On November 6, 2024, the four Higher Education Partnership (HEP) projects— TIPOTE, FUTE, HEP-TED, and BERT—collaborated to host an engaging and insightful webinar on inclusive education. The event provided an important platform for discussing the shared theme of inclusive education, exchanging innovative ideas, and exploring strategies for fostering greater collaboration, including the project partners’ higher education institutions in the south. Through this joint initiative, the projects aim to deepen understanding of inclusive practices and promote lasting cooperation within higher education.
Fostering a Common Understanding of Inclusive Education
The webinar opened with an engaging presentation by Kaija Peuna-Korpioja, a Senior Lecturer from Jamk University of Applied Sciences. Her session, “What Do We Mean by Inclusive Education?” explored the concept and evolution of inclusive education practices. She emphasized the importance of developing inclusive education policies and fostering inclusive cultures within education systems during her presentation. She walked participants through the three key steps in the journey toward inclusion:
Segregation Stage: Students with special needs were educated separately in specialized schools, isolated from their peers.
Integration Stage: Students with disabilities were included in mainstream schools but often remained in separate classrooms, limiting peer interaction.
Inclusive/Empowerment Stage: The current global goal is for students of all abilities to learn together in the same classroom. This approach emphasizes individualized teaching plans tailored to each learner’s unique needs.
