Dani Lane, assistant professor in the Watts Williams School of Education, presented three projects at The Inclusive and Supportive Education Conference.
Dani Lane, assistant professor in the Watts Williams School of Education, presented three projects at The Inclusive and Supportive Education Conference.
Her first presentation entitled, “Supporting Inclusion through Knowledge Exchange: The Case of a South Florida Pilot Program,” explored a South Florida pilot program aimed at facilitating inclusion through effective co-teaching models. This presentation highlighted a hands-on approach to professional development that was perceived as effective by teachers in four low-socioeconomic schools. Further, the presentation outlined logistical information about how the district organized the pilot coaching and modeling project, the relationship between the university-based coaching and modeling team and the school district, and approaches for knowledge exchange embedded in the pilot study.
This presentation was facilitated in collaboration with Sarah Semon and Phyllis Jones from the University of South Florida as well as Sharlene Smith from Rutgers University.
In collaboration with Nicholas Catania and Sarah Semon from the University of South Florida, Lane’s second presentation, “Coaching Special Ed: Building Instructional & Collaborative,” focused on how innovative coaching practices can improve instructional collaboration to support the inclusion of students with disabilities in the general education classroom. This session discussed how coaches worked to observe, coach, and model in collaboration with the special education teacher, in one or more general education classrooms, adjusting in real-time in order to meet student needs.
Lane’s third presentation, “Facilitating an Ethos of Inclusion in a Special School: A Social Justice Perspective,” explored the notion that while understandings of inclusion have developed throughout history and vary from country to country and even school to school, it is clear inclusion has been and remains a social justice issue. So much so, that UNESCO’s Sustainable Development Goal 4 calls for countries, states, districts, and schools to “ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all” (UNESCO, 2017, p.12). Her presentation challenged preconceived notions and understandings regarding inclusion and school settings by investigating how one Multi Academy Trust in England understands inclusion in a special school setting. The Trust’s model serves as one potential example of how to re-conceptualize inclusion through a social justice lens of equity and equality for all. Her presentation examined how members of the leadership team at the Trust define inclusion through a social justice lens and how that understanding transcends through the Trust.