ECER 2011, Berlin
The 2011 ECER conference was a very stimulating conference for the participants in network 4 ‘Inclusive education’. The attendance was significantly higher when compared to 2010 (about 85 presented papers). As expected, the dip in attendance was due to the ISEC conference in Ireland in August 2010. The next ISEC will be organised in 2015.
The subjects for the sessions of network 4 were rather varied. Over the years the analyses of policy documents on inclusive education, teacher training, collaboration between professionals, theoretical analyses of inclusion and diversity and ways of working in inclusive education are more or less standard session titles. There is a trend towards more focus on inclusive education in practice and the provisions needed in regular schools. Most sessions attracted about 15 to 30 audience members. An issue of concern is that some presenters simply sit down and read their paper aloud. These sessions are difficult to follow and reduce the overall quality of the session. Two paper presenters did not show up.
The participants were very positive about the organisation of the conference and the facilities in Berlin. The conference rooms were good and technical equipment worked well. It was easy to attend sessions organised by other networks.
The network business meeting was attended by 40 participants. The convenors announced that they would review the selection criteria for ECER 2012 in order to be able to guarantee a high quality conference. This was supported by the network members. There was some discussion on bringing hand-outs and papers to the conference. Much is left behind or thrown away. A suggestion was to end every power point with an e-mail address of the presenter. People wanting more information then can ask for power points and / or full papers.
It should be noted that a network 4 poster (2145) was awarded as best poster of the conference. It was a bit difficult to find the poster session and participants at the business meeting proposed that posters should presented close to the network rooms.