Access to Higher Education for all Students A Duty or a Luxury?

Education for All - Amanda Watkins Why this title? Myriam Van Acker (1996): … accessibility for people with disabilities to Higher Education is not a ‘luxury’ but a duty for society that offers everyone equal rights. How are we doing?

Education for All - Amanda Watkins Agency Member Countries

Education for All - Amanda Watkins Shared Aims The aim of this conference, the Transnational project and the Examples of Practice document is an aim shared by the Agency - sharing of information on policy and practice internationally to support learning and development for all involved

Education for All - Amanda Watkins Agency Work

Education for All - Amanda Watkins Provision in Post-Primary Education

Education for All - Amanda Watkins agency/ereports/18.html

Education for All - Amanda Watkins Two parameters of Access Access to HE - opportunities to gain initial entry into an HEI Access within HE - support for full participation in all aspects of studying within HE

Education for All - Amanda Watkins HE institutional level support Statements or action plans for students with SEN Support service, office, team or person Different types of support offered: –Academic support –Specialist study support materials –Accommodation/housing –Health services –Financial advice –Counselling

Education for All - Amanda Watkins Students’ Responsibility Students with SEN being given Possibilities for taking and developing responsibility for their learning decision-making and situations The responsibility for decision-making regarding their long-term future

Education for All - Amanda Watkins Teachers’ Responsibility A developing focus of HE support services away from students, towards supporting ‘mainstream’ teachers to support all learners in their classes Initiatives to encourage all teaching staff to become more responsible and able to respond to the needs of students with SEN These points apply to administrators and HE managers as well as teachers

Education for All - Amanda Watkins National level support services ‘Umbrella’ support services or organisations providing support and advice for students with SEN National organisations or NGOs that offer support and advice to students with SEN Support services involving networks of HEIs

Education for All - Amanda Watkins National level tasks General awareness raising regarding the rights and entitlements Co-ordination of different sources of information Networking of disability support staff working at an institutional level Provision of a forum for different interest groups and stakeholders to meet and exchange information

Education for All - Amanda Watkins The Future of Support Services Short term aim - integrated services Mid term aim - transfer of responsibility to teachers Long term aim - redundancy

Education for All - Amanda Watkins Entitlements to access and support within HE What are the trends and developments in legislation in different European countries? Are there aspects of ‘good practice’ policy that are highlighted in the Transnational Project’s guide and proposals?

Education for All - Amanda Watkins General Disability Legislation National level legislation covering all aspects of public services Guarantees rights of access to services International legislation such as the UN regulations on Equalisation of Opportunity for People with Disabilities may be applicable Denmark, Germany, Iceland as examples Issue: countries may have more than one act or regulation covering equality of opportunity

Education for All - Amanda Watkins General Disability Legislation with Specific Elements that Refer to HE Three elements mainly evident: –definition of disability –outline of general duties of organisations to promote equality –specific duties for HEIs France, Italy, UK as examples

Education for All - Amanda Watkins Specific Legislation Relating to HE Different forms: –Dictation that HEIs enrol a certain percentage of students with SEN each year (Greece, Portugal, Spain) –Specific budget reservations for SEN support (Sweden) –Possibility for additional grants and financial support (Denmark, Estonia, Germany, Poland, Sweden) –specific entitlements to support for example exemptions/alternative arrangements in examinations (Austria, Cyprus, Denmark, Flanders, Hungary and Italy)

Education for All - Amanda Watkins A Range of General and Specific Laws In effect, most countries Focus on equal rights for all students and to combat discrimination based on gender, ethnical group, religion, sexual orientation or disability Core principles of ‘accessibility for all’ and ‘universal design’ design are developing features (for example in Norway)

Education for All - Amanda Watkins Trends? Ongoing developments in general disability related as well as HE specific legislation Changes in some countries’ legislation has dual, inter-connected aims: –improving individual rights and entitlements –balancing this with the responsibilities of HEIs

Education for All - Amanda Watkins Cause and Effects? Impetus for change: –changes in societal views of disability –raising of expectations for different progression pathways for students who have experienced inclusive provision in compulsory education European legislation Litigation Positive developments in making learning environments more easily accessible in all respects (Hurst 2006)

Education for All - Amanda Watkins A Quote from the Partnership Guide ‘In all countries, we are still a long way from finding a university which can claim quite justifiably to be a genuinely inclusive place which meets the diverse range of students’ needs in all of its routine policies, procedures and practices including international exchanges and work placements/study overseas’ It can be argued the same is true at policy level - no country has ‘got it right’

Education for All - Amanda Watkins Barriers to and within HE Physical barriers Access to information Access to support Attitudes Entitlements

Education for All - Amanda Watkins Allan Vibur, Estonia European Parliament Hearing ‘… I had the luck to grow up together with great changes in my country’ ‘… step by step’ ‘… No one wonders when they are studying in the mainstream schools and the universities’ ‘… The attitude has changed. Young Estonians with special needs do their best to get a good education and a real good job in the future’

Education for All - Amanda Watkins ‘Value Added Provision’ ‘What is good for students with special educational needs (SEN) is good for all students’ Aspects of successful inclusive practice in compulsory education that need to be examined, considered and studied within the HE sector: –Co-operative teaching and learning –Heterogeneous grouping –Alternative ways of learning

Education for All - Amanda Watkins Possible ways ahead … More information on best practice in policy and provision for supporting students with SEN is required at International and National levels There is not only a need to share this information, but also work towards guidelines that make certain minimum levels of provision an entitlement

Education for All - Amanda Watkins Inclusive Policies All policies consider and account for the needs of all learners from the beginning Policies should be: –trans-sectoral –underpinned by a philosophy of meeting all needs –have long-term vision, but reflect local level needs Phases of policy development: –short term: recognisable (separate) specific action plan/strategy –medium term: part of general strategy plans –long term: not mentioned, accepted as ‘a given’

Education for All - Amanda Watkins Inclusive HE as a natural progression Students with SEN can only reach their full educational potential if there are real opportunities for building on their achievements from compulsory education in inclusive settings in HE As Myriam pointed out, this should be a duty, not a luxury

Education for All - Amanda Watkins More Information Amanda Watkins European Agency for Development in Special Needs Education