Social inclusion is recognized as a central aspect both for pupils' well-being and for educational outcomes. It is inversely related to school attrition rates, truancy and school violence. Social inclusion among pupils can be increased by strengthening pupils’ participation. Professionals in education can enable or hinder social inclusion. To engage children in participating actively in their lives, teachers must develop learning opportunities where pupils can experience themselves as active agents. The purpose of the project is to allow teachers to explore and develop professional work based on pupils' perspectives and experiences on social inclusion to firstly deepen professional knowledge and competence on best practices and collegial international exchange, secondly to create didactical and educational material and thirdly to evaluate strategies where teachers and researchers in cooperation develop learning opportunities that support pupils' social belonging and agency which then can be shared in the professional community. Project partners are national educational researchers (2 per country ) and national professionals (3 teachers/educators per country) of primary education from 4 (5 with the associated partner) European countries, developing activities for educational settings that enhance social inclusion. 5 work packages describe the national conducted activities to implement, document, try out, elaborate and innovate educational activities that are shared and evaluated internationally, linked with theoretical knowledge in 4 training sessions to finally present (virtually and as a hard copy) a handbook and a toolbox for teachers, educators and children presenting the most successful strategies and activities tested in the 4 (5) European countries. Children’s centered methods to capture their perspectives are the keystone for all activities and the foundation for the teachers’ efforts in developing didactical tools. National and international professional collegial exchange among researchers and practitioners is considered as expert coaching that initiates innovative professional development. A longitudinal study allows a measurement of achieved success in the perception of social inclusion in education. A website is documenting the project and offering open access to educational activities and strategies. The intellectual outcomes integrate newly developed professional knowledge on social inclusion and educational activities that enhance social inclusion in all national languages and English. Whereas the handbook is addressed to teachers and educators and contains educational material, the toolbox is a set of activities for children to use independently. The project outcomes serve principals, educational advisors, policy makers, stakeholders and researchers in education who all have important political mandates in relation to the teaching profession and its professionalisation and the children’s right to participate in society. The project's outcomes and outputs are disseminated in 4 Multipiler events, via project webpage, electronic newsletters and through articles and presentations in educational journals and conferences. The project benefits from the European cross-cultural exchange, from the wide range of expertise represented by the project partners and their cultural and educational background and the diversity and different cultural experiences of pupils’ inclusion across different national contexts. The project aims for educational actions with a European dimension that are transferable to diverse educational contexts: to support teachers and their professional development by gaining deeper knowledge about social inclusion as well as to develop a variety of didactical tools to work with social inclusion in their everyday practice. The diversity of children’s voices is a strength that creates attractive conditions to develop sustainable knowledge and didactical tools to enhance social inclusion which meet pupils’ different needs in Europe.
1) Initiate international co-operation to develop shared professional knowledge and strengthen the European dimension in partner organizations 2) Compile national best practice and research about social inclusion, belonging and pupils’ participation at school 3) Explore, develop and analyse pupils’ experiences and perspectives on social inclusion, belonging and participation as a starting point to develop adequate tools that reach to a higher degree of social inclusion at school 4) Support teachers to develop, implement and monitor best practice to explore and modify their own practices in order to increase pupils’ social inclusion at school 5) Strengthen the teachers’ professional role by increasing the professional educational knowledge, awareness and understanding to identify risks for social exclusion and possibilities for social inclusion 6) Evaluate, develop and redesign educational tools to deal with pupils’ perspectives and experiences on social inclusion, belonging and participation 7) To bundle and disseminate professional knowledge, experiences and best practices developed within the project to larger target groups and within the national and European context.
A large amount of research shows that a sense of belonging and a positive school climate which support social inclusion is highly important both in relation to pupils’ school performance but also in relation to their well-being. A positive school climate can be linked to higher educational outcomes and is a strong preventing factor for school dropouts. Social inclusion in school involves numerous areas, like friendship and being a part of peer groups, but also to how teaching is conducted to include pupils and their needs which can enhance better learning possibilities. Despite recognizing the importance of a meaningful school climate, it is not that simple in practice. There is also a lack of effective teacher training material based on both practical experience and research. Our mapping also showed that pupils' perspectives were often un-present in existing methods. We applied for this project based on a need to develop teachers' knowledge and competences to create socially inclusive school practices. We also saw a need to involve pupils and recognize them as resources in all phases of the project. In doing so, we aimed to find tools for increased social inclusion, based on the perspectives of teachers, pupils and researchers.