Suchergebnisse

The 21st century to this point has seen increased diversity throughout the student population in higher education. Many stakeholders value this diversity as it enhances the overall education experience for all students. While the number of students with disabilities in higher education is rising, challenges and barriers to participation remain, including for people with intellectual disabilities. The intent of this paper is to make a case for the inclusion of people with intellectual disabilities in higher level education. Following the introduction to the topic, the existing literature on inclusion in higher education is explored, and issues such as challenges to inclusion are discussed. We then explain the situation in the Republic of Ireland, detailing how one university-based programme, the Dublin City University (DCU) Ability project, aims to prepare people with intellectual disabilities to move towards employment. The results of a survey sent to the staff in the University (n = 112), exploring their knowledge and views of the project, is then presented. While the project has been well received by learners and their supporters, it was important to identify the views of University staff to promote the future growth and sustainability of the project. The common themes identified were inclusion and diversity, communication issues, and positioning the project in the University's Strategic Plan. The results contribute to the case for inclusion as university staff indicate their support while acknowledging challenges. These challenges are primarily in the area of communication but also in ensuring that university goals are implemented to provide a diverse and inclusive university community. We make the case that diversity should be valued, and that universities should be a space for all students, including those with intellectual disabilities, to learn and thrive.

AbstractOver the course of the last 30 years, inclusive education has emerged as a key aim of education policies around the world. Also in Europe, most countries took efforts to make their education systems more inclusive—which led to growing numbers of children and young persons with disabilities in general education in Europe. The implementation processes of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD) fuelled these efforts. However, as some authors have argued, not all students with disabilities seem to have benefited in the same way from these developments—such as children and young persons with intellectual disability (ID). This paper aims to explore this phenomenon in more depth by comparing some measures in relation to the implementation processes of the UNCRPD of seven European countries. Doing so, we analyze trends in placements (mainstream and special schools) of students with Special Educational Needs (SEN) in general and of students with intellectual disability specifically. As we show, an increase of students identified as having SEN in mainstream schools can be observed in all countries during the implementation process of the UNCRPD. However, in comparison to this rather broad group of learners, the percentage of students with intellectual disability in mainstream settings did not increase as much. Furthermore, the calculation of the "exclusion rate" revealed that this group of learners remains a key population of special schools. These results need to be understood as effects of specific shortcomings in the implementation of the UNCRPD, as we discuss in a further section. We conclude our paper with recommendations on future research and policies on inclusive education regarding students with intellectual disability.