Inclusion and Higher Education. Students with Disabilities Crossing Borders

Author(s):

Arthur Limbach-Reich(presenting / submitting)

Conference:

ECER 2015

Network:

04. Inclusive Education

Format:

Paper

Session Information

04 SES 07 C, Characterising Children with Special Educational Needs

Paper Session

Time:

2015-09-09

17:15-18:45

Room:

429.Oktatóterem [C]

Chair:

Sally Elton-Chalcraft

Contribution

Transition of students with disabilities to and within tertiary education only recently became a point of international research interest, despite or because of the persistent difficulties faced by education systems in implementing the rights to education of disabled students and to secure their employment (Ebersold, 2008). First publications on higher education and disability in the early 21^st century (Stanley, 2000; Stodden, 2000) focused on national context, whilst inclusion policy and research to the largest extent tackled questions of inclusive schooling.

The contribution will present a comparative transnational analysis on inclusive and supportive approaches in favour of students with disabilities (with a special focus on students with hidden disabilities) within the so-called “Greater Region” situated in the very heart of Europe. The presentation draws on an international collaboration network of disability officers from Universities in Belgium, France, Germany and Luxembourg created in 2011. Driven by the Bologna process (1999) and the subsequent establishment of a European Higher Education Area student mobility has become a vibrant topic of university policy. Disability advising and support services get more and more involved with students with disabilities participating in transnational mobility programmes (e.g. Erasmus mundus). The increasing international mobility of students requires exchanging information about regulatory frameworks, systems of support and reasonable accommodations and mutual recognitions of measures in favour of students with disabilities.

The introduction and international recognition of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UN-CRPD, 2006) empowers more and more students with disabilities to enrol at higher education institutions. Implementing the CRPD states parties have to ensure an inclusive education system at all levels and lifelong learning. Therefor, universities shall make available for students with disabilities appropriate infrastructures, reasonable accommodations, and support to maximize their academic and social development, enabling their full and equal participation in education and in the labour market. The global agenda of inclusive education at all levels generated national answers and discussions about transitions into higher education (e.g. Hochschulrektorenkonferenz, 2013; Ministère de la Culture et de la Communication, 2010). A first attempt towards greater standardisation of disability support services, accommodations, and non-discrimination-policy at European universities was published by the UNICA network (UNICA Mission Statement on Equal Opportunities, 2000).

Following this paper universities have to consider that persons with disabilities have equal rights to higher education, and it is the responsibility of higher education institutions to ensure these rights. All adjustments and services for persons with disabilities are to equalise their chances, and should not affect the level of academic requirements for entry nor the academic standards to be met. Disabilities may be visible or hidden, affecting mobility, hearing or sight, chronic illness, dyslexia, or mental health conditions. The recommendations for UNICA universities on minimum standards for disabled persons tackle nine standards concerning; taking into account the needs of disabled students in strategic plans; elaboration of an official document on equal rights, policies and procedures concerning persons with disabilities; establishing of a disability specialist service; criteria of eligibility for services and accommodations; standards in the assessment of all students, disabled or not; same choice of study programmes; protection of information concerning the disability or health of an individual; promoting disability awareness among students and staff and disability training for staff (teaching and administrative).

In addition to this listing, the key questions addressed by the study concern: Who is eligible for reasonable accommodation in higher education? What do universities offer for students with disabilities? How many students ask for accommodations and how and to what extent disadvantages are compensated. Do the proposed accommodations meet the needs of the students with disabilities?

Method

With recourse to prior research (Cawthon, & Cole, 2010 Janiga, & Costenbader, 2002; Kurth & Mellard, 2006, Orr & Bachman Hammig 2009; Parker, 1998; Rath, Wintle, 2014; Zhang, et al 2010) the project will identify challenges of inclusion in higher education (e.g. evidence based reasonable accommodations) and good practices of implementing the CRPD. The project draws on a variety of qualitative and quantitative methods to answer the above mentioned questions. A first international meeting with students with disabilities in Liège 2011 collected statements of students from the Greater Region about their situation at the universities each. Information delivered by disability officers allowed to describing the offers and policy of the university in question for students with disabilities. A short questionnaire was send to every office. Statistical data could be generated from national surveys mainly from France and Germany and from university intern data bases. Even if the underlying methods of data compilation differ between countries the surveys allow to compare national inclusion related statistics. In addition an analysis of national university frameworks and declarations has been carried out (Limbach-Reich, 2014) to identify similarities and differences between the four countries in realization inclusion in higher education. In a second stage based on the findings of the prior investigation a multilingual questionnaire will be developed to ask students with disabilities about their experience in higher education institutions within the four countries. How do they perceive their situation in institutions of higher education in the context of their disability? How do they assess the proposed accommodations and do these met their needs? Based on the index of inclusion (Booth, T. & Ainscow, M. 2002) staff members of selected faculties will be presented a questionnaire on inclusive cultures at the institution, too. Special attention will be paid on mobility students with experiences in two or more disability services. May be this is a very small group, qualitative interviews or a focus group will be suited. The design and fine-tuning of the methodology is still a work in progress and will be finished in collaboration with the participating universities.

Expected Outcomes

Despite of the Bologna process and the ubiquitous ratification of the CRPD, the analysis shows that already, the definition of who is a student with disabilities differs from country to country. Contrariwise, the diagnosis of disability and special educational needs (learning, emotional and behavioural disorders, etc.) generally follows the traditional medical paradigm in terms of ICD codes (International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems) and not in respect of the bio-psycho-social model of disability, known as ICF-Model (International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health, 2001). In addition, data collection and data analysis are not the same in all countries and varied in assignment of disabilities (e.g. specific learning disability), methodology (e.g. self-report versus medical diagnosis) and services for students with disabilities. Zhang et al. (2010) found evidence via a structural equation modeling procedure, that there is a direct effect of personal belief on provision of accommodations to students with disabilities. This may have a knock-on effect on actual accommodations. Awareness rising programmes are all the more important to pursue inclusion and non-discrimination of students with disabilities. In particular initial teacher training is crucial to facilitate sustainable inclusive education. The Charter of the University of the Greater Region on studying with disabilities emerged from the project may serve as a first step of inter-university agreements on student exchange enabling more students with disabilities or disorders to participate in transnational mobility programmes. Against this background new tasks and responsibilities for stakeholders in higher education have to be discussed in the face of the current economic crisis, resulting in underfunding higher education and cuts in social benefits for students.

References

Ebersold, S. (2008). Pathways for Students with Disabilities to Tertiary Education and employment EDU/EDPC/SEN(2008)10. Gattermann-Kasper, M. (2014). Nachteilsausgleiche für Studierende mit Beeinträchtigungen bei Lehrveranstaltungen, Prüfungen und Fristen – Ein Überblick. Inclusion Online, http://www.inklusion-online.net/index.php/inklusion-online/article/view/213/214 - download: 28.12.2014 Harrison, A., Nichols, E., Larochette, A.- Cl. (2008). Investigating the Quality of Learning Disability Documentation provided by Students in Higher Education. Canadian Journal of School Psychology, 23, 2, 161-174. Hochschulrektorenkonferenz (2013). „Eine Hochschule für Alle“ – Empfehlung der 6. Mitgliederversammlung der HRK am 21. April 2009 zum Studium mit Behinderung/chronischer Krankheit – Ergebnisse der Evaluation, Bonn. Katsiyannis, A., Zhang, D., Landmark, L.& Reber, A.(2009). Postsecondary Education for individuals with Disabilities. Journal of Disability Policy Studies, 20,1, 35-45. Kurth, N. & Mellard, D. (2006). Student perceptions of the accommodation process in postsecondary education. Journal of Postsecondary Education and Disability, 19(1), 71-84. Limbach-Reich, A. (2014). Inklusive Hochschule Erfahrungen aus der Großregion: Internationale Konferenz "Inklusive Hochschule. Nationale und internationale Perspektiven" Universität Leipzig. Bird Claiborne, L., Cornforth, S., Gibson, A. & Smith, A. (2011). Supporting students with impairments in higher education: social inclusion or cold comfort? International Journal of Inclusive Education. 15, 5, 513–527. OECD (2011). Inclusion of Students with Disabilities in Tertiary Education and Employment. Paris: OECD Publishing. Orr, A. C., Bachman Hammig, S. (2009). Inclusive Postsecondary Strategies for Teaching Students with Learning Disabilities: A Review of the Literature. Learning Disability Quarterly, 32, 3, 181-196. Platte, A., Schultz, Chr.-P. (2011). Inklusive Bildung an der Hochschule – Impulse für die Lehrerinnenbildung und Soziale Arbeit. In: P. Flieger, V. Schönwiese (Ed.). Menschenrechte – Integration – Inklusion. Aktuelle Perspektiven aus der Forschung. Bad Heilbrunn: Klinkhardt, p. 245-251. Parker, V. (1998). UK initiatives to promote inclusion in higher education for students with disabilities. European Journal of Special Needs Education, 13,2, 189-199, DOI: 10.1080/0885625980130205. Reed, M. J., Kennett, D. , Lewis, T. & Lund-Lucas, E. (2011) The relative benefits found for students with and without learning disabilities taking a first-year university preparation course. Active Learning in Higher Education, 12,2, 133-142. Zeff, R. (2007). Universal Design across the curriculum. New Directions for Higher Education, 137,1, 27-44. Zhang, D., Landmark, L., Reber, A., Hsu, H.Y. Kwok, O. & Benz, M. (2010). University Faculty Knowledge, Beliefs, and Practices in Providing Reasonable Accommodations to Students With Disabilities. Remedial and Special Education. 31, 4, 276-286. DOI: 10.1177/0741932509338348

Author Information

Arthur Limbach-Reich (presenting / submitting)

University of Luxembourg

Walferdange

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