Suchergebnisse

This paper examines parent/teacher perception of their role-identities in the education of children with learning disabilities (LD) in Greek mainstream schools. The theory of Communities of Practice (CoP) is adopted as the most appropriate framework for the scope of the present study which aimed to explore four main issues: 1. parent/teacher perception of their role in student's with LD education, 2. parent/teacher goal setting for the education of the student with LD, 3. parent/teacher understanding and description of student's difficulties, and 4. parent/teacher engagement in shared practices. The above issues are examined and analyzed via semi-structured interviews of 40 parents' (20 mothers and 20 fathers) and 40 teachers' (20 regular and 20 special) perception of parent/teacher role-identity. The analyses revealed that the educational and affective support of the student with LD was the prevalent feature of parent/teacher identity. Additionally, most of the parents, as opposed to the teachers, distinguished between the regular/special education teacher roles. Parents/teachers set educational, personal or multiple goals for the child, while only teachers set social goals. Few parents/teachers perceived differently student's learning difficulties: the teachers considered parent expectations, beliefs or low educational level as the source of their difference in understanding, while the parents highlighted teachers' lack of special training. Finally, although both parents/teachers were engaged in in-school activities, there was no mutual engagement in other practices (i.e. IEP). The above findings are discussed in relation to their implications in promoting more inclusive and collaborative parent-teacher relations.

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.

The increasing prevalence of chronic diseases among the European working age population, as well as the implications for the individual and societal level, underline the need for policy guidelines targeting the effective inclusion of persons with chronic diseases in the workplace. The aim of the present paper was to explore the perspectives of European and National-level stakeholders on existing strategies for work re-integration of persons with chronic diseases, and to provide policy guidelines. A highly-structured interview protocol was distributed to 58 National level stakeholders (policy makers, professionals and employers) from seven European countries. Additionally, 20 European organizations concerned with health-related issues and employment completed an online survey. The findings reveal that employment-related challenges remain largely unaddressed. Both national and European stakeholders considered the existing legislative frameworks inadequate and appraised the co-ordination for the implementation of employment re-integration policies as ineffective. Policies targeting at work re-integration of persons with chronic diseases at European and national level should focus on consistent cooperation among all key stakeholders, awareness raising to staff and management, dissemination of effective strategies, developing research and evaluation standards and establishing monitoring systems on inclusive labour markets. ; The current study was part of the PATHWAYS project. The PATHWAYS project has received funding from the European Union's Health Programme (2014–2020) Grant agreement n. 663474. ; publishedVersion

The increasing prevalence of chronic diseases among the European working age population, as well as the implications for the individual and societal level, underline the need for policy guidelines targeting the effective inclusion of persons with chronic diseases in the workplace. The aim of the present paper was to explore the perspectives of European and National-level stakeholders on existing strategies for work re-integration of persons with chronic diseases, and to provide policy guidelines. A highly-structured interview protocol was distributed to 58 National level stakeholders (policy makers, professionals and employers) from seven European countries. Additionally, 20 European organizations concerned with health-related issues and employment completed an online survey. The findings reveal that employment-related challenges remain largely unaddressed. Both national and European stakeholders considered the existing legislative frameworks inadequate and appraised the co-ordination for the implementation of employment re-integration policies as ineffective. Policies targeting at work re-integration of persons with chronic diseases at European and national level should focus on consistent cooperation among all key stakeholders, awareness raising to staff and management, dissemination of effective strategies, developing research and evaluation standards and establishing monitoring systems on inclusive labour markets.