The Case of Cyprus, Greece, Italy and Spain
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State of the art on current practices in the education and training of teachers in Southern Europe - The case of Cyprus, Greece, Italy and Spain Completion Date: 30/03/2019 Authors Alejandra Martínez Monés1, Yiannis Georgiou2,3, Sara Villagrá Sobrino4, Stefania Giambeluca6, Symeon Retalis5, Andri Ioannou2,3 1Department of Computer Science, Universidad de Valladolid, Spain 2Cyprus University of Technology, Cyprus Interaction Lab, Cyprus 3Research Centre on Interactive media, Smart systems and Emerging technologies, Cyprus 4Department of Pedagogy, Universidad de Valladolid, Spain 5University of Piraeus, Computer Supported Learning Engineering Lab, Greece 6CESIE, Italy Abstract The present report provides an overview of current practices on teacher training, and how teacher training covers the needs of students with disabilities under the paradigm of inclusive education. The report aims at analysing the situation in the Southern Europe, namely presenting the cases of Cyprus, Greece, Italy and Spain. After a general overview of the gradual change in the provision of special education services into the mainstream educational system at an international level, this report presents the analysis of teacher training/ teacher preparation in Cyprus, Greece, Italy and Spain. It describes the context of teachers’ education and provides an overview of the most frequently assessed types of disabilities that are reported in each country. Then, a review of the main teacher training providers is presented, together with a final statement about possibilities of providing teacher training/ teacher preparation in the respective counties. The report should be of interest to the educational community, particularly researchers and practitioners in inclusive education and teacher preparation. Keywords: Special education, Inclusive education, teacher training, teacher preparation 1. Introduction The term “Inclusive Education” appears in the international context as an educational approach that aims at providing equal educational opportunities for all students. Inclusive Education is an educational approach that aims at eliminating discrimination among all students, irrespectively of their different abilities and skills, ethnic, linguistic and socio-economic background, gender or religious beliefs, creating school environments for all. It suggests that schools are responsible for accommodating the educational needs of all students, creating ‘One School for All’ (UNESCO, 1994), with the aim of improving the quality of education. In this context, schools should encourage the participation of all students in academic success and school social life, thus promoting social equity and respect to human rights (Booth & Ainscow, 2011). The first reference regarding this approach can be found in the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). IDEA was originally enacted by the Congress of the United States in 1975 to ensure that students with disabilities have the opportunity to receive a free appropriate public education, just like other students. This Act established the first unique educational system for all (Turnbull, Turnbull III & Kyzar, 2009). In Europe, the Committee of Inquiry into the Education of Handicapped Students and Young People (Warnock Report, 1978), served as a reference for the planning and regulation of special educational resources. This report set the basis for the concept of Inclusive Education. The UN approved in December 2006 the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Article 24 acknowledges that, for making effective the right to education of the persons with disabilities, “States Parties shall ensure an inclusive education system at all levels” (UN, 2006, p. 19), and that “persons with disabilities can access an inclusive, quality and free primary education and secondary education on an equal basis with others in the communities in which they live” (UN, p. 19). The current European Disability Strategy 2010-2020 has promoted initiatives in the “educational and training” scope to ensure that students with disabilities can benefit from an accessible educational system and to guarantee inclusive lifelong learning programs (European Union Council, 2009). One of these initiatives is the creation of the European Agency for Special Needs and Inclusive Education (https://www.european-agency.org/about-us). Its main goal is helping the member states to improve their policy and educational practice based on evidence from research, to implement inclusive education. The present report provides an overview of current practices on teacher training, and how teacher training covers the educational needs of students with disabilities under the paradigm of inclusive education. The report aims at analysing the situation in the Southern Europe, namely presenting the cases of Cyprus, Greece, Italy and Spain. The structure of the document is as follows: for each country we present the context, the general regulations on educational inclusion and teacher training as well as the basic epidemiologic information about students with disabilities. The report concludes with a summary synthesizing the information presented and providing a set of emerging final remarks. 2. Cyprus Teachers’ Training Context 2.1 Context This section provides information related to the regulation and current statistics about disabilities in Cyprus. It contains three sub-sections: ● General regulations on educational inclusion ● General regulation of teacher training ● Basic information on students with disabilities 2.1.1. General regulations on educational inclusion. The history of special education in Cyprus “dates back to 1929 with the establishment of separate, independent and charity run special schools, like many other countries before it” (Phtiaka, 2008, p. 149). According to Phtiaka (2008) this historical period can be divided into four stages, as follows: ● 1929-1979: Gradual Establishment of Special Schools: This period was characterized by the development and gradual establishment of Special Schools all over Cyprus, by charity-based initiatives and associations, in the absence of an independent and strong state. Hence, all of the Special schools established in Cyprus during this period had a charitable nature rather than an educational one. ● 1979-1988: Unified Legislation – Special Schools – Segregation: During this period all charity- based Special Schools, which were established during the previous phase, had to comply with the first Special Education Law in Cyprus voted by the Cyprus Parliament. This law was characterized by a philosophy of separatism, as was promoting Special Schools in Cyprus as ideal places for all students who deviated from the norm. ● 1988-1999: Informal Integration Practices: This period was characterized by a conflict between the separatist official legislation and informal integration practices. This period was signified by the appearance of the word “Integration” in the Special Education Bulletin published by the Ministry of Education and Culture in 1988 (Ministry of Education and Culture, 1988). Hence, during this period changes in practice took the form of isolated and unofficial instances of integration of students with disabilities, mainly deaf, into the mainstream school (Koupannou & Phtiaka, 2004). ● 1999: Legislative Enforcement of Integration: During this period, the conflict which had been previously observed between the separatist official legislation and informal integration practices, came to an end as the Cyprus Parliament voted the Law 113(I)/99. According to this law, which provides the main legislative framework until nowadays, students with disabilities have the right to be integrated in the mainstream schools. In particular, according to this law, known as the Education Act for children with special needs, the state takes responsibility for all students from the age of three (3) until the completion of post-secondary and higher education studies. The Law states that the Ministry of Education is responsible for providing equal educational opportunities to all students within the mainstream school and, if necessary, in the least restrictive environment. The Department of Pre-Primary and Primary Education has under its supervision the schools for students with disabilities (Public preschools – Kindergarten for Pre-primary Education and Grades 1- 6 for Primary Education), while there is also a Regional Committee for Special Education and Training. As prescribed by Law 113(I)/ 1999), this committee is responsible for (a) the assessment and re-assessment of special education services provided to students with disabilities and (b) the description of learning and environmental accommodations to be included in the student’s individualized education plan. In addition, according to the Law of 113(I)/1999, it is the state’s responsibility to avoid creating a segregated environment for students with disabilities; it is a right of these students to be integrated into the single core of education, known today as inclusive education. The school settings for students with disabilities are distinguished in the three following categories: (a) Schooling in the Mainstream Classroom with additional support from a special education teacher and/or a speech therapist, (b) Schooling in a Special Unit of the mainstream school with partial, where applicable, integration in the mainstream classroom, and (c) Public special schools (Figure 1). Hence, this Education Act for children with special needs together with the regulations