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Inclusion4Schools (I4S) is a Horizon 2020 Coordination and Support Action (CSA) EU project aiming to foster pedagogical relations of inclusion, a culture of dialogue and the transformation of unjust structures through education. The project strives against the logic of exclusion in education and against the systemic (re)production of inequalities, while insisting on a bottom-up strategy. (https://inclusion4schools.eu)
Interaction between the actors of the education system, including academics, policy makers, teachers, and a variety of relevant professionals make it possible to share theoretical knowledge, informed policies and locally developed techniques and methods which are successful in improving the students’ educational progress in school. Within the I4S project events for sharing views, for discussing issues emerging from the different experiences are the tools for moving forward, encouraging experimentation and innovation, which may lead to change.
Earlier the I4S project organised online focus-group discussions for professionals in public and higher education. These discussions represented a structured and contained form of dialoguing on how and where their cooperation can foster the introduction of practices which can result in quality education for pupils with various social, cultural and educational needs. Based on the outcomes of the focus-group discussions a series of recommendations were prepared. (https://inclusion4schools.eu/achievements/d3-3-school-university-partnership-and-recommendations-to-teacher-training-institutes/) It is anticipated that as a result specific actions, and long-term joint programme development will follow between universities and segregated schools by means of networking and of forming collaborative working groups.
Hence, as a next step the I4S project is aiming at preparing the grounds for professional collaboration between schools/communities and higher educational institutions regarding curriculum content and trainee teachers’ school practice/internships in teacher education.
The I4S project produced a document which addresses areas in which there are potential benefits for both parties to improve their work in a diverse educational environment. In concrete terms, the I4S project is initiating a Declaration of Intent and is inviting both university tutors and schoolteachers and compatible professionals to endorse the Declaration of Intent.
The rationale of the Declaration can be summed up as follows: Effective school-university partnerships reflect at least four main characteristics: a shared conceptual understanding, mutuality in roles and relationships, sound operational strategies, and evaluation of both the partnership and its outcomes.
The core of most school-university partnerships is the critical intersection of theory and research with implementation and practice. Schools seek to identify new strategies in teaching and learning, leadership, and student support with the purpose of responding to the arising needs of their students, while universities have the capacity to identify new approaches based on theory and research and to evaluate innovations in practice. By finding ways to link the domains of schooling with the functions of the university, partners can create mutually beneficial relationships.
To this end you are invited to consult the content of the Declaration of Intent and to indicate your endorsement in the following FORM: We also ask you to share your views, comments, questions, and additions. The form also contains items in which you are requested to add information and which enquire about your willingness to participate in the formulation of a detailed strategy to launch actual partnership projects.
Our expectation is that this collective work on the principles and contents of prospective school-university collaboration will inspire the initiation and formalisation of concrete collaborative actions.
Published by: RCISD
17.06.2024
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Inclusion4Schools