The Provincial Federation of Associations of People with Physical and Organic Disabilities of Seville (COCEMFE Seville) hosted, on 17 and 18 July, the second transnational coordination meeting of the European project WeUnique, co-funded by the Erasmus+ programme of the European Union and coordinated by the National Association of Distance Education, Kaunas (Lithuania). Also participating as partners are COCEMFE Seville, the Baltic Institute of Educational Technology – BETI of Kaunas, Lithuania and the Association Centre for the Promotion of Lifelong Learning in Timisoara, Romania.
During the meeting, the results of the research in the first period of the project coordinated by the Federation were presented. Teachers and students with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) of migrant origin, with special focus on those who are refugees of war and those with physical disabilities, expressed the main barriers they encounter when creating an inclusive classroom, as well as participating actively with the same opportunities within it. The needs of teachers in terms of training and resources to create an inclusive classroom environment were also identified. In addition, the foundations were laid for the creation of a Word Cloud that will show the key words around the idea of an inclusive classroom.
Activities were also planned for the next project period until the end of December 2023. During this period, content will be created for courses aimed at teachers from the three participating countries, on how to create a classroom that includes students with ASD, with migrant and war refugee backgrounds and with physical disabilities.
During these days, a workshop on inclusive classroom was held by COCEMFE Seville, in which participants learned about Gardner’s theory of multiple intelligences, learning styles and Blair’s learning pyramid. The need to include the principles of Universal Design for Learning when planning classroom activities was highlighted; and methodologies to create an inclusive classroom environment such as cooperative learning, gamification and the inverted classroom were addressed.
The overall aim of WeUnique is to help and educate teachers on how to create an inclusive classroom, which lays the foundation for understanding differences between people and not excluding them. In this sense, importance is given to the education of children so that new generations become more receptive and skilled in communicating and working with people of different backgrounds.
The project works towards this aim until the end of June 2024 to achieve the creation of an acceptable community in the classroom; education in the difference; inclusiveness in the classroom; equal opportunities in relationships and skills for children with different backgrounds; diversity awareness; reduction of bullying and discrimination; promoting equal education for all; removing barriers; providing tools to help teachers to identify the strengths and weaknesses of different learners; communication for children with different backgrounds; as well as mental health awareness.
