We were honoured to have been invited to host a two-week study visit from a delegation from India, wishing to develop more inclusive education in their country. Senior government officers and teacher trainers from the Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat regions visited the UK from 21 January to 1 February and engaged in a rich programme of school visits, seminars and other events.
The delegation spent the first three days in London where, despite the beautiful inconvenience of the snow and some last minute rescheduling, we managed to engage in all planned activities. The delegation heard about LGBT equality from Sue Sanders, co-chair of Schools OUT and LGBT History Month and about disability equality from Richard Rieser, CEO of World of Inclusion and from Jonathan Bartley, Chair of the CSIE Council of Trustees and father of a disabled child. We visited Stoke Newington School and heard about their impressive efforts to promote LGBT equality and Bygrove Primary School in Tower Hamlets, to see their inclusive provision. Some of us even managed to attend the launch of CRAE’s report on the State of Children’s Rights 2012. On our way out of London we stopped at the Wroxham School and were impressed to see how Learning Without Limits looks in practice.
The end of the first week was spent in CSIE’s home city of Bristol. From here, we visited Emerson’s Green Primary School in South Gloucestershire, a mainstream school with a resource base for pupils with physical and/or visual impairments. Delegates were impressed with the school’s commitment to disability equality and the way the resource base forms an integral part of the school, intentionally moving away from conventional models of locating a “unit” in a particular space. We also visited Henbury School and heard from the school’s Equalities Manager. CSIE campaigner Em Williams facilitated a workshop on trans equality and Dr Lendvai and Dr Bainton, Lecturers in Comparative Public Policy and Education respectively, delivered “Translating experiences of inclusive education in the UK into practice in India”, a seminar to explore issues of “translating” policy.
On 28 January the delegation attended “Equalities in Education: the new landscape”, a conference held at the Institute of Education, in London. From there we travelled to Norfolk where we spent the final part of the study visit. Delegates visited Framingham Earl High School, Roydon Primary School, Colman Infant School and Broadland High School and were impressed with the diverse ways in which the Index for inclusion has helped school improvement. In Norfolk we were joined by Professor Tony Booth, author of the revised edition of the Index for inclusion, who delivered a seminar on the Index and engaged in conversations about adapting the Index for use in India. We were also privileged to be present at an Index Forum Meeting, at the start of a two-year schools improving schools project, using the language of the Index for inclusion.
We remain grateful to all presenters, in and out of schools, who gave so much time and energy and contributed to the success of this study visit.
Feedback from participants has been overwhelmingly positive and included comments such as: “It was really exciting and we learnt a lot”, “This study trip will help me to implement the Index for inclusion in the context of India”, “Well organised”, “Sufficient material is provided and very useful” and “Facilitator provided good facilitating, more than what we expected”. Improvement suggestions were mostly requests for more detailed information available earlier (though, in CSIE’s defence, study trip dates were only confirmed at the end of December) and more Indian food to be served throughout the study visit. We remain grateful to the chef at the Avon Gorge Hotel, Bristol, who adapted the standard menu and provided meals tailored to our guests’ wishes.
Each delegate has been given a copy of the Index for inclusion and both regions have made plans to translate and adapt this school improvement resource for use in their local schools. The delegation considered what barriers to learning and participation might exist in their local contexts, in addition to those already mentioned in the Index, and identified a number of issues including extreme poverty, language barriers and issues of caste and other social inequalities. We look forward to hearing how these and other plans to develop more inclusive education in Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat take shape.
