Experts assemble at workshop on ‘Inclusive Education: a Rights-based Approach to Policy Making’
The Workshop “Inclusive Education: a Rights-based Approach to Policy Making” took place on 14 September 2016.
It aimed to share perspectives on inclusive education and to enhance collaboration on the topic across the White Rose Universities (Leeds, Sheffield and York). The workshop explored ways forward in terms of researching inclusive education and promoting an inclusive agenda in partnership with disabled people. The discussions focused on the problems, challenges, methods and research needs with regard to the right to inclusive education. Particular attention was also given to General Comment No 4 on the Right to Inclusive Education, recently adopted by the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, and its potential use for future collaborative research on inclusive education.
The first part of the workshop was chaired by Paula Clarke, Associate Professor in Childhood and Inclusive Education at the University of Leeds, after which, a roundtable discussion on Inclusive Education took place. Dan Goodley, Professor of Disability Studies and Education at the University of Sheffield spoke on ‘Inclusive education as a radical intervention in society informed by the politics of disability’. Oliver Lewis, Executive Director of MDAC and Professor of Law and Social Justice at the University of Leeds followed with his presentation on ‘Obligations regarding the right to inclusive education in light of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD)’. Charlotte O’Brien, Senior Lecturer in Law at the University of York, then discussed ‘Activating disability rights for asserting equality and preventing discrimination in the context of education.’
Richard Rieser from World of Inclusion provided a response to the discussions before Dr Gauthier de Beco, Lecturer in Disability Law at the University of Leeds chaired the second part of the workshop on the ‘Way Forward’. Tara Flood, Director of ALLFIE and then Shaun Webster and Claire Drake from CHANGE discussed ‘Partnership with Disabled People’. The final discussion of the day on ‘Collaboration and Funding Opportunities’ came from Tamara Hervey, Jean Monnet Professor of European Union Law at the University of Sheffield and then Angharad Beckett, Associate Professor of Political Sociology from the University of Leeds. Conclusion were offered by Dr Gauthier de Beco.
The workshop built on longstanding collaborations developed by the University’s Centre for Disability Studies, and was generously hosted by the Centre for Law & Social Justice.
Download the presentations:
Collaboration and Funding Opportunities - Tamara Hervey
Partnership with Disabled People - CHANGE
Partnership with Disabled People - Tara Flood
Inclusive education is a right! – Oliver Lewis
Inclusion but in what? Thinking through disability – Dan Goodley
Activating disability equality in education context - Charlotte O’Brien
