The paper at hand is the second submission for the ECER in the context of the Learning from the Covid-19 Pandemic - Building Resilience through Inclusive Education Systems (BRIES) project of the European Agency for Special Needs and Inclusive Education (EASNIE). This paper contains the final results of the project. Last year, in Glasgow, pre-liminary results have been presented.
In the BRIES project, six European countries participated: Bulgaria, Estonia, Germany, Greece, Ireland, and Sweden. Together with stakeholders from all countries we looked at how inclusive education systems in Europe have been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, the lessons learnt, and how to turn the crisis into an opportunity to build resilience and foster well-being.

The guiding question was 'How can different stakeholders’ experiences of the COVID-19 pandemic be turned into an opportunity to build resilience and well-being in inclusive education systems?'

Using a grounded approach (Charmaz 2014), effective communication in education emerged as one fundamental element to be addressed by decision‑makers to build resilience of all learners and ensure their well‑being in times of crisis (European Agency 2023). During the COVID‑19 pandemic, several countries published communication guidelines for different levels of stakeholders (European Agency 2022b). However, in the BRIES project, stakeholders still identified a lack of effective communication in education (European Agency 2023). This had a negative impact on the well‑being and resilience of stakeholders involved in the teaching‑learning process and on adequately addressing the needs of all learners. 

Consequently, the project focused on developing a guidance for establishing a culture of effective communication in education. This guidance was developed to encourage decision‑makers (school leaders, policy‑makers and public education authorities at all levels of governance, depending on specific national contexts) to reflect on communication structures and processes which were in place in their education systems during the pandemic. In particular, they are asked to determine how those processes could be improved. A well-established culture of effective communication supports an education system in regular times. In times of crisis, a well‑established culture of effective communication provides an essential basis for mitigating the impact of significant risk factors for learners including the impact of the crisis on their socio‑emotional well‑being and resilience.
The findings were contextualised in the guidance by developing a model for effective communication, building on the main findings on effective communication, relevant communication theory, and existing models (e.g. the transactional model of communication). Furthermore, the guidance builds on Amartya Sen’s capability approach (Sen 2009). Thereby, effective communication is identified as a collective capability (Ibrahim 2006). Hence, a culture of effective communication in education is only possible, if all involved in the teaching-learning process are included and actively participate. 
The European Agency for Special Needs and Inclusive Education has strongly stated in its key principles the importance of increasing prevention measures in education policies to ensure support for all learners (European Agency 2021). In the developed guidance, the emphasis lies on prevention by focusing on the development of a culture of effective communication in education in regular times to be prepared to communicate effectively in times of crisis. As such, a culture of effective communication is a resource all education stakeholders should be able to refer to, to enhance the well‑being and resilience of all learners.

For data analysis, we used a grounded theory approach in the style of Kathy Charmaz (2014) and applied various methods of qualitative inquiry in three different phases of field research. Focus group discussions were used to start in the first phase of data collection. The emphasis was put on participants' experiences during the pandemic and priority areas they identified in relation to their needs in the context of education. In a second phase, following the theoretical sampling method (Corbin & Strauss 2015) we used a dialogic structure (Alozie & Mitchell 2014) to especially empower learners' and parents' voices (but also teachers' voices) while discussing with policy-makers (European Agency 2022a, Mangiaracina et al. 2021, Robinson & Taylor 2013, Siry 2020). In the third phase, participants exchanged in different stakeholder-levels and across different countries. For this purpose, groups were split up to maintain a reasonable size. In these mixed groups stakeholders discussed concepts that emerged from the previous discussions. They were given the opportunity to rank potential priority areas, exclude or add new ideas and discuss content, aims etc. in different small groups. The concept of constant comparison (Charmaz 2014, Clark 2005) guided us through the different steps of data collection and analysis. Emerging concepts and categories were analysed and discussed further, in case saturation was not reached. In the final step of data collection, different workshop tools allowing smaller group exchanges were used in face-to-face meetings (poster walks, world café approach etc.). Data collection focused on notes and outputs of the group exchanges (e.g. posters). The methods used led to a higher level and depth of exchange between all stakeholders. One hypothesis is that the small group discussions supported participants in reaching a consensus about a potential tool in the end. Based on the outcomes, the research team developed a guidance for effective communication in education. This guidance was based on a model for effective communication in education and the capability approach (Sen 2009).

A well-established culture of effective communication in education supports the resilience and well-being of learners, teachers, and families. In times of crisis, this provides an essential basis for mitigating the impact of significant risk factors for all. The developed guidance can be used when a country/municipality/region/school aims to work on communication structures and processes to support the well-being and resilience of all learners, with the intention to create a culture of effective communication in place in regular times to be prepared for times of crisis. To be able to do so, decision makers (policy makers, school leaders or local authorities) should aim to: • identify gaps and challenges in existing communication structures and processes; • be able to address needs of all learners; • increase the well being and resilience of all learners. A culture of effective communication can only be a meaningful resource in education if all involved in the teaching-learning process are considered and participate. Decision‑makers therefore need to be able to identify communication processes that need improvement. The developed guidance provides the basis for initiating the search for communication structures and processes that require improvement. Having learnt from the pandemic, investing in effective communication in education contributes to the resilience and well-being of all learners. In a next step, the guidance is implemented in the different countries together with schools, regions and municipalities. A discussion on the experiences from the implementation will take in May 2024. The results of this discussions will be included in the presentation at the ECER.

Alozie, N. & Mitchell, C., 2014. Getting Students Talking: Supporting Classroom Discussion Practices in Inquiry-Based Science in Real-Time Teaching. The American Biology Teacher, 76(8), 501–506. https://doi.org/10.1525/abt.2014.76.8.3 Bhan, S. & Julka, A., 2021. Disability Inclusive COVID-19 Response. Best Practices. unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000378354 (Last accessed December 2022) Charmaz, K., 2014. Constructing grounded theory (2nd edition). Sage Clark, A. E., 2005. Situational Analysis: Grounded Theory After the Postmodern Turn. Thousand Oaks et al., Sage Corbin, J. & Strauss, A. L., 2015. Basics of qualitative research: techniques and procedures for developing grounded theory (Fourth edition). Sage Couper-Kenney, F. & Riddell, S., 2021. ‘The impact of COVID-19 on children with additional support needs and disabilities in Scotland’ European Journal of Special Needs Education, 36 (1), 20–34 European Agency for Special Needs and Inclusive Education, 2023. Building Resilience through Inclusive Education Systems: Mid-Term Report. Peer-learning activities to develop a tool to support educational resilience. (M. Bilgeri and M. Presmanes Andrés, eds.). Odense, Denmark European Agency for Special Needs and Inclusive Education, 2022a. Voices into Action: Promoting learner and family participation in educational decision-making. (A. Kefallinou, D.C. Murdoch, A. Mangiaracina and S. Symeonidou, eds.). Odense, Denmark European Agency for Special Needs and Inclusive Education, 2022b. Inclusive Education and the Pandemic – Aiming for Resilience: Key European measures and practices in 2021 publications. (L. Muik, M. Presmanes Andrés and M. Bilgeri, eds.). Odense, Denmark European Agency for Special Needs and Inclusive Education, 2021. Key Principles – Supporting policy development and implementation for inclusive education. (V. J. Donnelly and A. Watkins, eds.). Odense, Denmark Mangiaracina, A., Kefallinou, A., Kyriazopoulou, M., & Watkins, A., 2021. Learners’ voices in inclusive education policy debates. Education Sciences, 11(10), 599. https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci11100599 Messiou, K. & Hope, A. M., 2015. The danger of subverting students’ views in schools, International Journal of Inclusive Education, 19:10, 1009-1021, DOI: 10.1080/13603116.2015.1024763 Silverman, D., 2016. Qualitative research (5th edition.). Sage Robinson, C., & Taylor, C., 2013. Student voice as a contested practice: Power and participation in two student voice projects. Improving Schools, 16(1), 32–46. https://doi.org/10.1177/1365480212469713 Siry, C., 2020. Dialogic Pedagogies and Multimodal Methodologies: Working Towards Inclusive Science Education and Research. Asia-Pacific Science Education, 6(2), 346–363. https://doi.org/10.1163/23641177-BJA10017 Sen, A. 2009. The idea of justice. Harvard University Press. Soriano, V. 2016. ‘Young voices on inclusive education’, in A. Watkins and C. Meijer (eds.), Implementing Inclusive Education: Issues in Bridging the Policy-Practice Gap. International Perspectives on Inclusive Education Volume 8. Leeds: Emerald Group Publishing Limited