Using the Socio-Ecological Framework to Promote Inclusion in Armenia, Ukraine and the Czech Republic
Abstract
The goal of this roundtable presentation and discussion is to highlight the challenges and opportunities in preparing educators to implement inclusive practices in the schools and to be able to prepare their students to live in their communities. Our main focus will be on the inclusion of children and youth with disabilities, but we will also address the cross-sectionality between disability and other personal characteristics, including race and gender.
While there has been research and training conducted in various sectors, including at universities, NGOs, etc., in inclusive practices, such work has been typically focused on the needs of a specific country and at a specific level (e.g., developing a policy). In this panel we intend to provide a forum for sharing information and ideas among representatives of different countries and levels of inclusive implementation.
We will provide examples from several different countries, including Armenia, Ukraine and the Czech Republic based on our projects and partnerships with those countries. The panel will employ a socio-ecological model to illustrate that there are both opportunities and barriers at the macro (system), exo (community), meso (relationships) and micro (individual) levels.
At the macro level, we will discuss opportunities and barriers in policy making and implementation, funding as well as the impact of societal values. At the exosystem level, we will discuss how local organizations, policies, and school agencies shape attitudes toward inclusion.
At the mesosystem level, we will focus on how relationship between agencies, families, schools, and service systems influence the manner in which inclusion is implemented. Finally, we will discuss what role(s) a family and the individual with disability themselves play in promoting an inclusive society.
Specific to the countries of Armenia, Ukraine and the Czech Republic, we will highlight several commonalities and differences and attempt to propose a model of inclusion reflecting the histories and geographies of these post-Soviet countries. In Armenia, the historical trauma that has resulted from the genocide and its geographic position bordering with Iran, Turkey, Georgia and Azerbaijan have influenced implementation of inclusion in the schools and in the community.
In Ukraine, the attitude toward inclusion has been shaped to a large extent by authoritarian views on inclusion and children with disabilities that were promoted under the Soviet Union. The recognition of discrimination against Roma students at the level of the European Union has impacted how inclusion has been conceptualized and is discussed in the Czech Republic.
The roundtable format will enable the presenters and participants to engage in an in-depth discussion about barriers and facilitating factors to inclusion in education and their community of children and youth with disabilities and other diverse backgrounds across several countries. After we present recommendations for the countries of focus, we will invite participants to share their research and practice in other cultural contexts.
The presenters will make an effort to guide this conversation toward identifying common themes and recommendations for implementing inclusive approaches and practices across all of the levels of the socio-ecological model.