Reflections of the Last Projects - SEVİNÇ ÇİSEM YÜKSEL

INCLUSIVE SCHOOLS BY AMIGOS DEL FOOTBALL

We were the first group and our topic was inclusive schools. We started with the definiton of inclusive and we gave the difference between what is integration and inclusion. Because these two are easily confused. Having 3 disabled children out of 10 isn’t inclusion if you don’t mix them all together. Seperating these 3 in a mixed class means that you have integration. First of all we should be aware of that.

And we talked about some characteristics of inclusive education. The most prominents ones are again about diversity, heterogeneity, awareness of teachers. We had 4 authors to examine their ideas. They were Gordon Porter, Tony Booth, Mel Ainscow and Gerardo Echeita. More or less they all defend the same ideas. We chose the most important 2 ideas from each. They all want to have inclusive schools but of course we have some barriers. The general idea of these barriers is the attitude of the teachers. If a teacher say that I can’t teach somethnig to that class because they are all different from each other, then we can’t have the inclusion. The main points are policies, diverstiy and didactics. They are all related to each other and the common problem is the attitudes of the teachers. So we have to educate teachers at first. And then we have some purposals to get rid of these barriers. We should create inclusive cultures. This means that everybody should be included to create an inclusive education from parents to the government and all of them should keep in touch with each other. And then we establish the inclusive values. We have to teach how to be respectful, grateful and helpful etc. And then we produce inclusive policies. When we are designing a school, we should think everbody and all situations may happen. We should also have the support of the government and the other institutions to organize the diversity in the classrooms. And the last purposal is evolving inclusive practices. That means that every tool that we have should be appropriate for all children. And also we promote orchestrating learninh which means that we should combine theory and practice to teach something to pupils and practice together to create a better learning process.

We have 2 schools to show as an inclusive schools. One is O Pelouro School and it has the same space for all children to feel same and they are the pupils who decide what to learn. So there is an equality. And the other one is Amara Berri. It has the sense of being different is a quality and they show this to their pupils by many different ways.

To sum up, bringing new values and ideas and educating teachers to be able to cope with the diversity are the most important solutions to have inclusion. If everybody is aware of that being different is a quality, we can integrate with each other to bring inclusion to the schools and have a better education system.

ICT AND LEARNING DISABILITIES BY CRONICAS VIAJERAS

The map was very clear and they also talked about the topic very clearly. It was easy to understand how we can use the technology to teach something to disabled people.

They talked about 3 different kinds of disabilities. The first one was ‘Autism’. People who have this difficulty in their lives don’t socialize easily and have difficulties in understanding things. So we have to be aware of this and we should help them as much as we can without being impatient. Because the most important thing about working with disabled people is to be patient and understanding. We should know that they are different and they need special care.

Cronicas Viajeras suggests that the best options to cope with the education of autistic children is the usage of tablets and games. Because they are already so intravert and they have difficulties in understanding. As we saw in the video, using ipads to teach something is can be very useful. They can pay attention to the subject more easily like that. Because they both see and hear in an attractive way. And also games can be very useful for especially kinesthetic issues like understanding the movements. To sum up is is very useful to use technology to make the learning process more clear for pupils.

The second one was ‘Down Syndrome’. I think it is the most difficult one among them. It is so difficult to teach something to them as a whole. Bacause they can’t concentrate easily, they can’t distinguish the new information from the old ones and you always feel like starting to teach from the beginning. It is not so easy to take steps regularly. But this doesn’t mean that they can’t be trained. With the help of the technology, we can help them to learn better. Even if we can’t make them normal, we can make them feel normal. Whiteboards and cameras are the best 2 options that Cronicas Viajeras suggested. They said that, with these 2 tools we can improve pupils’ memories and concentrations.

The last one was ‘Motor Disabilities’. They can be both innate or acquired. When you are dealing with the physical disabilities, this effects the way you use the tools. Because they are mentally ready to learn something. So with the help of the technology, it can be easily overcome. The biggest problem is that they are aware of their situation and maybe they don’t want to integrate with the others. So as teachers, we should encourage them to learn. By using mp3s, computers and many other things, we can teach them so many things. If a pupil is blind, we can use vocal tools. If a pupil is deaf, we can use visual tools etc. So this makes their learning process more productive and they feel comfortable. Stephen Hawking can be the best example. He can’t even breathe by himself but he has a wheel chair which is designed according to his needs and he is one of the best scientists of the world. 

ICT AND IMPROVEMENT SCHOOLS BY TEAM PERK

They started with a video which shows how we can use the technology in the classes. And their maps included 4 different parts. They talked about some advantages of the technology. Our era has changed so we are so familiar to the technology. So this is an advantage. We have different kinds of topics for each subject. By using the technology, we can adopt them and teach them in a enjoyable way. But there are also many teachers who grown up witout using technology. So this can be a disadvantage. While the new ones are using the technology, the old ones are having some difficulties. And also it requires too much Money to supply all the tools. It may be too expensive to have many kinds of technological devices.

But apart from all these difficulties, starting to use the technology in the classes brings you convenience. Students can learn more easily and they remember what they’ve learnt in the classes more. Because we both use vocal and visual materials with the help of ICT. Teachers can also express their complex ideas in a simple way. And also ICT increases the interaction. Parents and teachers can keep in touch with themselves very easily. And also pupils talk with each other about homeworks or something else out of the scool.

The main idea to use the technology properly is to teach how to use it. It is very important for both teachers and students. Of course there are many beneficial social Networks to help us learn but there are so many hazardous Networks which keep us apart from our education. So we have to choose what we use very carefully and also train ourselves to use them in a better way.

INCLUSIVE SCHOOLS BY UNKNOWNS

They are the other group who talked about inclusice schools. But they talked about it in a general way apart from us. We both said the same things more or less. They talked about the general ideas of inclusive education. ‘ Inclusive education is presented as a right of  all children’ was the best idea which presents the gist of the inclusion.

There are some objectives of having an inclusive education system. For example, promote democracy and justice and equal opportunities. By giving them these, we can obtain a good atmosphere because these are the general values that we want to have. We are all the same no matter our differences. The idea is to have the same opportunities with our differences. In order to have that, we also need the collaboration of the instutions and formative environments. Otherwise we’ll have some problems about policiy, community and society.

They divided the barriers into 3 as political, cultural and didactics. We have problems about the politics because there are some rules and we have to obey them no matter how beneficial things we want to give. And there are cultural problems about the diversity. Our first aim to provide the same education for all but we sometimes have some troubles about that. Because of the various differences, they need individual care to have the best learning process and one teacher may not be enough to deal with all the students. And also they may not want to deal with at all. In this way, we have the didactical problems. Teachers should be able to deal with that situations and be patient about that. S/he must know that they are all different but they have the same rights.

And they purposed some solutions to get rid of these barriers and they are the same as ours. They also showed 2 videos of great examples of inclusive schools.

SOCIOEMOTIONAL LEARNING BY WANDERLUST

They started with the author Rafel Bisquerra who is an expert about socioemotional learning. There are some main goals of this type of learning like developing different emotional competences, acquiring better understanding of one’s emotions. The main idea of that being able to learn not only mentally but also emotionally. Because the effectiveness of the learning process also depends on our mood and we can learn better by adding our emotions into it. The best options to learn socioemotionally are through programs based on theoretical frameworks and with a good team prepared teaching faculty.

Our main winning is to be happy while we’re learning. How are we going to be happy? With the help of it, our social skills get better and we have better relationships. Our level of agression and self-defending thoughts decreases and so we improve our self-esteem. Because of the general happiness of ours, we have better academic performances.

To maintain the happiness, we have to work emotions with the pupils everyday especially gaining emphaty is the most important one. How can we develop emphaty in the class? By listening them and let them listen each other, teach games based on it(F.e: ‘Walk in my shoes’) and also pay attention the emotions of them. Expressing their emotions before&after the classes can also help pupils to relax and learn better. So teacher can understand if they are satisfied or not and take precautions according to that.

As teachers we should promote mutliple intelligences tasks for the pupils, let them work in groups and help them if it is necessary. Regularly, we should give them positive rainforcements to encourage and make them feel successful. The most important duty of the teacher is to have a daily student-teacher interaction and have interaction with the parents to understand their pupils in a better way.

LEARNING COMMUNITIES BY MUSICAL CHAIRS

The main points to have are communication, coordination, cooperation and collaboration among teachers, students and volunteers.  Because they share the same goals and attitudes.

Not only teachers and students but also volunteers should be involved to learning process to create a better system. Because teachers are not the only ones who have the knowledge. Volunteers have also knowledge based on their own experiences. In this way, students are also educated in some important values. Pupils see the things in a different perspective and it also help them to socialize.

Teachers should be aware of that with the help of the others, they can achieve more. So they have to be keep in touch the parents and volunteers. They have to share the info and lead them in the best way they can do. They should motivate pupils to be openminded and social and implement constuctivism rahter than behaviourism.

And volunteers should trust the teacher and support them as much as they can. They have to be understanding and patience enough to deal with the pupils.

The gist of this type of learning is to be together to teach pupils and also gain new persperctives by interacting with each other.

WAYS OF LIVING TOGETHER IN SCHOOL BY MODERN STUDENTS

There are some problems about get on well with each other in the school because we are all different from each other. The main problems are bullying, violence and exclusion. One of the best solutions is school mediation. The madiatior can be pupils, teachers and employed non-teaching stuff. And there is a program to get rid of this. It helps to improve self-esteem. This is important because the main reason which causes the problems is the lack of self-esteem and self-consciousness. It also increases the responsibilities of the pupils to lead them to be more resposible. It is acquired volunteerily participation. And the main point is to have dialogues and active listening to understand each other.

They used archeology as a metaphor of feelings in the school. It has 5 stages. The first step is to find what the problem is. The second one is to find the different realationships between students-teachers, teachers-parents etc. The third one is to have a emotional learning at the school to create a better understanding area. The fourth one is find the solutions to get rid of the problems and the last one is share the experinces and else to establish the solutions. This is the archeology technique which is found by Miguel S. Guerra.

And at the end, they talked about KIVA school which uses madiation to avoid from bullying. It also offers you to take online courses, trainings and antibullying programs and this is perfect.

They concluded that if we help pupils to control their own emotions, we also help ourselves to solve the problems. Besides, pupils feel safe by knowing that there is somebody to take care of them.

LEADERSHIP AND SCHOOL EFFECTIVENESS BY DUMBLODORE’S TEACHERS ARMY

Why is important leadership for schools?

Because there has to be someone who makes the decisions and takes the responsibilites. Oherwise, everbody has different ideas and solutions to the possible problems. But if we have just one authority, we have to follow her steps and take her as a leader. In order to avoid chaos, leadership is important.

What are the characteristics of a good leader?

She has to be knowledable about the current problems and the atmosphere of the school. She has to respect the others and their ideas because she is not the only one who knows something. She has to lead the population for the better. She has to be prescient to know if it is true or not before she does it. She has to be trustworthy and always supportive. And also i think it is better that the one who will lead the majority should be experienced. If she is not, then she will learn by doing. But it is supposed to be alreay known.

As a conclusion, working about all these subjects help me to understand how the ideal school and ideal teacher should be. Because we learn the systems, problems and solutions by doing. We are the decision makers and we are the ones who think that what can be done to have a better education system. I find these projects very beneficial for my own teacher training. I am now more aware of how to use the technology in an effective way, what can be done to avoid bullying and live happily in the schools, how I can include all different kinds of pupils in the same class and projects and how to deal with disabled learners. We looked at almost every possible situations which we may have in our classses and i think we are almost ready to take all the responsibility with the extra help of our leaders. 

CRÓNICAS VIAJERAS:

The project was "ICT and Learning Disabilities". The main theme of this group was different disabilities that may appear in school. Hablaro Down, autism and motor disability syndrome. For people with motor disabilities, we were taught different resources that could help, such as braille books.

For people with autism and down syndrome, they taught us some very interesting videos. They defined their diseases, I think that's important because to help need to know what happens to them. They also provided some solutions and how we treat them.

I really liked the exposition and the map was very clear.

MODERN STUDENTS:

Their topic was "mediation". It is a subject that I consider very important because children when they are young have many fights and arguments. We must try to teach them that violence and aggression are not good and they have to solve problems peacefully.

We were taught different techniques to mediate among children in a right way and educate them well for the future. The video was very interesting. It describes the different techniques to try to avoid violence as eye contact summarizing, etc. And the mediator, which is very important appears.

Very good exposure and video seemed very appropriate to the content.

WANDERLUST

They talk about social and emotional learning. They started talking about Bisquerra, who thinks that this issue should be another subject in school because it is very important. They also wanted to promote cooperative learning because it was a very interesting way to combat bullying.

I found it very interesting the part where he intended "Science Week" in which students have different roles and see how they move in them.

DUMBLEDORE

They spoke about "leadership". They talked about the main qualities you need to have a person to be a good leader, such as: confidence, security and the ability to be attentive to what others may need.

Leadership is very important in school because students can acquire good values teacher, in addition to respect him. Note that the leader has no more importance than others, it is only related to the organization.

TEAM PERK

They spoke about ICT and improvement school. This topic is very interesting because I believe that the technologies need to be very important in school. The main problem is their implementation that some teachers do not totally controls.

The technology has many advantages such as social networks, with which we can be in touch more easily with our students. In addition children see technology as something fun, so we can get to learn having a good time.

MUSICAL CHAIRS

Their topic was "Community learning". This topic is very interesting because the environment can affect students and children. So they need a joint collaboration for the development of the child is appropriate.

So we have to try to have a good relationship between parents and teachers from parents and students as the teacher not only teaches content, but also teaches core values to students.

Conclussion

The works have generally found very well done. The issues that have been treated are very interesting and I also believe that they can help me in the future as a teacher.

COMMENTS ABOUT THE FINAL PROJECTS (SANDRA FERNÁNDEZ)

CRÓNICAS VIAJERAS

This group talked of children with disabilities and as technologies help them to improve, to enter, to have more desire to participate etc. They spoke exactly of children with autism, with Down syndrome and people with motor disabilities. The conceptual map that they did was very clear and was very well organized, with the different difficulties, new technologies that can be used to help children, and the results and consequences.

I think it was a very full presentation where I learned more things about these disabilities and at the same time how use technologies to help these children. I learned about the various difficulties of these children such as: children with autism have difficulties in language, imagination etc; children with Down syndrome have less initiative, suffer more distractions etc; people with motor disabilities have motor and physical difficulties. To reinforce these activities with the use of new technologies is a good medium through cameras, tablets, whiteboards, mp3 to listen to music etc. Today the use of these technologies will help students learn in an easier way and help them for inclusion in the class. One thing I liked was learning that much whiteboards help children with Down syndrome because they are very visual for them and capture their attention immediately.

Finally they showed us a video about the technologies and the advantages afforded to communication. We saw in the video how a child is more motivated with a tablet than with a paper because in there are movements, music, drawings etc. Finally they showed us an application, it is a game for children with a disorder.

In my opinion I think it is a very full presentation and I think it is very interesting to know how the technologies can help many people. Today we live in a technological world and I think we should learn to use them at each moment and to know their usefulness in certain situations and the great benefits it can have.

TEAM PERK

The issue that had this group was ICT and improvement schools. They started the presentation with a video that spoke of use had to give technologies to improve learning. They make a great conceptual map divided like in 4 sections. They talked about several terms related to technologies such as: digital natives, digital divide, future teachers etc. Then they talked of using technologies which might have applications and mentioned the advantages and difficulties in the use of technologies.

They also mentioned the importance of introducing technology in the classroom and current technologies are part of the daily lives of students. They also spoke of how important it is that teachers receive adequate training and knowledge to use technology in the classroom. Teachers could improve these attending various courses on knowledge technologies.

Finally they talked about various technological tools and applications, ipod, robotics etc and how they can be used in the classroom to reinforce learning. One of the most important objectives is to improve communication between teachers and students through the introduction of these new methods.

At the end of the presentation they concluded with another video on the use of ipads in a school, very interesting to see how children learn and have fun at the same time. In my opinion I think we should introduce the technology in the classroom as students are more motivated to learn and we make learning more enjoyable and fun. On the other hand I think it is important that teachers continue training to get acquire good knowledge about how to use and introduce technologies. I think although there are teachers who don’t want to completely eliminate the traditional teaching is necessary to evolve and think about what is the best for our education and learning for our students.

UNKNOWNS

The theme of this group is the same as ours: Inclusive Schools. In their presentation they began giving a definition and appointing four authors who speak about these schools who are: Gordon Porter, Mel Ainscow, Tony Booth and Gerardo Echeita. Then they presented some general ideas and goals that have this type of schools such as: do not leave anyone apart give everyone the same opportunities, promote democracy and justice etc. They also talked about the benefits they can bring such schools how are for example the opportunity to learn about individual differences and learn to accept them, build relationships, appreciate diversity, parents involvement etc.

Although these schools offer very good things there are barriers to their development: political, cultural and didactic. They explained these barriers and after at the end of the presentation, in its conclusion they proposed some solutions to eliminate these barriers, there were 3 solutions that are: creating inclusive cultures, develop inclusive policies and develop inclusive practices.

They also talked two inclusive schools are Padre Piquer and Sadako. These schools defend the teaching of diversity as a quality, promote respect among all teach values, not focus so much on teaching content but seeking activities for your students to have fun, also give great importance to new technologies and defend its use in classrooms, are schools that want to give equal opportunities to all children, without rejecting anyone for their culture or disability, also they say it is very important to have a good atmosphere in the classroom etc.

In my opinion I think it has been a very complete and very visual presentation with the main ideas. I think it is necessary to promote these types of schools and inclusive education such as it would provide equal opportunities to all students to learn and not as currently depending on our properties receive a teaching or another. In these schools all are considered equal and I think this is very important. Another thing that strikes me is that they are very concerned about the involvement of parents in the learning process of their children and I think this is very important because it is necessary to have a collaboration among all.

MODERN STUDENTS

This group talked about ways of living together in the school, and they divided the topic into 4 parts as we could see in their conceptual map.

The first part was the school mediation, in this part they talked about why occur problems such as bullying, violence or exclusion and how it can be solved. After they had explained the objectives mediator to solve this and who could be the mediator, the mediator could be children, teachers or non-teaching staff employed. The importance of teaching good values to avoid such problems in schools are also named.

The second part was program to support peers that is in relation with the mediation, how to solve problems etc. This part was explained very well, they talked about goals, also about the keys of this program that are for example conflicts as an engine of change, shared responsibility… and also they talked about the results that could be obtained.

The third part was about "archeology of feelings", is a book that compares archeology with education and had 5 steps were: excavate, discover, investigate, protect and expose.

Part 4 was a school in Finland named Kiva that worked with bullying and online materials also to avoid harassment. To end the exposure they put a video of students students is another program that deals with the mediation.

In my opinion I think they have approached the issue very well, proposing solutions to current problems in schools. I think it's important to have good relations in schools, there is a comfortable environment for all etc. For this I think it is important to note the problems that exist and from there find the necessary solutions so that we can be as well as possible. I found it very interesting part of the book of archeology because they use a metaphor between archeology and the feelings that children can feel at school.

MUSICAL CHAIRS

This group had the subject of Community Learning. When we talk about this we are referring basically to the coordination between teachers, students and volunteers. With this method what is intended is to show that the school is not isolated from society and that collaboration not only of teachers and students is needed. Currently we just say that teachers are responsible for everything in the school and this is not because children need different kinds of support and motivation of both teachers as family to get their learning.

The main point of the work I think that focuses on explaining how society can appear at school because it is very easy to say but doing so is more complicated. Society appear in school through recognized as volunteers. When we speak of volunteers we can say that they are people who have no previous qualifications to teach class but that empowers teachers to engage in activities, give talks etc. All these things take place in the school.

I find it interesting to mention three words that seem to me important to carry out this coordination of the educational community are: collaboration, understanding and cooperation.

It will create a process to try that society has an important role within schools. This process has 3 phases:

-Dream: in this first stage it is where you will think all the possibilities for improvement for the center. These improvements can be physical, on methodology, reforms in classrooms etc.

-PRIORITIES: In this second stage must be selected among all the proposals we said in the previous phase the most feasible proposals that are most needed etc to our center. In short, the proposals that are to be realized.

-Working COMMITTEES: In this final stage of the process is the shift to implement everything we've decided to go above and solving the various difficulties we may encounter.

In my opinion I think it's a very important issue because it is necessary to know that in schools many more persons or entities involved and not just teachers. The school is now seen as something between teachers and students, in my opinion I think this is not so and we should understand that we have a very broad educational community where they enter teachers, students, families, volunteers etc. I think when we understand that we all have to do our part to get a good education, that will be the moment where things start to work better.

WANDERLUST

This group had the subject of Social and Emotional Learning. They started talking about why you should include it in the school as a subject, defending the idea of Rafel Bisquerra that was as important as math or language and help children to understand better how they feel, to prevent negative emotions, etc.

Emotions is something that teachers observe every day in class, observe their students, so teachers need to work every day with the emotions of students. Then they talked about the methodology of how to pass the ideas into practice, the Wanderlust team proposed that a good idea would talk every day with students about how they feel and how their peers feel.

They related this with multiple intelligences, because all children need to develop emotional intelligence, so have proposed an activity which is called "week of emotional intelligence." This activity would be to put students in different situations and they had to express how they feel about each of them and finally, also linked him with cooperative learning because if all students work together helping each other, if all students know how they feel their peers could also avoid situations of bullying for example.

Another thing I found interesting and explained very well is the importance of feelings that show teachers and how important it is that the teacher his students show happy before, because children have their teacher as an example and although not we we see the emotional situation teacher before students can affect them.

Finally they introduced the theme of empathy, which is the ability to put oneself in the other lufar. To develop this empathy in the classroom is important to address the emotions of children, to listen, to show their feelings etc. They explained how to work this in class and proposed an interesting activity: "Walk in my shoes". This activity would be put in the situation of another person when there is a conflict. After this again stressed the importance of teachers in this subject because students should have an interest, help them in every time they need etc. the importance of parents is also important as it should be interested in how their children feel and help when needed.

In my opinion I think it is an issue that should be worked in the classroom, because it is very good teaching material to students but we must also know how they feel, understand them, understand what may feel in each situation etc. I would find it interesting to devote a session of one hour a day so that all children could express themselves, describe what they feel, how they feel every day etc. I also find very important the involvement of parents and teachers in this topic to understand our children. And finally, I also think it is very important the role of teacher and must show happy, interested in classes, as if showing bad emotional feelings students will notice and this can influence them.

DUMBLEDORE TEACHERS’ ARMY

This group did their work about leadership and school. The group was divided and one part did a job and on the other a member of the group made an individual work. To begin I will answer the questions proposed in class by the teacher.

Why is leadership Important in school?

I think it's important leadership in schools because there needs to be someone willing to make decisions and to say what needs to be done to accomplish different tasks in schools. I think it is important also because leaders know the needs of students and different proposals will have to look for them and to improve learning. I also think it is important to carry out rules and that they are responsible to see if all students are receiving a good education or if you need to change something. To sum up I think a leader is important in school as long as limits are established to not reach situations where the leader thinks is the best and who rules over all, but the leader has to know that he is the reference person to others but has to deal with them, see that failure in education, proposing different solutions to problems, new methods. A leader is important and will act as an example to other members of the schools.

What are the main Characteristics of a good leader?

To be a good leader we can talk about some characteristics that I think are important they should have: a good leader must know how to teach good values for the educational community is willing to collaborate, should be positive people who can face challenges, find solutions give good ideas etc, a good leader must realize the situation in reality and from there look for possible changes or creating the things that should be necessary, must be a good communicator to communicate their plans to others, it must be a good person an example for others as people will notice it, must always be open to learning new things and seek advice and not think that being a leader is the one who commands, be organized.

For this presentation, the group was divided and made two jobs. They were not presented in class so hung their work on the blog. Some ideas I have drawn from their presentations is the importance of having a leader, they have also spoken of school effectiveness. There are different types of leadership depending on the person who supports the most weight and objectives, these types can be: instructional, transfomrational, moral etc.

Also they mentioned the different characteristics of school effectivenes, for example: teaching and learning effective, good behavior Among students, student self-discipline etc.

OUR GROUP

In our group we have the subject of inclusive schools. First we decided to introduce the subject with a definition. Then we talked about when we talk about inclusion often confuse this term with integration and that although they are very similar differ. In the integration the group of "different" people have to try to adapt to society while inclusion in society is changing to see that we are all equal and that no one has to adapt, but we are the same group. Afterwards we present some of the general characteristics that offer these types of schools that are for example: defending diversity, heterogeneity, promote equal rights for all, focusing on the process of the child during the course and not in the note an exam build an educational community, teach different values such as justice, democracy etc.

Then we focus on finding information about the thinking of 4 authors that talk about inclusive schools are: Gordon Porter, Tony Booth, Mel Ainscow and Gerardo Echeita.

Although these schools propose many good things, there are barriers that prevent their development to be effective. These barriers are: political, cultural and didactic. We also talked about strategies that could be carried out to remove these barriers and to successfully develop this type of inclusive education. These strategies are: creating inclusive cultures (building community, including Establishing values), producing inclusive policies (Developing the school for all, Organising support for diversity) and evolving inclusive practices (orchestrating learning, Mobilising resources).

To conclude, we seek two videos about two schools in Spain where we could see how it works in these schools and the main characteristics that present. One of the schools was in Pontevedra and is the O'Pelouro that is focused only on college students where coexist in the same place all types of students regardless of differences that may exist between them whether cultural, gender, disabilities, etc. never are separated depending on their abilities, the student is who choose about their learning etc. The other school is Amara Berri and speaks a little of the same, which is a school where several teachers working in the same class and not like now that each class has a teacher only have the mediatheque as the essential source of information, promote use of new technologies, considered as a quality differences etc. Finally we put our conclusions that we had after performing this work.

In my opinion I think that inclusive schools are ideal for students, which is encouraged above all respect for others, where all students have the same rights and the same opportunities and are not judged by anything or anyone. The methodology in these schools makes the child learn and not really memorize as currently happens, children are free to propose their teachers about things that interest them. They are schools where the relationship between parents, teachers and students is essential and the collaboration of all is sought. Are schools where children will not only learn but to have fun, teach them not only material but teach them to be good people values. I think if everyone put on their part we could change our schools and our education could be better.

Summaries of group presentations – Melike Ҫetin

“Amigos del Football”
Our topic was “Inclusive schools”. According to UNESCO the main aim of inclusion is to provide more effective educational responses for all children and the overall trend is to make these responses within the context of general educational provision. Inclusive schools are defined by the development and design of schools, classrooms, programs and activities so that all students with different abilities learn and participate together. Gordon Porter, a director of inclusive education, is for equity and quality in inclusive education systems. For him, it’s important to use the current resources effective. Tony Both explains in his Index for Inclusion to build supportive communities and foster high achievement for the educational/ pedagogical staff and students. Mel Ainscow says that inclusion is a process, so it has to be seen as a never-ending search to find ways of responding diversity. But there are also barriers and challenges which schools are facing nowadays. One of these barriers is the policy. Schools and the government have to work together to implement inclusion in schools. The government has to support schools with the needs and also with laws to ensure that inclusion has to work on every school. Another challenge is the diversity itself. A teacher can’t teach in a class of 27-30 children where 10 percent of them are disabled. It could be difficult to give answer to all the student’s needs, so that’s why the government has to support schools with resources like a second teacher in a class or a social worker. The last barrier is the didactics. Most of the teachers don’t have the qualification or training to educate disabled children. Here, it is important to get support from the side of the school and also from the education authority. But the main barrier it’s up to the teacher self. If the teacher is not willing to work with disabled children or not even to try to get a qualification for t, inclusion – on the scale of teaching – will not work. So it is important to built communities and establish inclusive values for creating an inclusive culture. Also, the policy has to organize support for diversity and mobilize resources.

“Crónicas Viajeras”
The topic of this group was “ICT and learning disabilities”. They presented a conceptual map based on three disability groups and gave technology examples to handle with them in school. The first disability was autism. It’s a complex and diverse neurological disorder which affects the development of social interaction, communication and behavioral repertoire. By using for examples tablets or games, it is possible to integrate children with this disability in class and lesson. The second disability was the Down syndrome. This is a genetic disorder caused by a chromosomal abnormality. In the genetic material, the chromosome 21 doesn’t exist twice, but three times (trisomy). By this, people with Down syndrome have morphological changes and functional defects. To include children with Down syndrome in school, it’s possible to use for example whiteboards or cameras to support the memory aid and the concentration due to the lack of concentrativeness. The last disability they presented was the motor or physical disability. A disruption of motor skills means a crucial impairment to children. This disability restricts not only the movement and scope, it also inhibits the social activities, affects the self-esteem and self-confidence and may adversely affects other areas of personality. Here, the use of computers may help these children by supporting adaption in class or communicating with other children.

“Team Perk”
The topic of this group was “ICT and school improvement”. A lot of people believe that children learn better in school by using ICT which means “information and communication technology”. But many teachers struggle to provide ICT to their students. It’s not about the hardware which schools offer; it’s more about how to use ICT smartly in class to improve the learning process. Teachers are afraid to use new technologies in class but it’s necessary to give answer of student’s needs. Children nowadays grow up with digital hardware, they are digital native. It has many advantages to use ICT in class, e.g. there will be no need for books or you can teach a complex content in class by using ICT. The first step is to introduce these new technologies and their methodology in university to future teachers, so they can apply their knowledge about this in class.

“Modern Students”
The Modern Students had a presentation about the “Ways of living together in school” which they divided in three parts and showed on an example. The first part is the school mediation. A mediator can be a pupil, teacher or non-teaching staff and they help against violence or bullying by preventive and repair strategies. The other part is the program to support peers by achieving the objective of fostering collaboration and improving coexistence. The last part is the archaeology of feeling in school. Here, using archaeology as a metaphor you can improve the atmosphere at school or in class by following 5 steps to investigate them before. The group showed us the example of the KIVA International School which is offering a research-based anti-bullying program to help the children in school who have problems with other peers.

“Unknowns”
The topic of the Unknowns was “inclusive schools”. They didn’t focus on the 4 authors like we did; they focused on the main ideas of inclusive schools. Their man ideas of inclusive schools are that every child, disabled or not, has a right to participate on education progresses. Also inclusive schools show ways to live together and are linked to multicultural education. Besides the inclusion of every child in class, another objective is to offer equal opportunities and to promote democracy and justice. The benefits of inclusive schools are to learn about diversity in life and that actually society is composed of diversity.

“Wanderlust”
The topic of this group was “Social and emotional learning”. Social and emotional learning is only possible on the basis of emotional competence and age-appropriate development of the child's personality. Emotional competence can be seen in the ability to perceive the own feelings and deal appropriately with them. On this basis, social perception and empathy can develop. Social learning proceeds in an interaction peers. Children must be able to adapt to individual peers and the whole group, to develop their own positions and draw up a control and storage system in dealing with each other. The main aims of the social-emotional learning are self-perception and control, sensitivity, communication skills, cooperativeness, rule consciousness, tolerance and conflict solving skills. The teacher can help to promote social and emotional learning by develop empathic skills, emotional stimulation or to create a learn-supportive environment.

“Dumbledore Teachers Army”
The topic of this group was “leadership & school effectiveness”. School leaders are improving and promoting school effectiveness. A leadership for a school is important because he/she formulates long-term goals and plans strategies and approaches how to reach it. Also a school leadership is a contact point for teachers, parents and pupils. A good school leadership has high expectations and is motivated to fulfill them. Also, leaderships should be ambitious of pupils success by promoting the staff to be/work professional. A leadership should also be an expert of assessment and self-aware to develop strategies for improvement.

All in all, the strategies and techniques which we have presented show us the possibility we can use in school by implementing them. Nowadays, technology is something which children grow up with. If you want to support your pupils learning progress, you have to tie on their interests, and technology can one opportunity you can start with. It also could give access and confidence to do what children want and to enjoy the (school) life. Inclusion doesn’t have to be seen as a challenge in all because there are strategies to deal or to handle with it. Diversity in it’s could be a change to socialize the children and to show them that life is characterized by diversity.
I’ve learnt a lot of things by all these presentation which were prepared very well! For me, I’ll take all the information as an impulse to regard and implement them in my teacher training.