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Content-related information

GLOSSARY Source: European Agency for Special Needs and Inclusive Education.

https://www.european-agency.org/resources/glossary

At-risk children

Children can be at risk of disadvantage because of their individual circumstances or because they or their families belong to a group which is disadvantaged in society. These children may include those with disabilities, with mental health problems, in alternative care, at risk of neglect/abuse, undocumented child migrants/asylum seekers, those whose families live in poverty or are socially disadvantaged, those whose families have a migrant and/or second language background, those whose families have limited access to services, Roma and traveller children (European Commission,

2014, p. 68 ).

Barriers

Obstacles that prevent learners from accessing a full range of learning opportunities and limit their participation in society. Disability is often considered to be due to ‘disabling barriers’ which can be addressed by designing enabling, accessible environments. Barriers can be due to attitudes, language, culture, organisation of support services, power relations and structures within society.

Conceptual framework

A framework of theories, assumptions, principles, and rules. It underpins the project’s work and provides a ‘shared vision’ to guide project thinking, ensuring coherence and consistency.

Design for all

Design for all is a ‘design approach to products and services, aiming to make them usable for as many people as possible’ (UNESCO IITE/European Agency, 2011, p. 101).

Design for all ‘is used to describe a design philosophy targeting the use of products, services, and systems by as many people as possible without the need for adaptation’. Design for all is design for human diversity, social inclusion, and equality (European Institute for Design and Disability, 2004).

Differentiation

Differentiation is a method of designing and delivering instruction to best reach each learner. Teachers might differentiate content, process, products and/or the learning environment, with the use of on-going assessment and flexible grouping (Tomlinson, 2014 ). Differentiation in teachers’ practices takes account of learner differences and matches curriculum content and teaching methods to learning styles and learner needs. It may focus on input, task, outcome, output, response, resources or support. Care must be taken, however, that differentiation does not lead to lower expectations and segregation from the mainstream system. It should offer a range of differentiated tasks to everyone in class, giving learners some choice in what they do and how they respond.

Diversity

A multi-faceted concept that can contain many elements and levels of distinction, e.g. age, ethnicity, class, gender, physical abilities, race, sexual orientation, religious status, educational background, geographical location, income, marital status, parental status, and work experiences. The OECD defines diversity as: ‘characteristics that can affect the specific ways in which developmental potential and learning are realised, including cultural, linguistic, ethnic, religious and socio-economic

differences’ (2010, p. 21 ).

E-inclusion

E-inclusion refers to: … both inclusive ICT and the use of ICT to achieve wider inclusion objectives. It focuses on participation of all individuals and communities in all aspects of the information society. e-Inclusion policy, therefore, aims at reducing gaps in ICT usage and promoting the use of ICT to overcome exclusion, and improve economic performance, employment opportunities, quality of life, social participation and cohesion (European Commission, 2006a, p. 1 ).

Education for All (EFA)

An international initiative first launched in Jomtien, Thailand, in 1990 to bring the benefits of education to ‘every citizen in every society’. In order to realise this aim, a broad coalition of national governments, civil society groups and development agencies, such as UNESCO and the World Bank, committed to achieving several specific education goals (World Bank, 2014 ). ‘EFA focused world attention on the basic learning needs of neglected groups and on learning achievement rather than on mere attendance’ (European Agency, 2011, p. 13).

Equal opportunities

Equal opportunities mean the ‘same chances to take part in activities, access services, etc. with no barriers to education and equal life prospects for individuals’ (UNESCO IITE/European Agency, 2011, p. 102). Equal access to learning, achievement and citizenship opportunities allows learners to have similar achievements to their peers. This is particularly made possible through inclusive education

(European Agency, 2017 ).

Equality

Equality in education may be understood to imply that everyone is treated in a way that guarantees access to the same educational opportunities. Equality is based on the value that all human persons are equal in fundamental potential and self-worth.

Equity

Defining equity, the European Commission states that it is: ‘viewed as the extent to which individuals can take advantage of education and training, in terms of opportunities, access, treatment and outcomes’ (2006b, p. 2 ).

The OECD, in the publication No More Failures: Ten Steps to Equity in Education (2007), highlighted two dimensions of equity in education – fairness, ‘which implies ensuring that personal and social circumstances […] should not be an obstacle to achieving educational potential’, and inclusion, which implies ‘ensuring a basic minimum standard of education for all’. Fair and inclusive education is one of the most powerful levers available to make society more equitable.

According to the Council of the European Union: equality and equity are not identical and […]

education systems must move away from the traditional ‘one-size-fits all’ mentality. Equal opportunities for all are crucial, but not sufficient: there is a need to pursue ‘equity’ in the aims, content, teaching methods and forms of learning being provided for by education and training systems to achieve a high quality education for all (2017, p. 4 ).

Inclusion

Inclusion is both a principle and a process: ‘Inclusion and equity in and through education is the cornerstone of a transformative education agenda […] No education target should be considered met unless met by all’ (World Education Forum, 2015, p. 2 ).

It can be seen as: … a process of addressing and responding to the diversity of needs of all children, youth and adults through increasing participation in learning, cultures and communities, and reducing and eliminating exclusion within and from education. It involves changes and modifications in content, approaches, structures and strategies, with a common vision that covers all children of the appropriate age range and a conviction that it is the responsibility of the regular system to educate all children (UNESCO, 2009, pp. 8–9 ).

Originally used in relation to disability, the concept of ‘inclusion’ goes far beyond. It can be considered: a response to increasingly complex and diverse societies. It treats diversity as an asset which helps prepare individuals for life and active citizenship in increasingly complex, demanding, multi-cultural and integrated societies (European Agency, 2017, p. 7 ).

Inclusive assessment

Inclusive assessment shifts the focus from assessment procedures that focus on diagnosis and resource allocation, often conducted outside the mainstream school, to on-going assessment that is conducted by class teachers to organise individual educational planning. Such assessment procedures allow schools and teachers to take responsibility for all their learners and to effectively address all their needs.

Inclusive education

The UNESCO IBE (2008) definition states that inclusive education is: … an ongoing process aimed at offering quality education for all while respecting diversity and the different needs and abilities, characteristics and learning expectations of the students and communities, eliminating all forms of discrimination (p. 18 ).

The Agency views inclusive education as: … a systemic approach to providing high quality education in mainstream schools that effectively meets the academic and social learning needs of all the learners from the school’s local community (European Agency, 2015a).

Inclusive education supposes a real change at both policy and practice levels regarding education. Learners are placed at the centre of a system that needs to be able to recognise, accept and respond to learner diversity. Inclusive education aims to respond to the principles of efficiency, equality and equity, where diversity is perceived as an asset. Learners also need to be prepared to engage in society, to access meaningful citizenship and to acknowledge the values of human rights, freedom,

tolerance and non-discrimination (European Agency, 2017, p. 6 ).

Integration

This is generally linked to preparing pupils for placement in ordinary schools. It carries with it an idea that learners need to be educationally and/or socially ‘ready’ for transfer from special to ordinary school. The expectation is that learners will adapt to the school, rather than the school changing to accommodate the learner and meet a wider range of diverse needs.

Needs-based assessment

Needs-based assessment is a decision-making process in which an assessor analyses the pupil’s learning difficulties and tries to find possible explanations in order to make recommendations that can solve these problems. These recommendations often serve as the basis for an individual education plan (IEP).

Social exclusion

The European Commission defines social exclusion as: … a process whereby certain individuals are pushed to the edge of society and prevented from participating fully by virtue of their poverty, or lack of basic competencies and lifelong learning opportunities, or as a result of discrimination. This distances them from job, income and education opportunities as well as social and community networks and activities. They have little access to power and decision-making bodies and thus often

feel […] powerless and unable to take control over the decisions that affect their day to day lives

(2004, p. 8 ).

Social exclusion may result from ‘rootlessness’ and migration, rural exodus, dispersed families, disorganised urbanisation, rupture of traditional society, and higher levels of education required to gain employment, among other things (Acedo et al., 2008 ).

Social inclusion

Social inclusion is a process which ensures that those at risk of poverty and social exclusion gain the opportunities and resources necessary to participate fully in economic, social and cultural life and to enjoy a standard of living and well-being that is considered normal in the society in which they live. It ensures that they have greater participation in decision-making which affects their lives and access to their fundamental rights (as defined in the Charter of the Fundamental Rights of the European Union) (UNESCO IITE/European A