The “Tools for Inclusive Education” project (Erasmus+ 2020-2022) aims at providing educators with knowledge and skills in the fields of specific learning disorders, promote their professional development and supply them with tools they can apply in their daily work. A special interest lies in higher education students not studying in their first language.
Aligned with the diverse educational policies and training needs in the partner countries (Finland, UK, Spain, Belgium, Greece and Romania) the project developed four Intellectual Outputs which can be found here: https://tofie.eu/products/
The most important product is a toolkit for educators in the form of a handbook, consisting of practical resources and tools to support educators across Europe and beyond. The tools can be used with cases of students with perception, attention and concentration difficulties, such as attention deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder or Linguistic difficulties.
The materials are aimed at Higher Education (HE) teachers who wish to refresh their pedagogical skills and apply inclusive methods of teaching and guidance. Even though the focus is on methods that support equal opportunities of learning for students with learning disorders, such as e.g. dyslexia, dyscalculia or ADHD, the methods are easily applicable to all HE students.
The handbook is available in English, Finnish, French, Greek, Romanian, and Spanish.
Students in higher education (HE) bring versatile skills and competencies gained during their prior studies and work. For students with Specific Learning Disorder (SLD) challenges may rise in their adaptation process to a new HE environment and culture, especially if studying in a foreign language. You could listen to fellow HE students sharing their stories here:
Students studying in a second language benefit from the project’s activities, as the use of the project tools supports their studies and integration into the higher education community.
Author: Chrissa Koundouraki.
Chrissa is currently undertaking her PhD in Languages and Intercultural Studies, while she already is a Heriot Watt alumna, with an MSc in European Studies with Translation Studies. She was part of the team that worked on this project and developed the learning materials.
She is the co-founder and head of education at the European Education and Learning Institute in Greece (https://eeli.edu.gr/ ), where you can find many similar projects and have access to free educational resources and platforms.