Project description
The Educational Research Institute, UNICEF and the Ministry of National Education, in cooperation with higher education institutions and non-governmental organisations, are implementing the project "Accessible School for All".
The main objective of the project is to improve the competence of specialist teachers (pedagogy, psychologists, special educators, speech therapists) in providing adequate support for all groups of beneficiaries (children/pupils, parents, teachers).
The project will provide tools to help in conducting formative and specialised classes, including integrative ones, to provide a sense of community among children and pupils, with particular emphasis on those who are refugees from Ukraine. It is also aimed at ensuring that care is taken in building a friendly climate in the classroom/school as part of protecting the mental health of children and pupils.
Project objectives
In cooperation with the academic community and non-governmental organisations, training will be developed and conducted to meet the current challenges faced by specialist teachers and answer the following questions:
- How should the development be supported of the pre-school/school as an organisation becoming increasingly more accessible, safe and friendly to all children/pupils, parents and teachers, which provides opportunities for comprehensive development to all learners?
- How should educational and specialized activities aimed at strengthening the mental health of children and pupils be implemented?
- How should effective activities be conducted aimed at including groups of children and refugee pupils from Ukraine in the team/class/local community? How should the process of educating students that have experienced migration be conducted?
- How should diagnostic methods and available diagnostic tools be used in the functional evaluation process?
- How should an environment conducive to student participation in the teaching and learning process be organised?
Project members will implement in practice and document the interventions conducted, i.e., the impacts of the educational-specialised activities on pupils and parents and the team of other teachers of the given school. In order to strengthen these impacts, the training of specialist teachers will be conducted in a modern form that includes consultations, advice and supervision of their ongoing work with students, to foster increased competence and the implementation of impact strategies ensuring the accessibility of education for all pupils.
During the project, the substantive staff of the participating institutions and pupils’ parents will be able to benefit from support in the form of consultations provided by substantive specialists, representatives of non-governmental organisations and mental health specialists (psychiatrists, clinical psychologists).
560 educational institutions (schools, pre-schools, psychological and pedagogical clinics, teacher continuing education institutions) and 1120 specialist teachers working in them, who will be prepared to act as advisors for teaching accessibility, will be invited to participate in the project.
The project also has a research and evaluation component, and the results obtained as a result of these activities are intended to identify practices that are empirically tested (evidence-based) thus strengthening the system of accessible and inclusive education for all. At the end of the project, a catalogue of good practices will be developed, which will be made available to all specialist teachers.