European Trade Union Committee for Education

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Europe’s learners and education personnel are becoming more diverse. The project “Education Trade Unions and Inclusive Schools: Embracing Diversity in Education” is building capacity so that education trade unions can prepare their members to address the many forms of diversity they encounter in the classroom and in society: socioeconomic, cultural, linguistic and more. ETUCE and member organisations aim to support education personnel in creating inclusive learning environments where every student and teacher can achieve their full potential.

The Closing Conference is hold on 4-5 October 2021, as a two-days hybrid event, taking place online and at the International Trade Union House (ITUH) in Brussels.

The first day of the Conference is open to the public and will be livestreamed on this page. The second day of the Conference is for registered members only. You can find the programme of the two days of the Conference below.

The Closing Conference provides the opportunity to discuss the key findings and outcomes of the project, including the Research Report and Catalogue of Good Practices on Inclusive Schools supported by the ETUCE Online Database of Good Practices, among education trade unions and with European stakeholders and policy makers in education.

Working group sessions are organised, to discuss and endorse a concrete and practical strategy for the implementation of the ETUCE Action Plan on Equality, Diversity and Inclusion that can be transferred and adapted to the national and local context.

Your will find more info on the project and the Livestream of the Conference here.

Programme of the Conference

DAY 1 - 4 October (Livestreamed on this page)

09:00 – 09:30 Registration 

09:30 – 09:50 Opening and welcome message  

By Larry Flanagan, ETUCE President 

By Susan Flocken, European Director 

09:50 – 10:10 Key findings and outcomes of the ETUCE project ‘Education Trade Unions and Inclusive Schools: Embracing Diversity in Education’ 

By Ekaterina Efimenko, ETUCE  

10:10 – 10:20 Questions and answers 

10:20 – 11:10 Panel of experts: The challenging patchwork of implementing inclusive education around Europe 

Presentation of the project research findings: Dominique Danau, SAGO Research 

Reaction: 

By Kate Linkins, Project Officer (Events and Partnerships), UNESCO (GEM report on Inclusive Education 2020) 

By Annet De Vroey, Project manager, European Agency for Special Needs and Inclusive Education 

By Lucie Cerna, Leader of the Strength through Diversity Project, Directorate for Education and Skills, OECD (remote) 

11:10 – 11:30 Questions and reactions from participants     

11:30 – 11:40 Coffee break 

11:40 – 12:40  Breakout groups debates on the understanding of inclusive education and challenges of its implementation in different national contexts (2 multilingual + 2 English) Not livestreamed

12:40 – 13:00  Reports from the breakout groups discussions Not livestreamed

13:00 – 14:30 Lunch 

14:30 – 15:00  First-hand experience testimonies: What does inclusive education mean for me?  

By Lucia Ionescu, Teacher in Bucharest, Romania 

By Caridad Alarcón Sanchéz, Board Member, OBESSU  

By Vincent Lochmann, Vice-President of the European Dyslexia Association  

15:00 – 15:30  Europe’s recovery as a unique opportunity to make inclusive education a reality 

By Stefaan Hermans (Director of Policy Strategy and Evaluation, Directorate-General for Education, Youth, Sport and Culture), European Commission 
By Victor Negrescu, Vice-Chair of the Committee on Culture and Education, European Parliament 

15:30 – 16:00 Questions and reactions from participants   

DAY 2 - 5 October 2021 (For registered members only)

10:00 – 10:20 Presentation of the ETUCE Action Plan on Equality, Diversity and Inclusion  

By Larry Flanagan, ETUCE President 

10:20 – 12:10 Breakout groups discussion: A concrete and practical Strategy for the implementation of the ETUCE Action Plan on Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (including coffee break of 10 mins; 2 multilingual + 2 English) 

12:10 – 12:30 Reports from the breakout groups discussions 

12:30 – 14:00 Lunch 

14:00 – 14:30 The role of social dialogue in the implementation of inclusive education 

By Susan Flocken, European Director, ETUCE 

By Daniel Wisniewski, General Secretary, EFEE  

14:30 – 14:45 The role of Education Trade in Unions Embracing Diversity: Catalogue of Good Practices on Inclusive Schools and ETUCE Online Database of Good Practice

By Dominique Danau, SAGO Research 

14:45 – 15:30 ‘Poster session’: Education Trade Unions Good Practices on Inclusive Schools (walking with the coffee) 

15:30 – 15:45  Questions and answers  

15:45 – 16:00 Concluding remarks  

By Susan Flocken, European Director 

By Larry Flanagan, ETUCE President