Heading for Inclusive School in Europe
Goals:
• Making participants familiar with the most important international documents on inclusive education and the rights of people with disabilities.
• Explaining historical changes in the perception of people with disabilities and changes in international law.
• Making participants familiar with changes in the definition of disability - from the medical model to the biopsychosocial model.
• Encouraging participants to think about the conditions necessary for the introduction of inclusive education. Explaining the concept of reasonable means.
Summary:
The section "The spirit of the laws in Europe and the ethics of inclusion" of the training module contains information on the trunk D of the project "Heading for inclusive school in Europe", namely the definition of inclusive education and the definition of its limits.
The following part of the training module is designed to provide participants with information on European and international legislation.
It is divided into four courses which, in addition to providing theoretical bases, encourage participants to think independently about the conditions to be provided in school, so that inclusive education could be possible and effective.
Knowledge transfer involves a formula that actively engages participants (including debate, individual work, group work).
As part of the training, participants take part in the following courses:
From a purely legal point of view, the law can be defined as the expression of the right of men. It is strongly influenced by the social and cultural environment and by the historical legacy of the legislator. But the law is also a framework for action, a way of shaping the future in order to change society.
This definition of the law, as well as its function, applies particularly to the evolution of legislation governing society’s caring for disabled people.
In fact, the way people look at disability has always been influenced by the social, political and cultural context in which they live.
In ancient times, deformity in all its forms is perceived as a sign of the wrath of gods that strikes individuals who have behaved in a way that is unworthy of the society around them.
In the Middle Ages, handicap continues to be assimilated to the fault and to its corollary, divine punishment.
Thanks to the progress of medicine, a slow evolution of this stigmatizing representation is beginning. However between the 16th and 19th centuries, disabled people are set apart and locked up, when they are not exposed in circuses or fairs.
It is therefore only in the 20th century, under the influence of researchers or pedagogues motivated by humanist philosophy, that the vision of disability will profoundly evolve, as evidenced by its representation made through works of art, literature or cinema.
Twentieth-century societies are now striving to create conditions for equality between people with disabilities and others. Ethics is making a decisive breakthrough in the way disability is understood.
This change in mentalities has resulted in a profusion of legislation, sometimes in the States, but especially in the international context with, for example, the UN Convention of 2006.
