Inclusion Now 58

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Editorial

Welcome to the latest edition of Inclusion Now, full of news and topical debates in the field of inclusive education.

Online University Empowers Disabled Students

The year 2020 was a tough and emotional experience for most of us. It forced us to adapt to new situations and find alternative ways to continue with our education. By Melody Powell (She/Her)

My Positive Experience of Lockdown Learning

Kadijah Adam – a Disabled teenager studying in her local mainstream school – is interviewed by Michelle Daley, ALLFIE Director, for Inclusion Now magazine. We hear about her positive mainstream inclusion experiences at St Paul’s Catholic School in Milton Keynes, including how Covid-19 remote learning has enhanced her inclusive education experience.

The Right to Inclusive Education and the European Court

European Court promotes Inclusive Education in recent judgment G.L. against Italy. By Thandi Groof, European Human Rights Law Student.

“Like a bird released from a cage, I am free to fly in the open fields”

Jonathan Bryan, a 14-year-old author, poet, charity founder, campaigner, and Disabled non-verbal champion for inclusion, is interviewed by Richard Rieser for Inclusion Now.

The CripTales and Inclusive Education

CripTales is a series of six powerful and dramatic short monologue films, each 12 to 15 minutes long. The BBC series was created by Disabled actor and writer, Mat Fraser, with each episode also having been written, directed and performed by Disabled people.

What more can we achieve? A Critical Review of ‘Silenced: The Hidden Story of Disabled Britain’

‘Silenced: The Hidden Story of Disabled Britain’ is a recent BBC documentary which captures the challenges and the emergence of disability rights in modern Britain. The programme draws on how Disabled people were shut out of society, how they were treated with fear and prejudice, and the fight for basic human rights. ALLFIE’s Disabled Black Lives Matter group opens the conversation on intersectional erasure, to encourage discussion which can inform teaching on tackling disablism, racism and interlocking oppression within the school curriculum.

Neither Victims nor Heroes: Promoting Disability inclusion through reading

Richard Rieser reviews ‘The Full Story’ by Mark Jennet, Published by the National Education Union in 2020.

Supporting Scotland’s Journey Towards a more Inclusive Society

A24 Scotland is a new network of Disabled people, parents of Disabled children and professionals in Scotland. Two of A24’s founders, Fiona Couper-Kenney and Jennifer Rutherford, spoke to Inclusion Now about their campaign for full implementation of Article 24 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD).

Inclusive education works: an Italian example

Inclusion Now hears from Paola Esperson, music therapist and school teacher: “As a pupil, I studied all my life in inclusive classes. As a specialised teacher, I have been working for 18 years in Italian state’s primary schools with Disabled and non-Disabled children. Like the vast majority of Italian teachers, principals, parents and school staff, I believe in inclusive education and consider every diversity a value.”

Legal Question

“My daughter Joanna is a Deaf, British Sign Language (BSL) user with cancer. She is not attending school because she is shielding, in line with government
guidance. Her school have decided to use BBC school programmes as part of their remote education offering for all pupils who are shielding or have tested Covid-19 positive. Like her non-Disabled peers, Joanna wanted the opportunity to watch the programmes again at her own leisure. There has been an argument between the school and the BBC on who is responsible for the BSL interpretation – with each claiming it’s not them. Who is legally responsible for BSL on virtual lessons, homework and education platforms?”