MOVING TOWARDS INCLUSIVE UNIVERSITY MODELS
Evaluate inclusion in its different dimensions
University of Salamanca, October 25-27, 2023
In the process of building an equitable and inclusive society that guarantees equal opportunities, education plays a fundamental role. The right to education is recognized in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, among other International Treaties, including the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, which implies considering persons with disabilities as subjects of law and not as mere beneficiaries. social. According to UNESCO, the right to education must be interpreted as the right to an inclusive education. Along the same lines, the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities establishes that inclusive education is a right for all people and States must ensure an inclusive education system at all levels (up to the university), in order to to make it effective without discrimination and on the basis of equal opportunities.
Inclusive education implies taking disability into account as part of human diversity and contemplates the right to access, permanence, participation and progress under equal conditions. It also includes development of methodologies and content accessible to all people. To guarantee an inclusive education, research, training, processes, practices, resources, tools and attitudes are required, in order to achieve the full effectiveness of this right.
The 2030 Agenda is clear in this sense, setting out an unappealable and fundamental objective for the achievement of other objectives of the agenda. Goal 4 of the SDGs thus establishes the need to “Ensure inclusive, equitable and quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities”.
UNESCO, after a participatory process of several years, has recently approved a report on the future of education, called "Reimagining our futures together: A new social contract for education" and has launched a global strategy to join this challenge. In the words of the Director General of UNESCO, Audrey Azoulay, the new social contract for education “is our opportunity to repair the injustices of the past and transform the future”. This requires the creativity and intelligence of everyone to ensure that inclusion, equity, human rights and peace define our future. She also points out that pedagogy must be organized around the principles of cooperation, collaboration and solidarity.
Picking up UNESCO's invitation to continue acting to achieve this new social contract for education, the VI Congress is considered as an optimal space to continue building proposals and strategies, and with this to be able to move towards that shared ambition of building educational models and inclusive university students
Universities and higher education are called to play a leading role in this path to find new, more impressive ways of educating, “higher education is by definition a place of intergenerational and transformative dialogue… Without a solid, autonomous, credible higher education , innovative, it will be impossible to build a social contract for education”.
International organizations and civil society want to participate in this contract to ensure that people with disabilities are guaranteed the right to education.
In this sense, the Once Foundation, through the Department of Programs with Universities and Talent Promotion, together with the University of Salamanca and the collaboration of other institutions involved in higher education, organize this new edition of the International University and Disability Congress.
The Congress will be a common space for reflection, the exchange of ideas, dialogue, knowledge of good practices and debates around inclusive and quality education at the university, trying to weave and deepen networks that allow progress towards an egalitarian society with greater social justice with all people included.
International experts, academics and academics, research staff, public policy makers and students with disabilities will invite them to think, in inclusive terms, which is the best way to achieve the goals of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) and the 2030 Agenda. All of this in line with the challenges posed by UNESCO "A New Social Contract for Education".
This international Congress is aimed at students, educators, researchers, education managers and public policies, and all people who feel called and involved in guaranteeing inclusive education in higher education.
We have the support and collaboration in the organization of the Ministries of Education, Universities and Science and Inn.
GENERAL OBJECTIVE
The central objective of the VI International Congress on University and Disability is to open up proposals and ideas for debate on which are the best indicators for an inclusive university education within the framework of the SDGs and the 2030 Agenda, especially taking into account goals 4.3 and 4.5, regarding to equal access and elimination of disparities and, the 4th, building and adapting accessible, diverse and inclusive environments. Likewise, it intends to advance proposals and strategies aimed at achieving the new social contract for education recently proposed by UNESCO.
SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES
- Advance in inclusive educational programs, strategies and practices related to the field of higher education.
- Advance knowledge and promote networking with researchers in the area of disability, education and accessible technologies.
- Know and analyze models and instruments for the evaluation and accreditation of inclusive university models.
- Reflect on new entrepreneurial strategies and the employability of people with disabilities.
- Advance knowledge of universal accessibility and new inclusive teaching methodologies
- Analyze and propose new inclusion programs for groups with special inclusion difficulties in the university environment, such as young people with intellectual disabilities.
DISCUSSION TOPICS
At the International Forum on Inclusion and Equity in Education "Every student counts" (2019) sponsored by UNESCO on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the Declaration of Salamanca, and held in Cali, Colombia, six recommendations were established on measures that should be adopted to promote inclusion and equity in education systems. Among them, the establishment of clear definitions of what inclusion and equity in education mean.
In this sense, and taking into account the SDGs and the 2030 Agenda, this proposed panel intends to hold a debate on the scope of the right to inclusive and quality education and what its implications are.
In this space it is proposed that the barriers and advances of university education be discussed. It is proposed that the debate revolve around accessibility and equal opportunities in the university and the empirical data collected. In this regard, it will be possible to address the challenges faced in the exercise of the right to education and how good practices and experiences of accessible universities can be useful to guarantee this right. It is proposed to identify contextual obstacles that prevent student participation and progress. It will also be important to know the progress and achievements and the way forward.
Legal and political frameworks are necessary so that legal equality can be demanded and transformed into real and effective equality. In this panel, it is proposed to analyze the adaptation of the necessary legislative frameworks in accordance with the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, and the opportunities and/or weaknesses offered by the new national and international regulatory frameworks. The development of the necessary adjustments and support resources, training and guidance necessary to guarantee Article 24 of the Convention will also be addressed.
New teaching and learning models: trends in inclusive teaching methodologies
Research is a pillar of education and essential to find out what tools and paths must be followed to achieve the SDGs. On the other hand, advancing in teaching methodologies based on the universal design for learning and participation, as well as a coherent evaluation with inclusion are priority challenges. The CRPD Committee itself has established that “with appropriate teaching methodologies, support and adjustments, all curricula can be adapted to meet the needs of all learners, including those with disabilities. ”. It is intended to know the main lines of research on inclusion and rights of people with disabilities from a holistic perspective.
There is an intimate relationship between the right to live independently, new technologies and education. The access and right to inclusive and quality education and the necessary supports are essential factors for the participation of people with disabilities in the community, both outside and inside the university.
In this panel, it is proposed that new models and good practices be discussed around these two themes and their relationship to access and the right to education. Information and communication technologies are, on the other hand, an essential tool for educational processes and can be great allies for inclusion since they can promote learning in easier and more agile ways in the case of sensory disabilities. That is why it is essential to also analyze the accessibility of the technological applications used for the teaching, education and learning processes.
A space is proposed for the voices of the protagonists to be heard. Personal and professional experiences will be shared that will serve to value the progress achieved, and inspiration for other people and institutions.
It is proposed to invite university students with disabilities, taking into account diversity in a broad sense, so that they speak in first person about their circumstances and the environmental barriers that hinder their activity. It is also proposed to listen to the voices and experiences of teaching and research staff with disabilities to break myths, stereotypes and advance equal opportunities in this complex field.
Working groups (GT) and presentation of communications:
- GT1: Inspiring practices from inclusive universities
- GT2: Universal accessibility and universal design for learning and participation
- GT3: Regulations, public policies and inclusive education
- GT4: Employment, entrepreneurship and professional opportunities
- GT5: Technologies applied to inclusive education: instruments and experiences
- GT6: Inclusive practices of students with intellectual disabilities in the university environment
- GT7: Educational policies and academic and professional guidance to facilitate transitions to higher education