Project of the Vocational School “Ekonomska i upravna škola Osijek”: Equal in diversity

Specific project’s objectives:

• To train and educate teachers  for inclusive practices, especially for implementing individualized teaching methods, programs, evaluation and assessment tools;
• To train pupils with special educational needs to use technology for easier learning.
• The School Inclusion Policy will be drafted.

Project’s main activities:

Teacher training, coordinated by the project team, consists of the following:

• Teachers and the project team will pay a two-day visit to the Vocational School of Economics “Mijo Mirković”, in Rijeka. This is  the only school with the 15-year experience in inclusive practices in Croatia, known by good examples of inclusive practices and collaboration with the local community.
• Learning Centre IDEM from Zagreb will deliver five six-hour workshops on inclusive education and upbringing. The workshops for 15-18 teachers will cover:
  • - individual differences, difficulties, disabilities,
  • - needs, motivation, behaviour
  • - didactic-methodical concepts / creating individual learning materials didactic-methodical concepts / creating learning materials according to the disability
  • - assessment and evaluation
• Teacher training workshops on creating and customizing learning materials according to the type of disability. It will be held by the educational rehabilitator, Vocational School of Economics Mijo Mirković, Rijeka. Teachers of the school will be divided into groups according to their field of interest (Business and Economics, Languages and Humanities, Math and Science).
• Teacher training workshop on creating and customizing e-learning materials for different types of disability will be held by two informatics teachers at our school. Thus the teachers of our school will acquire technical and IT competence essential for creating and using e-learning materials. In addition, they will be able to pass on their newly acquired competencies to the pupils in the classroom.

School Project Day:

• Workshops on raising awareness of diversity and equality - All school class teachers will held 1,5-hour workshops in their own classes. School pedagogue and psychologist will prepare  teaching resources/materials for workshops.  Pupils will learn
  • - how to help and support their peers with special educational needs;
  • - how to help lift barriers to learning;
  • - create an environment where every student contributes fully and feels valued.
• The round table meeting will be attended by
  • - the  pupils with special educational needs and their parents;
  • - the representatives of the rest of the pupils and parents of our school;
  • - the local community representatives;
  • - the representatives of the  Association of Persons with Cerebral Palsy and Polio;
  • - the representatives of the Association of Families of Children with Autism DAR.

The special value of the roundtable will be experiences of the pupils with special needs, their concrete problems, what makes them excluded, hindered or frustrated. This will make the basis of the School Inclusion Policy.

Polls among parents, pupils and teachers on:

• the current status of special educational needs,
• pupils’ inclusion within the social and academic life.

Poll will be organized at the beginning and at the end of the project. The comparison of results will show how effective the project was.

Activities related to School Inclusion Policy: School Inclusion Policy will be based on proposals of the Pupils', Parents' and Teachers' Council Meetings, which came as a result of their panel discussions

Increasing the project’s visibility

• Creating web and Facebook pages;
• Leaflets about the inclusion project and activities;
• Press conferences;
• The round table meeting;
• The School Project Day;
• Appearances of the project team members on local radio and TV shows will keep the public informed and sensitized.
• Drafting a report on the completion of the project .

Project’s target groups

• Direct beneficiaries:  approx. 20 pupils with disabilities and their parents and approx. 500 pupils of the school, 20 teachers
• Indirect beneficiaries: all 800 pupils and their parents,  64 teachers and members of the school staff, other schools in the area, the local community