better methodologies through a cross-fertilizing European experience. One e-book with common education outlines for the target students and one with good practices from ""incluation"" are published. Our project ""Incluation"" also succeeded in raising the profile of English in order to increase global intercultural understanding and appreciation, developed better social and communication skills through working on challenging activities and improved working with digital technologies, which enable new types of social interaction and, last but not least, all this acquired knowledge is implemented where it is most needed: in real life."