Educating Every Child for the 21st Century

Inclusive Education Conference 2015:

"Whole Child Approach to Education & Community Engagement"

We live in a global economy that seeks to honour diversity, and requires ALL students to be prepared to think both critically and creatively, evaluate massive amounts of information, solve complex problems, and communicate well. A strong foundation in reading, writing, math, and other core subjects are still important for ALL children, but by itself these are no longer sufficient for lifelong success.

As our world is being redefined, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights has ascribed that every person, regardless of language, ethnicity, gender, faith or ability the right to fully enjoy access to basic services such as education and health care, as well as equal opportunities to decent jobs, civic participation, and the opportunity to contribute to the human, social and economic development of society.

Globally, it is estimated that there are about 58 million children around the world who do not have access to education. (The majority of these children live in the Caribbean and other developing nations). Vulnerable and marginalized groups, including children with disabilities, are often the ones excluded from equal opportunities to access quality education. In order for us to advance the global imperative towards a just society, we must strive to create an inclusive and welcoming environment and develop values of tolerance,

The Caribbean Context

Educating our children in the general education context still remains a modern-day challenge for developed and developing nations around the world. Generally, most

countries in the Caribbean have accepted the principle of development for all (including children with disabilities), and agree that education should be equitable, accessible and relevant to enable all children, inclusively to develop to their fullest potential. In spite of this, a vast number of children with disabilities and exceptional learning needs are still being excluded from enjoying their basic human rights including their right to education.

The Case for Inclusion

Evidence-based studies have established that segregation and exclusion has failed. Establishing more segregated schools is not feasible for any country, and is also undesirable from an educational standpoint, as the view is held that money is better spent strengthening the capacity of existing schools to handle children with diverse needs. However, in order to advance the rights of persons with disabilities, there is significant work that countries and education stakeholders must now do to plan and implement effective inclusive, educational practices.

[Jamaica] Disability Act (2014)

In October 2014, Jamaica passed its first Disability Act into law, which ushered a new era in the approach to education, which is inclusive of all children. The time is right for key

stakeholders to invest in programs and initiatives that will help make schooling in home communities possible for ALL children. It is within this context, that NEF, will offer its 8th

Conference - entitled Jamaica International Inclusive Education Conference & Accessibility Expo. Under the theme “Whole Child Approach to Education & Community

Engagement”, the Conference will be a platform for presenters, participants and other stakeholders to discuss the current situation, challenges and advancements relating to

making education and child development Inclusive in light of the relevant human rights standards, and in ways which are beneficial to children, families and communities.

The Conference is organized by the Nathan Ebanks Foundation (NEF) Jamaica, in collaboration with Full Circle Systems Inc. and iLead Schools (USA), under endorsement

from the Ministry of Education, Early Childhood Commission, Child Development Agency and Jamaica Council for Persons with Disabilities in Jamaica. The Conference offers a distinguished line up of seven (7) international speakers: Dr Mariale Hardiman, Professor

of Clinical Education School of Education, Johns Hopkins University and Director of the School of Education’s Neuro-Education; Dr Fay Brown, Associate Research Scientist at Yale University Child Study Center/Director, School Development Program; Mrs. Senta Greene, Full Circle Systems Inc.; Mrs. Dawn Evenson, Mrs. Amber Raskin and Mr. Sydney Morrison of the iLEAD Schools (USA), Anjali Joshi, UnMeed, India. Local experts include Professor Maureen Samms-Vaughn, Dr Margaret Chin, Special Education, Mrs Christine Hendricks, Jamaica Council for Persons with Disabilities rounds out the impressive team.

The Conference will be divided into substantive sessions, strands and tracks, providing participants the opportunity to focus on specific areas from their own perspective and national experiences. The main conclusions of the Conference will be reflected and incorporated into a draft document to be submitted to the Ministry of Education and shared with the participants at the Conference.

The Key Conference events include:

• A Pre-Conference Workshop on Wednesday October 28, 2015: Dubbed Leadership Connections, which will examine "Systems Thinking and Design for Change, Policy, School and Education Leaders". This workshop will offer energizing conversation with leaders to inspire breakthrough thinking, shared priorities, and design elements that lead to dynamic systems of change in education - for ALL children.

• Over forty keynote presentations, workshops and breakout sessions: Presenting research-based and classroom-tested approaches for working effectively with students with diverse needs across the content areas. Covering from PreK through high school and beyond, the sessions will offer strategies and practices teachers can use to ensure that all students succeed.

• Sensory Integration & Play Therapy Workshop (October 29-31)

• A two-day Accessibility Expo which will run concurrent with the last two days of the conference. The Expo is a FREE event and is open to the general public and will pull together providing products, services and technologies which will increase accessibility in learning, and the wider society. It will also showcase the talents and products of persons with disabilities

For details on the conference and speakers, please visit the official conference website at:

https://www.regonline.com/JamInclusiveEdConference2015

As always the conference will operate in a climate of current advances in educational science, shared experience, stunning expertise, networking, talking, thinking, planning, plotting and ‘just’ enjoying the company of kindred spirits. Please refer to the attached Information note for more details. Should you have further queries about the Jamaica International Inclusive Education Conference, please address them to Christine Staple-Ebanks (info@nefjamaica.org), or Conference Secretariat (conference@nefjamaica.org).

Nathan Ebanks Foundation

6 Montgomery Road, P.O. Box 2334,

Kingston 8

Tel: 876 632 7835 Mobile: 876 857 4425

Official Conference Website: https://www.regonline.com/JamInclusiveEdConference2015

Corporate Website: www.nathanshelpinghandsfoundation.org

Facebook: www.facebook.com//NathanEbanksFoundation