MDG 2 CBR and inclusive education
Community Based Inclusive Education: Good practises from El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua
Written by: Katharina Pförtner, Senior CBR Adviser, CBM Latin America
The experiences I would like to share are gathered in a long period of time when I was working with CBM as a CBR adviser in Latin America, focusing on Central American Countries. As an adviser and genuine special education teacher I asked all our partners in that region to add some of their experiences, especially about what worked very well in their programs. This is a summary of these experiences.
Most people would agree that:
· There are few children with disabilities in schools and there is poor accessibility
· There are a high number of students in one room
· Many children abandon school
· Teachers have a variety of jobs
· Parents are not involved in formal education
· Competition determines the learning, there is no flexibility
· Methods are not based on interest and natural curiosity of children
Conclusion: Education is found to be a major problem in many societies.
In rural communities, “special education” opportunities do not exist. For families with children with disabilities there are only two solutions: send all of the children to the same school, or exclude children with disabilities from education. As most of CBMs partners saw, quality education does not exist for any student. Inclusive education is good for ALL children, and especially for those suffering from exclusion.
Gordon Porter said already in 1987: “Access to quality education is the key for social integration and the identity of citizens”, the CBR matrix mentions education as one of the CBR components, and CBR programs include education activities into a comprehensive inclusive community development.
In the following, I would like to mention several elements of the strategy of community based inclusive education, which forms part of the CBR strategy in different programs in Central America: Nicaragua, El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala and they are explained with an example of a child in Nicaragua, in order to make it more realistic.
Inclusive education starts with early detection
Maria Nazareth Montiel Marin was born in Juigalpa Chontales Nicaragua 2005, with many health complications. After 5 days in the hospital in the small city of Juigalpa, the mother was informed by the nurse that her baby was affected by Down syndrome and about the consequences this would have for her life and the family: special care, frequently medical checks, health problems which might need special attention, special education, etc. This was certainly the biggest shock the mother had in her life, as well as for her husband. Both dedicated all their energy to care for Maria the best they could.
In cooperation with family members, neighbours, friends and any other important persons, a participative assessment called Mapeo was realized. The analysis is usually done in coordination among all these actors, as decided by the persons with disability and/or his/her family: the situation of the person with disability (child or adult) in terms of the history and causes of his/her disability, rehabilitation means, social situation and communication, decision making and ideas for the future. Outcome of this assessment becomes a shared action plan, which is based on the reality of the person and the participation of him/her, his/her family or community members.
After 3 months they heard about the Early Education Program run by Asopiecad (Association for inclusive education community programs) and since then the fieldworkers visited the family once a week working with Maria and her mother with the Portage Program for Early Education (Bluma, 1976), following her developmental objectives and also daily living activities. They also received home visits from the coordinator and the CBM adviser to the CBR program.
“When I visited the family I was amazed about the care of the whole family for Maria. It seemed that she was the centre of all attention. When I asked whether she would participate in activities outside the house, the mother was very negative, explaining to me that this would be too dangerous, due to the risk factors for the health, as the paediatrician had explained to her after the birth. So I recommended to her and the CBR fieldworker to slowly experiment with activities outside the home and the mother was invited to training activities in her community, to know more about the CBR program.” (Katharina Pförtner)
From this time the mother changed, she liked to exchange her experience with other participants in the program a lot; she even now is supporting other mothers, giving them orientation in Early Education, not only in her own community but also in the municipality, parents self-help groups are very important.
Community driven inclusive education
The self-help groups, CBR committees, persons with disabilities are doing the first step for inclusive education: awareness training based on practical activities with community members (in this case parents, neighbours, community leaders). Inclusive education needs preparation, but not necessarily money. Experiences have told us that successful inclusive education programs have been installed in small community schools; important for the success were the involvement of the community, eliminating discrimination, the latter only happens in the exchange processes.
Maria learned many self-care skills like: walking (18 month), eating, putting on and off her dress and shoes by herself, going to the bathroom independently, running and jumping, playing with other children, participating in home activities, asking and answering questions, opening and closing doors. The CBR fieldworker could convince the family to send Maria to a regular preschool when she was 5 years old. She was no longer visited in her home, but the fieldworker accompanies her up to now in the preschool and assists the teacher in the classroom, so also other children can benefit from her presence.
Building alliance for improving and sustaining the educational system
In case of the CBR strategy in Juigalpa, Nicaragua, after 5 years of work, they have succeeded to build an alliance of Early Education stakeholders: the Ministry of Education, Health, and Social Affairs and parent organizations are collaborating and supporting a system which guarantees attention to the child from birth to 6 years old and brings sustainability.
Inclusion begins, like we could see, right after birth: early detection, early education and a referral system (in alliance with governmental and non-governmental stakeholders in and outside of the community) are in place in order to create the best start for learning.
Important is to accept the requisites for inclusive education in order to create an environment of diversity and inclusiveness: age peers, neighbourhood school, accessibility (with community resources), support from the community and teacher training.
I want to repeat here: inclusive education is a better education for all including the teachers.
The CBR program trains teachers in the preschools and Kindergarten (community and government-run) about inclusive education. When Maria Nazareth was 6 years old she entered in the first grade in the primary school in her neighbourhood.
Teacher training to value diversity
Teachers and community members are trained in inclusive education strategies, in a practical way in order to understand about diversity.
a. Learning profiles are assessed at the beginning of the process (community based assessment, observation in the classroom, information from teachers and family members) and learning style is investigated (multiple intelligences)
b. Teaching practice should be based on diversity, start from the reality of the students in their communities, based on their interests. Awareness of the whole school actors is a primary requisite; here you can observe the workshop for children (included children with disabilities) in a community in Sololá Guatemala, held in Sutujil their indigenous language.
c. Above when I mentioned the requisites of inclusive education, we talked of the necessary community support. There are many ways to organize that: family members, older students, volunteers, pensioned teachers, etc. (support from child to child, practiced in small community schools in El Salvador).
d. Teaching is a team activity including all support persons and also parents, is based on community resources (original materials, artisan skills, practical learning, etc). Again, after some years of work, these experiences change the attitude of authorities.
e. Ministry of education in El Salvador pays itinerant teachers supporting schools in small communities in inclusive education: training, producing adaptations, referrals, coordination of activities, teacher and student´s support, etc.
f. In Honduras (Institute Juana Leclerc), after a self-assessment process, it emerged that support groups for learning were needed. The community, in collaboration with the teachers of the schools, founded them and they have been functioning for years with very good success (evaluated from students, parents and teachers).
Inclusion is improving learning conditions for all children
Numbers of children with behavioural challenges are rising in schools and most teachers are not prepared to deal with them. Remember the definition of inclusion: the school adequate to the persons to be included. Children with mental health challenges from El Salvador were threatened to be excluded from the school before the inclusive education was introduced. However, after training of the teachers in how to address problems such as behaviour or attitudes in a team internally, and use the resources in the community before seeking external help, teachers sat down and discussed alternatives. Such meeting were regularly held with the aim to monitor, correct and evaluate the results something called problem solving.
Again, inclusive education results in better quality for all. We create an inclusive learning friendly environment (ILFE) that means that classes will adapt to students reality in the community, and include their interests.
· Classes are built on learning with all senses and include movement.
· Brain gym are exercises to help coordinate brain and muscles in order to get ready for learning, this helps everyone.
· Students work in different constellations, adapted to their needs and the subject: in teams, in pairs, individual, collaborating and cooperating.
· Communication should be fostered by seating arrangements.
· Not all students have to participate constantly, their personal profile might include the need to rest between units, to leave early or arrive later.
Inclusive education adapts the curriculum to the needs of the children
It is very important, in order to eliminate exclusion and discrimination, that the activities of the class are the same, we can (following the individual profile of the student) adapt:
· Instructions (verbal, non-verbal, written, etc.)
· Form of presentation of information (abstract, verbal, images, real objects, etc.)
· Material we use (complex, simple, real, abstract)
· Degree of difficulty
· Form of evaluation (verbal, written, drawings, sign language translated to written language, etc.)
· Opportunities to practice (many, few, repetitive, diverse)
· Time table of participation (flexible)
· Physical participation direct or indirect (some persons might not be able to always participate in the classrooms, classes could be shared at home, online, etc.)
The right way to improve education for children with disabilities might be to start inclusive education through the CBR strategy and in organized communities, with schools that are willing to collaborate and based on their resources and culture. Publishing these examples of good practices may convince others and finally lead to an inclusive education policy by the ministry of education.
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