This is a gifted child, not a disabled child

Imagem: © UNESCO/ Michel Ravassard

"27-06-2008 - “We strive for an education system where all children are included and not separated into different groups,” said UNESCO’s Assistant Director General for Education, Nick Burnett, during a meeting on inclusive education that gathered a group of disabled children from Russia this week.

Kouznetsov, eleven years old, was among the children visiting UNESCO. He wants to be a sound engineer and translator when he grows up. For now Kouznetsov, partly blind and unable to walk, speaks four languages, plays the flute and sings in foreign languages.

He benefits from a grant given by the Russian ‘Filantrop’ fund. Founded in 1990, this fund aims to give disabled children access to regular education systems by, among others, ensuring that all new building projects in Moscow have special access for handicapped individuals.

“The main goal of the fund is to encourage disabled children to study and to take an active part in the life of society,” says Mr Ilya Konkin, Director General of Filantrop Fund.

There is increasing recognition that it is better for children with special needs to attend regular schools, albeit with various forms of special support. Children with disabilities who are given the opportunity and access regular education systems enrich themselves and their classmates.

“Finnish researchers are using results from the OECD’s Programme for International Student Assessment to demonstrate that inclusive classrooms do not reduce the learning outcomes of the highest achievers but rather improve the learning of children with difficulties,” says a member of UNESCO’s team working on Inclusive Education Ms Jill van den Brule. This along with other results will be presented at the next International Conference on Education on ‘Inclusive Education: the way of the future’ that will be held in Geneva from 25 to 28 November 2008.

Promoting inclusive practices is crucial for reaching the Education for All goals. UNESCO’s inclusive education team works on policy (curriculum development, advocacy); changing attitudes in society (demonstrating that children with disabilities can have a positive impact in the classroom by imparting skills on learning to live together and promoting peer teaching); and at classroom level (basing results not only on traditional grading systems).

Contact: a.valentini@unesco.org"

Related links

• 10 questions on inclusive education
• Landmark United Nations convention secures right to education for persons with disabilities
• UNESCO and Inclusive Quality Education
• 48th session of the International Conference on Education: Inclusive Education - The way of the future

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©UNESCO 1995-2007

Fonte: UNESCO

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Online Resources

Check out these resources for more information on universal education

• A Report on the Right to Education During Displacement
  The Women's Commission for Refugee Women and Children has developed this resource on education rights during times of displacement.
• Basic Education and Gender Equality: Quality of Education
  UNICEF has prepared an brief report on five elements that affect the quality of education as it pertains to gender.
• Cancelling the Caps: Why the EFA movement must confront wage bill caps now
  This document by ActionAid! provides the IMF rationale for wage caps and assesses their impact on achieving EFA.
• Education for All Global Monitoring Report 2007
  The EFA Global Monitoring Report assesses where the world stands on its commitment to provide a basic education to all children, youth and adults by 2015. This link will allow you to download the full 2007 Report or view the document by chapter.
• Education for All Global Monitoring Report 2007 | Summary
  This is a Summary of the 2007 EFA Global Monitoring Report. The report focuses on early childhood care and education.
• Education Notes: Education for All: Including Children with Disabilities
  This report from the World Bank highlights the challenge of educational access and quality for children with disabilities.
• Failing Our Children: Barriers to the Right to Education
  This Human Rights Watch report assesses the common barriers to the right to education. This link allows you to see the table of contents and view the report by chapter.
• From the Ground Up: Education and Livelihoods in Southern Sudan
  This is a report based on findings from a November 2006 assessment where the Women’s Commission looked at education and livelihood projects and opportunities for Southern Sudanese who are returning after decades of displacement.
• Keep the G8 Promise to Africa, The DATA Report 2006: Education
  The DATA report explains the G8 promise to Africa regarding primary education, interprets the promise and provides an assessment on the status of the G8 committment.
• Kenya’s Abolition of School Fees offers Lessons for Rest of Africa
  This UNICEF article explains the surge in enrollments, progress, remaining challenges and lessons learned from the Kenyan experience of abolishing school fees.
• Lessons Learned: African Countries Share Experiences with Abolition of School Fees
  This article explores various African experiences with the abolition of school fees.
• Missing the Mark, A School Report on Rich Countries’ Contribution to Universal Primary Education
  This Global Campaign for Education report summarizes the contributions made by rich countries to achieving Universal Primary Education.
• Oxfam Briefing Paper 93: Free, Quality Education for Every Afghan Child
  This briefing paper analyzes the scale of the challenge facing education in Afghanistan, and the budgetary implications of that challenge.
• Rewrite the future: education for children in conflict-affected countries
  This report from Save the Children examines the impact of conflict on the education of children and makes recommendations for how to meet this challenge.
• The State of the World's Children 2007: Women and Children - The double dividend of gender equality
  The UNICEF State of the World's Children 2007 report focuses on the relationship between women's empowerment and the well-being of children.
• The UN Millennium Development Goals Indicators
  The MDG Indicator website presents the official data, definitions, methodologies and sources for the 48 indicators to measure progress towards the Millennium Development Goals.
• The United Nations Girls’ Education Initiative
  The United Nations Girls' Education Initiative is the Education For All flagship for girls' education and principal movement to narrow the gender gap in primary and secondary education.
• UNICEF Child Labour Report
  The UNICEF child labor report provides an overview about child labor and some basic statistics.
• What Works in Girls Education: Evidence and Policies from the Developing World
  This report by the Council on Foreign Relations summarizes the extensive body of research on the state of girls’ education in the developing world today; the impact of educating girls on families, economies, and nations; and the most promising approaches to increasing girls’enrollment and educational quality.

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Dia do Paralímpico

«O Dia do Paralímpico é uma iniciativa desenvolvida em colaboração com a Federação Portuguesa de Desporto para Deficientes com o Patrocínio Exclusivo Allianz e que conta com o apoio da Câmara Municipal de Cascais.

No dia 28 de Junho, das 10h às 19h, vem até à Baía de Cascais e participa no Dia do Paralímpico!

Vem à grande festa do desporto adaptado e experimenta as várias modalidades paralímpicas.

Um dia diferente dedicado ao desporto e ao convívio, na companhia dos nossos "super atletas" - um exemplo de coragem e determinação que tantas medalhas têm trazido a Portugal.

Há muita animação para toda a família, com demonstrações dos atletas, desfiles de escolas, torneios e actuações musicais.

Não faltes e inscreve-te individualmente ou em grupo.»

Fonte: site do Dia do Paralímpico

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About disability

«A disability definition

Agreeing on a common definition of disability is not an easy task. Several attempts have taken place in the past years, at various levels.

At present, there is no one unique and agreed definition of disability. The lack of a clear definition partly explains the lack of statistics and figures on disability in Europe.

Until very recently, the definition of disability has been determined by a medical approach. This approach was largely based on pity and charity towards disabled people, which should be “cured” in order to fit in society.

Since its establishment, the European Disability Forum has worked actively to overcome the medical model and to spread a notion of disability based on a social approach.

While the medical model is based on the persons’ “impairment” and “lack of ability”, the social model shifts the focus onto “disability” due to surrounding barriers.

Disability is therefore understood as the result of the interaction between the individual’s impairment and the barriers created by society (be social, environmental and attitudinal).

While the medical model puts the responsibility on the “individual”, the social model stresses society’s responsibility to include and accommodate the needs of all persons, including people with disabilities.

According to EDF, disability relates to people that currently have a disability, had a disability in the past, may have a disability in the future, or are associated with a person with a disability.» (European Disability Forum)

Links on the Definition of disability

• World Health Organisation (WHO) International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF)
• United Nations Convention on the Rights of Disabled Persons
• Definiton of Disability in Europe, a comparative analysis, European Commission, September 2002
  

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“So You Think You Can Dance”

‘Reality dance show puts Rett syndrome in the spotlight’

«June 20th, 2008

From the New York Times:

Choreographer Jean Marc Genereux this week created a dance routine for the popular Fox Show “So You Think You Can Dance” to honor his daughter, who has Rett syndrome. The condition is caused by a genetic mutation on the X chromosome, and is characterized by normal early development followed by loss of motor skills. Audience members were reportedly in tears when the dance was performed. With video. Also on youtube here.» (Patricia E Bauer)

Twitch & Kherington - Viennese Waltz

Legenda: "Twitch and Kherington perform a Viennese Waltz choreographed by Jean-Marc Genereux." ( kelxk3l)

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Inclusive Education

Education ministers focus on teachers’ role in inclusive education

© UNESCO/Helen Fedoseeva

«A broader understanding of social inclusion lies behind an international conference from 19-20 June in Saint Petersburg, Russia. Organized by UNESCO on the theme of «Inclusive Education: Improving Education Policies and Systems», the conference will bring together education ministers or their representatives from Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Republic of Moldova and the Russian Federation.

Discussions will centre on developing educational policies and strategies to include the most vulnerable social groups in the education system, taking regional specificities into account. Priority will be given to the need to elaborate specific training for teachers as key actors in the process of social inclusion.
The findings of the Saint Petersburg conference will enrich the 48th session of UNESCO’s International Conference on Education, “Inclusive Education: the Way of the Future” (25 - 28 November 2008, Geneva, Switzerland.» (UNESCO, 18-06-2008 - Contact: a.umarov@unessco.ru)

Links relacionados

• More about the conference
• UNESCO’s work in Inclusive Education
• The 48th International Conference on Education, “Inclusive Education: the Way of the Future” (25 - 28 November 2008, Geneva, Switzerland)
  

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