AAC@school for social inclusion has as general objective to support the inclusion of disadvantaged learners in school educational paths through a specific methodology that unfortunately is not yet well spread in the European and national school contexts, augmentative and alternative communication (AAC). To do so the project activities are focused on strengthening skills of teachers and support them in dealing with diversity in the classrooms, adopting innovative practices. Diversity management is very important skill nowadays, especially since the increased number of immigrants in European countries, because it helps to tackle early school leaving (ESL) and disadvantage. For this reason AAC@school offers a new tool for education, enabling success also for those students with communication impairments. Project activities can be divided in four main steps: Step 1 – Research and analysis, a collection of best practices and excellences that will be re-elaborated for modelling/ extract methodologies (Output 1); Step 2 - AAC training module for teachers (Output 2), partners will design, test and validate the training module for teachers and educators to create awareness, imparting knowledge, and assisting teachers to develop and use AAC methodology within their classrooms; Step 3 - Toolkit: AAC friendly school (Output 3), the aim is to support teachers, educators and other relevant stakeholders in creating inclusive environments, mainly schools, thanks to implementation of AAC methodologies in their everyday activities; Step 4 – Dissemination and communication, to awareness raising on the topic of disadvantaged learners with communication difficulties and for the development of a real educational community where all actors dealing with students and young people at risk of exclusion can actively be involved in giving these people equal rights and opportunities. The consortium operating in this project is composed by 9 partners (plus an associated partner) and strongly enriched by their diversity, they represent different background and countries, size, type but all joining because of the willingness to support the development of AAC methodology in school education. In the partnership are participating schools (3), NGOs/social enterprises (4) working everyday in educational/school contexts, 2 universities (1 partner and 1 associated partner) and an NGO representing an EU network of teachers. The impact the project wants to achieve is very important: 90 teachers will be involved and trained, 250 disadvantaged learners will benefit from the implementation of the project, 10 schools will become AAC friendly, at least 9 public administrations/local authorities will be involved to implement action of this kind and in general a large public will be reached by project dissemination strategy. Always keeping the school as main educational provider and focus of this action, we aim at creating an educational community/network with other actors such as families, libraries, sport clubs, youth associations, museums and even public transports to promote a transversal use of AAC methodologies. Such an integrated approach that encompasses the wider life context of disadvantaged learners will strongly reinforce the inclusiveness of the educational offer provided.
AAC @ school for social inclusion has the general objective of supporting the inclusion of disadvantaged students in school education paths through a specific methodology which unfortunately is not yet widespread in European and national school contexts, the Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC). To do this, the project activities are focused on strengthening teachers' abilities and supporting them in tackling diversity in the classroom, adopting innovative practices. Managing diversity today is a very important skill, mainly because of the increase in the number of immigrants in European countries, because it helps tackle early school leaving (ESL) and disadvantage. For this reason, AAC @ school offers a new tool for education, allowing success even for those students with communication difficulties. The project produced the following intellectual outputs: 1) RESEARCH AND STATE OF ART (in English). The document is divided in 3 sections: - Best practices in AAC methodology collected by partners; - International best practices resulting from desk research of the University of Basque County - International context report, revising legislation and measures dedicated to inclusion of students with special needs. 2) AAC@SCHOOL TRAINING PROGRAMME (in English, Italian, Spanish, Greek, Turkish, German, Slovenian, Bulgarian), divided into explanatory MODULES completed by teaching materials and videos, allows to learn how to use the AAC in the different contexts covered in the project. The goal was to maximize knowledge already available. Then the partners designed, tested and validated the training model during the second phase of the project activities. The proposed teaching objectives include creating awareness, transmitting knowledge and assisting teachers to develop and use the AAC methodology within their classes according to different age groups and to support people with communication needs, including refugees and migrants. 3) TOOLKIT: AAC FRIENDLY SCHOOL (in English, Italian, Spanish, Greek, Turkish, German, Slovenian, Bulgarian) was conceived and created to teach how to transform school environments, and beyond, into inclusive places also for those who have serious problems of permanent or temporary communication. The tools allow the use AAC tools, build and use pictograms to label school and social spaces. 4) A proposal for BOOKLET FOR REFUGEES AND NEWCOMERS. 5) The software "AAC COMMUNICATOR", developed by SUPSI (associated partner). The consortium that operates in this project is composed of 9 partners (plus an associated partner) and it is greatly enriched by their diversity, they represent different backgrounds and countries, dimensions, type but they are all united because of the desire to support the development of the AAC methodology into school education. The partnership includes schools (3), NGOs / social enterprises (4) who work daily in educational / school settings, 2 universities (1 partner and 1 associate partner) and an NGO representing a network of EU teachers. Keeping always the school as the main educational provider and at the center of this action, we aim to create an educational community / network with other actors such as families, libraries, sports clubs, youth associations, museums and even public transport to promote a transversal use of AAC methodologies . Such an integrated approach that embraces the wider life context of disadvantaged students will strongly strengthen the inclusion of the educational offer provided.