On 18 April 2024, Special Olympics International (SOI) joined the Brookings Institution Center for Universal Education (CUE) and the Global Partnership for Education (GPE) in co-hosting the CUE Symposium on Education Systems Transformation for and through Inclusive Education.
The symposium convened policymakers, researchers and practitioners committed to advancing education for people with disabilities, as well as learners with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) themselves, to address the question: “What would it take to transform education systems to be truly inclusive for learners with disabilities?”
The program included the participation of ministers from Malawi, Seychelles and Paraguay, as well as many members of the Special Olympics community, including Chairman Dr. Timothy Shriver, Former Special Olympics Sargent Shriver Global Messenger Nyasha Derera, and Samuel Lara and Kate Gonzalez of the Global Youth Leadership Council.
OPENING PLENARY HIGHLIGHTS:
Fireside Chat featuring Yasmine Sherif, Executive Director of Education Cannot Wait, and Special Olympics Chairman Dr. Timothy Shriver
In keynote speeches, Executive Director of Education Cannot Wait Yasmine Sherif and Chairman of Special Olympics International Dr. Timothy Shriver called for more financing from international organizations, development finance institutions and national governments to scale up inclusive education. The session was moderated by Former Sargent Shriver Global Messenger Nyasha Derera, who set the tone for the convening by declaring: “Ideas without action are worthless. We need more action and less talking.”
In her opening remarks, Ms. Sherif stated that every child with intellectual or physical disabilities has an inherent right to high-quality educational programming. She recalled Special Olympics’ demand that national governments allocate 3 percent of their education funding to high-quality, evidence-based inclusionary practices that fully integrate students with intellectual disabilities into schools, which she called “a modest minimum” benchmark that governments can easily meet. “We will be by your side and fight for those percentages to go up,” she said. “The international community and UN member states have fallen short on implementing the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and the SDGs. They talk nicely, but you need to walk the talk […] You can have the laws and policy in place, but if you don’t act on it, it doesn’t matter. You need resources. Those resources exist.”
Dr. Timothy Shriver reflected on the centrality of young people in becoming agents of change in their schools and communities, calling attention to proven models of inclusion like Special Olympics’ Unified Champion Schools where implementation can be dramatically accelerated with a greater sense of urgency and the allocation of resources commensurate to the challenge. “We don’t need to be defeated by the enormity of the challenge. We know what to do. We just need to act. When we are more inclusive, we raise GDP, parents avoid poverty, and children without disabilities learn better—graduation rates and test scores go up for all children. Results are achievable if we commit to action and if we commit to resources. You can get defeated by the enormity of the challenge. We have been given an incentive to recognize that the challenge is reachable. We have an example of a young man in Nyasha who was bullied, mocked, humiliated yet he is standing here with unstoppable confidence,” he said.
Education Cannot Wait and Special Olympics will soon announce a joint pilot project which will focus on developing Special Olympics Unified Champion Schools across refugee camps and collecting data to measure the impact of this intervention on learners with and without IDD.
–
Research Snapshot featuring Christopher Johnstone, Associate Professor at the University of Minnesota, and Jo Bourne, CTO of GPE
University of Minnesota Associate Professor Christopher Johnstone kicked off the session with an overview of an upcoming research paper exploring the systems impact of inclusive practices.
The paper, set to be published in the coming months, explores the concept of inclusive practices as “positive disruptors” within education systems, how systems themselves interoperate with other systems and how all of these systems operate with each other. Opportunities for disruption include transforming learning structures and updating accessibility policies. Engaging families of students with disabilities and employing multi-disciplinary teams within schools are also crucial, thereby ensuring that the power and responsibility of education lies with more than just teachers.
He also emphasized the ongoing nature of systems transformation, noting that it is “not a one-time event. Rather, it’s ongoing. It’s ongoing and it’s pushing and it’s constantly transforming.”
GPE CTO Jo Bourne then highlighted countries with good practices in disability-inclusive education. In particular, GPE has worked with Zanzibar, Mongolia, Kenya, Uganda and others to strengthen their inclusive credentials.
She noted, however, that “we could all do more. Very few are getting it right, yet.”
Ms. Bourne stated that more and better data is needed to increase our collective knowledge on where gaps in resource allocation and funding remain. She also emphasized the need to grow country-level expertise in this space, including by bringing persons with disabilities into policy deliberations.
WORKSHOP HIGHLIGHTS
AI and Education Technology Innovations for Students with Disabilities
Michael Trucano, Visiting Fellow at CUE, and Salyne El Samarany, Vice President of the Special Olympics Global Center for Inclusion, moderated a session on the potential for AI to serve as a co-pilot for students with disabilities, encompassing text, images and voice-based systems. Panelists included representatives from Microsoft, Benetech and Fab Inc. who discussed the ways in which their respective companies are making edtech and AI tools more accessible for persons with disabilities. The panelists acknowledged a "last-mile" problem, whereby the technology to address learning challenges exists but is not being fully utilized. Bridging this gap will require direct engagement with schools to train administrators and teachers on how to take full advantage of these tools.
Universal Design for Learning (UDL)
In this session, inclusive education experts from USAID discussed the principles of Universal Design for Learning (UDL), equipping participants with the knowledge to design, implement and monitor more inclusive and accessible learning environments globally. The experts underscored the crucial notion that barriers to inclusion lie not with the learners themselves, but rather in the design of educational frameworks. UDL’s five entry points are supportive policies, fostering local partnerships, providing professional development opportunities for instructional leaders, ensuring accessible teaching materials, and implementing comprehensive summative and formative assessment strategies. Addressing these entry points will allow communities to dismantle systemic barriers and foster environments where all learners can thrive and reach their full potential.
Financing Inclusive Education
Anna-Maria Tammi, Senior Thematic Lead for Equity and Inclusion at GPE, moderated a session on financing inclusive education alongside experts and practitioners from GPE, the University of Tsukuba, the World Bank, USAID, Sightsavers and ATscale. All participants highlighted the need for better data on students with disabilities (e.g., the nature of their disabilities, education status, etc.) to support resource allocation and financing. However, Ms. Tammi noted, “We need to finance inclusion now, even in the absence of good data.”
Building Stronger Partnerships Between Families of Students with Disabilities and Schools
Dr. Emily Morris, Fellow at CUE, moderated a session with experts from Inclusive Development Partners, the University of Oxford and Yale University. The group discussed the need to position families as partners in order to advance inclusion in the overall community, instructing the room on a variety of different exercises to specifically highlight the barriers, opportunities and strategies needed to build stronger partnerships for inclusion in education. Dr. Christina Cipriano of Yale reflected: “Kids are curious, they need to talk to other kids who are different than them - not look away. [...] Inclusion requires actively including everyone. Anything less is merely performative. We know you see us. And we see you, too. Let’s start with hello."
Inclusion from Early Childhood
This session, moderated by CUE’s Sweta Shah, delved into the unintentional exclusion of children with disabilities in schools, identifying knowledge gaps as a primary constraint. Without comprehensive data on various disabilities, addressing these disabilities effectively becomes challenging. Additionally, the group, comprising experts from CUE, Tufts University, USAID, the World Bank Group and Educare DC, recognized limitations in the resources and skills of teachers which further hinder inclusive practices. Budgetary concerns were also highlighted, emphasizing the need for a shift from viewing disability-related expenses as mere add-ons to recognizing their centrality in educational initiatives. The session considered the factors influencing how children perceive differences and explored strategies to mitigate bias. Importantly, the value of learning from children themselves rather than solely instructing them was acknowledged.
Exploring the Intersections of Gender and Disability
Claudia Hui and Atenea Rosado-Viurques of CUE moderated this session on exploring the key barriers to and opportunities for inclusive education for all genders in the Global South through an intersectional approach to research, policy and practice. Khadim Hussain, Brookings’ 2012 Echidna Scholar and Founder/CEO of the Grace Association Pakistan, and Maegan Shanks, Faculty and Program Assistant for the MA Program for International Development at Gallaudet University, shared their and their families’ respective difficulties in accessing suitable, quality education in their home countries. The session then concluded with small-group sessions exploring individual case studies related to educational access in Kenya, Pakistan and Mexico.
Moving Inclusive Education Policies into Practice
Eman Gaad, Dean of the Faculty of Education and Professor of Special and Inclusive Education at the British University in Dubai, and Christopher Johnstone, Associate Professor at the University of Minnesota, led attendees in an interactive discussion on “Moving Inclusive Education Policies into Practice.” Participants discussed how various countries and cultures define and prioritize different elements of inclusion in education systems, from anti-discrimination and legal protections, to more equitable funding models, to professionalization of teachers, to “whole child programming.”
–
CLOSING PLENARY HIGHLIGHTS
Policymaker Perspectives
In this session, Marie-Celine Zialor, Minister for Youth, Sports and Families of the Republic of Seychelles, Madalitso Kambauwa Wirima, Minister of Education for Malawi, Luis Fernando Ramírez, Minister of Education and Sciences for Paraguay, and Willie Jett, Commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Education, discussed the importance of inclusive education and the steps each have taken in their respective jurisdictions with respect to inclusion.
On Seychelles’ efforts, Minister Zialor stated: “My philosophy approach is not to fight the existing [education] system but to create something different and better so what exists becomes obsolete.” Advocating a more inclusive approach, she urged those in the room to focus on creating systems “for human beings, not human doings.”
Minister Wirima said that “dealing with inclusion needs a systems approach [...] In Malawi, we have a fully-fledged directorate within the Ministry of Education that just looks at inclusivity. We’re increasing domestic funding toward implementation of inclusive education. Diversifying training modes for special teachers to meet the increasing demand in the schools. We have modified examinations to make sure we suit the needs of various categories of learners with special needs and disabilities.”
Minister Ramírez, whose Spanish-language remarks were translated by an interpreter, reflected on Paraguay’s “Open Schools” inclusive education initiative – supported by Special Olympics Paraguay – which has reached nearly 11,000 students across the country. He stated: “We open schools on Saturdays when young people have fewer resources and less access to activities [...] and created hub schools where everyone can come together and have access to rich learning opportunities that include everyone no matter socio-economic status, ability or language [...] We emphasized new types of activities that were unimaginable before in these under-resourced communities, such as in Chaco [Paraguay] where young people are involved in music who had never had that opportunity before, and now it is part of their daily life. That is the kind of disruption that we’ve been able to create.”
Commissioner Jett stated: “In Minnesota we’re committed to developing more Unified programming in our schools. We’ve seen a steady increase in inclusion for students with disabilities, and statistics show a year-to-year rise in the number and percentage of children with disabilities spending 80% or more of their school day in a general education setting [...] Achieving greater inclusion requires more than just those numbers. It includes mindset shifts and dismantling silos – whether you’re in the state of Minnesota or somewhere else across the world.”
Centering Youth Voices
Closing out the symposium were Samuel (Sammy) Lara and Kate Gonzalez, members of the Special Olympics Global Youth Leadership Council, who joined Brookings’ Khadim Hussain for a discussion on the role that youth, both with and without IDD, can play in fostering more inclusive education systems.
In his opening remarks, Mr. Lara reflected on his experiences as a student with IDD and the ways in which Special Olympics’ programming in his school changed his life. Reflecting on his advocacy efforts, he said that Special Olympics’ inclusive programming is important to him because it has given him a forum to bring a message of kindness to communities around the world. Mr. Lara then called for an expansion of inclusive programming so that other young people around the world, both with and without IDD, can further develop their own leadership and interpersonal skills.
Ms. Gonzalez reflected on her experiences as part of her school’s Unified Club, which allowed her to grow her friendships with her peers with IDD, including Mr. Lara. She stated: “Inclusion is important to me because I see first-hand how impactful it is when we embrace everyone’s differences and build long-lasting friendships.” Ms. Gonzalez called on policymakers, funders and administrators to adopt inclusive programming in schools, as research demonstrates that inclusion promotes a more positive school climate, decreases rates of bullying and increases respect for those with differences. She concluded: “We must ensure that inclusive practices are not just ideals on paper, but a reality in every institution.”
Mr. Hussain reflected that inclusion is “not just a goal, but an imperative.” He called on policymakers, funders and administrators to “close the gap between rhetoric and implementation” and take the necessary actions to ensure true inclusion in education. He further urged the general public to stand up for the marginalized in their own schools and communities, stating that it is our “collective responsibility to ensure that no one is left behind by transforming education systems for and through inclusive education globally.”
