Keynote Speakers

Keynote Lecture Prof. Dr. Lisa Woolfson:

"When teacher and parent beliefs are barriers to inclusion of children with special educational needs"

Negative societal stereotypes towards disabilities, stigma, can influence attitudes and behaviour in teachers and parents, and act as a barrier to the effective inclusion of children with special educational needs and disabilities. Emerging evidence will be presented that examines relationships between these stereotypes and attributional beliefs about disability. How do these beliefs affect teaching and parenting behaviours, and influence learning and development in children with special educational needs? How can teachers and parents act differently to bring about positive change?

Keynote Lecture Prof. Dr. Christoph Müller:

"Heterogeneous Students Among Heterogeneous Peers: Peer Socialization in Individuals with Special Educational Needs"

For typically developing students, it is well accepted that the peers have an important impact on their social and cognitive competencies. In contrast, the development of individuals with special educational needs (SEN) is often still considered to be mainly influenced by individual characteristics, family, and professional support. This may be related to the complexity of peer influence processes in students with SEN: First, students with SEN can be surrounded by highly different peer groups depending on the school type and classroom attended. Second, students with SEN themselves form an extremely heterogeneous group. They may thus substantially vary in their susceptibility to peer influence along different disability-related dimensions. In the keynote research on this topic is presented and future perspectives to better understand peer socialization in individuals with SEN are developed.

Keynote Lecture Prof. Dr. Annemie Desoete:

"Inclusive education: An integrated research framework on disability, diversity and heterogeneity in education, what can we learn from the opportunity-propensity model?"
 
The existence of individual differences in abilities, increases the need to understand the nature of typical and atypical cognition. The Opportunity–Propensity (O-P) model supplies us with a framework to reflect on disabilitiy, diversity and heterogeneity in education. The authors of this model suggest that people are more likely to realize their potential for learning if they are provided with the right Opportunities (O) to learn and have the will (e.g. motivation) and capability (e.g. abilities) or Propensity (P) to benefit from the Opportunities provided to them ( Byrnes & Miller, 2007; Byrnes &  Wasik, 2009;  Wang & Byrnes, 2013). Multiple predictors are taken into account in this model. Studies on predictors such as metacognition, self-efficacy beliefs, motivation, temperament/personality, welbeing and prior knowledge will be illustrated within this model. 

Keynote Lecture Prof. Dr. Alexander Minnaert:

"In need of a tailored Z(S)EN approach when it comes to inclusive education"

The UNESCO Salamanca Statement and the Framework for Action on special needs education (1994) and Article 24 of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (2006) paved worldwide the way for inclusive education. The point of departure of inclusive education is that the educational system should be designed and educational programmes should be implemented in such a manner that regular education takes into account the wide diversity of children’s characteristics and needs, and that the child with special educational needs must have access to regular schools. A child centred pedagogy capable of meeting the needs of those SEN children is presumed and believed upon.

Based upon research we know, however, that teachers, parents and peers are not really in favour of inclusive practices and that educational practice is facing huge challenges to enhance both students’ and teachers’ motivation, to improve inclusion and equitable participation of all children at school and in society, to stand up against inequality, to promote learning and development of all, and to meet the diversity in special educational needs of all. Hence, society is in a deep need for experts who may efficaciously cope with the strengths and weaknesses, opportunities and threats of inclusive practices. This makes a tailored approach in inclusive education an intellectual challenging and emotional demanding quest. How to find Z(S)EN in the world of inclusion?