INCLUSIVE  LEARNING:  THE  INTEGRATED  APPROACH    

!!Introduction !The Inclusive Learning Initiative (ILI) in Maynooth University, is a specific access route that allows people with intellectual disabilities to experience a university education and participate in campus activities, just like their student peers. Following a successful pilot, from 2011 to 2014, a second cohort of students commenced in September 2014. !Our starting position comes in the form of two comments from academic colleagues in departments that have had an ILI student studying in their departments in the first cohort. In each case, it is instructive that the focus is on what the students have brought to the University – rather than on what we have done for the students. !

Seeing the transformation that [Names Student] went through, becoming a much more confident person, reinforces the ethic of a University learning environment and reminds everybody of the main role of a University education. Professor Palmer on behalf of the Music Department !To my mind a university is a component part of society and as such it needs to reflect the diversity in society and I do not see how a university can be imagined unless it somehow or other makes an effort to encompass the kind of diversity found in society. If students are to come into university and not meet people from different backgrounds, different cultures, different levels of ability, people who have met different challenges, then they’re simply only dealing essentially with each other in a hall of mirrors and I don’t think that actually produces the right kind of citizen. Dr Mark Maguire, Department of Anthropology. !

The Policy Context – national and international !It has taken many significant societal and educational advances to come to the point of recognition of rights and entitlements for this group of citizens. There is now a concerted effort on the part of government to facilitate an individualized, community based model where people with disabilities are educated, housed and employed in their communities with the same rights and entitlements as everyone else. !A project to offer a university experience to students with intellectual disabilities is a further step in this continuum. It offers a direct response to significant contemporary changes in the policy framework in relation to rights and opportunities for people with intellectual disabilities, both in Ireland and internationally. Specifically, it responds Ireland’s commitments under the UN Convention on the rights of people with Disabilities, Articles 19 and 24, to “take effective and appropriate measures to facilitate full enjoyment by persons with disabilities of this right and their full inclusion and participation in the community…” and to “ensure an inclusive education system at all levels”, including inclusive entitlement for people with ID (See Appendix 1). Although the enabling legislation is not yet enacted, Ireland has made its commitment and the ILI is one step towards meeting that commitment. The move to individualization and full societal integration outlined in such documents as the HSE New Directions (2012) document indicate the direction. !International Perspectives !There are a range of approaches used to deliver inclusive learning in university education in Ireland and internationally. The model adopted by NUI Maynooth is based on the experience in the state of Alberta where since 1987 higher education institutions have adopted a full integrated model. This means that students with intellectual disabilities are supported to integrate into university education to the fullest possible extent, attending classes, completing course work, engaging in social activities and undertaking employment just as their peers do. !

Saranne Magennis , Laura Burke and Josephine Finn, March, 2015

The Alberta approach is useful for two main reasons: • It is built on the social model of disability which recognizes the human potential of

persons with disabilities and advocates for their independence and inclusion as citizens.

• Through twenty five years of experience it has been demonstrated that there is no diminution of academic standards in participating universities and numerous benefits have been evidenced by the student and staff community.

Currently significant developments are underway in the United States education system with hundreds of inclusive programmes having been developed in recent years. The Think College Centre (http://www.thinkcollege.net) based in New Mass Boston has spearheaded these developments and promotes the fully integrated model as the best approach. The approach is now well supported in the US administration. !Michael Yudin, acting Assistant Secretary for the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitation Services, outlined the reasons why programmes like the Inclusive Learning Initiative are being encouraged and funded in post secondary educational institutes, including universities, in the United States. In his keynote address at the Think College Conference 2014 he said: !

… 30 years of research show that students with disabilities do better when they are held to high standards and have access to the general curriculum… … It starts with expectations. It starts with changing expectations. Creating a culture of expectations. !Young adults with intellectual disabilities who receive postsecondary degrees and certificates are significantly more likely to live independently, more likely to have savings accounts, checking accounts, credit cards, seeking friends, more likely to volunteer in a community service, more likely to have driver's license and registered to vote. !

NUI Maynooth is uniquely placed in Ireland to change expectations for this previously excluded group and assist bringing these benefits to the individuals and to society. !The National Landscape The model adopted in Maynooth is not the only one in operation in Ireland and there is a range of opportunities available to adults with intellectual disabilities across the country with numerous institutions providing programmes, often in collaboration with agencies, according to what works in their context and for the particular students in their area. Figure 1 gives an indication of the spread: !

Saranne Magennis , Laura Burke and Josephine Finn, March, 2015

" !!!!!Figure 1: Fintan Sheerin and Saranne Magennis !!Transitions and the impact of funding structures !There is a complex funding environment in further and higher education for persons with intellectual disabilities. The responsibilities and the funds for educational activities and the essential support that would enable participation are split between health and education. There is a culture of expectation that persons with intellectual disabilities will attend courses in day services rather than in mainstream educational institutions. Their education is often conceptualized as a parallel path in separate institutions or in separate classes in mainstream institutions. Transitions out of mainstream into the parallel track are more available than transitions into the mainstream. Typically, the differences become more marked as the student progresses. !The Context and the Maynooth University Strategic Plan !Maynooth University has an excellent track record of offering higher education opportunities to groups of students who have been marginalized and educationally disadvantaged. The Strategic Plan (214-2017) is imbued with this ongoing commitment. Our values include acknowledgements of both “equality, inclusiveness and social justice” and “dignity, respect and care for the individual”. Moreover, we recognize the vigilance that it required to ensure that we ”engage and challenge a more diverse student body, with very different backgrounds, abilities, interests, goals and aspirations, supporting each to achieve her or his full potential.” !When we as an institution make the following public commitment in the Strategic Plan, we believe, hat in the context of our values and goals, that offer should extend to students with intellectual disabilities who are also citizens facing a world that is increasingly complex, diverse and in constant change: !

Dundalk  IT  (N)

University  

Mary  Immaculate  

St  Angela’s  College  

Higher  Education  Inclusive  Education  Initiatives  Across  Ireland

Waterford  IT  (N)

5

Trinity  College  

Dublin  City  

National  

University  of  

Athlone  IT  (SC)

National  University  Dublin  IT

Blanchardstow

Limerick  IT

Open  Training  

Saranne Magennis , Laura Burke and Josephine Finn, March, 2015

To offer students an outstanding university education, the best available in Ireland, an education which challenges and supports all students to achieve their full potential, and prepares students for life, work and citizenship, and for complexity, diversity and change.

In doing so we are also meeting our goal of strengthening engagement with all stakeholders through the through sustained partnerships with enterprises, communities, civil society and public bodies, that are essential to the Inclusive Learning Initiative. !!!Implementing Inclusive Learning in Maynooth University – the pilot. !In 2009 the National University of Ireland Maynooth (NUIM) and four other organisations - KARE, St. John of Gods Community Services, Stewarts Hospital and Camphill - established a collaboration in order to identify ways of making higher education more inclusive for students with intellectual disabilities. The Inclusive Learning Initiative (ILI) emerged as a result of these collaborative efforts. An exploratory approach was developed for a period of three years in keeping with the time frame of regular university courses. A conscious decision was made to keep the initiative as close as possible in all respects to the experience of the majority of our undergraduate students, whether school leaver or mature entrant. This was designed to ensure a shared student experiences in keeping with the watchword “same as everyone else” and to ensure that the additional funding needs were kept to a minimum by operating within the existing frameworks and services. In recruiting students, those involved sought students who would have the maturity to engage with the higher education environment and all of the students are now aged over 23. !Although the registration process used the Occasional Student Route, recruitment followed the ordinary established patterns of recruitment for Mature Students in so far as possible. This worked well and the same approach would be proposed for further recruitment rounds. The schema for implementation is set out in Table 1 overleaf. !From the outset, in keeping with the fully inclusive intent of the initiative, it was intended that no separate course be established and that, with the support of a facilitator, each student would select subjects of interest from the mainstream offering of NUI Maynooth. This is an essential element of the initiative both from the standpoint of the individual student who is empowered to take part in the real world activity, and from the policy viewpoint as there can be no implication that the University is straying from the segments of the National Qualifications Framework appropriate to its mission. Accommodations for individuals in special circumstances do not alter the level of the programmes offered – how the individual performs is a separate matter. In all cases, the direction of the initiative is to keep to existing policies and protocols and modify only where necessary for the particular individual. !Table 1: Process for implementation of ILI Pilot !!

Process for implementation of ILI Pilot

Stage of process Who was involved

Advertise and visit schools/ services Implementation Group and Admissions Office

Application process (forms available in easy reader format)

Implementation Group

Interviews based on the mature applicants process Admissions Office, Implementation Group and Agency Partner

Offer and acceptance (with support in module choice) Implementation Group

Saranne Magennis , Laura Burke and Josephine Finn, March, 2015

!!In these particular circumstances, accreditation is offered according to the level of the work produced by the students and is mapped on to the Framework of Qualifications, post hoc. This flexibility was a significant benefit as we did not have the experience to predict where the student work might fit. In the next phase, it will be possible, based on the experience of the pilot, to predict an appropriate range on the NFQ, though a measure of flexibility will support students who may exceed expectations. Membership of clubs, societies and all recreational facilities are available to all students. A volunteering programme that includes specialized training has been established to assist the students in all aspects of their life on campus. A full-time facilitator works with the volunteers and colleagues in creating conditions for integration. The ILI project is managed internally and externally by a small management committee and a collaborative Implementation Committee, with members from the University and our partner agencies. !Research !The Inclusive Learning Team members have been undertaking research over the course of the pilot phase so that the learning achieved through the process can be shared with the wider community. This includes research into the student experience, the impact on the culture of the university and the assessment of students working across different levels of the NFQ while participating in the same lectures. The academic, social and career benefits to the individual student and the impact on the university community and wider society are currently being explored. !!Benefits !The implementation of inclusive education at NUI Maynooth offers benefits that go well beyond that which is experienced by individual students with disabilities, though these in themselves are significant. Key benefits to student, institution and society are outlined below: !Student benefits The student is likely to achieve appreciably enhanced social, career and life outcomes. In the long term there will be cost savings because the students with intellectual disabilities who have participated in post secondary education are likely to be much more independent than their peers who have not. !NUI Maynooth benefits The contribution of the student to campus life and the university environment must not be underestimated as they bring an added dimension to our appreciation of diversity. This is evidenced in the words of two heads of departments, set out at the beginning of this paper. The fact that each of the five students was welcomed back to his or her department each year is also evidence that students with an intellectual disability can fit into a department and make their own unique contribution.

Occasional Student Registration – tuition fees waived Registrar and Fees

Students individually mentored in their studies by Facilitator and Departments

Facilitator and Departments

Volunteers and natural supports coordinated by Facilitator

Implementation Group and Facilitator

Assessment and feedback within academic departments. Academic Departments and Facilitator

Credit with feedback indicating level. Academic Departments and Facilitator

Award and transcript after 3 years based on credits and level.

Academic Departments, Registrar’s Office , Implementation Group

Saranne Magennis , Laura Burke and Josephine Finn, March, 2015

!The programme has provided numerous opportunities for volunteer activity by Maynooth students, supporting our mission in relation to civic engagement. Moreover, it offers a solution in part to one of the difficulties for volunteering in NUI Maynooth, namely the limited numbers of easily accessible placements for volunteers. By providing volunteering opportunities on campus, students are able to give time to the actual volunteering activity, and less to transport getting there and back. !Teaching and Learning benefits Academic staff faced the challenge of adapting their teaching and assessment to suit the learning styles and abilities of the students. They embraced this challenge and demonstrated a their professionalism in adapting their classes and devising new and creative assessments. Their work in this area deserves to be noted as it provides further evidence of the student centredness that characterizes teaching staff at NUI Maynooth. Moreover, instead of viewing this work as a burden, many colleagues expressed the view that the experience has benefitted them and energized their teaching and assessment in other contexts. !!Societal benefits Historically individuals with intellectual disabilities have been excluded from participation in wider society and were often left in a parallel educational and societal context. The ILI acknowledges the rights of citizens to self determination not withstanding their disabilities and recognizes the benefits to society that accrue from independence and self-determination in all citizens, including those with an intellectual disability. These benefits go beyond the measurable economic benefits identified in Alberta and alluded to by Michael Yudin: they encompass the personal benefits that students, their families and supporters feel as they see the growing self-esteem and empowerment that the students experience by having the opportunity of an education like their siblings and peers. !If we accept that the benefits to students, their communities, the University, students and their communities, the economy and the wider society are sufficient for us to continue with this work, then finding a means of accessing sustainable funding for the programme is the major challenge we face. There is funding available for people with intellectual disabilities to cover post secondary training, day services and personal assistance but these are not funds which are open to the University at present, other than through collaboration with the Agencies. There is also significant support in the partner agencies for the NUI Maynooth programme and a willingness to see the programme funded. It is likely that the move to individualization under the New Directions programme will make matters easier in the future !Finance !The financial context in which the Inclusive Learning Initiative has operated in is difficult because of the complexities associated with funding for intellectual disability in Ireland. The context will vary according to the institutional and national context. In the case of the ILI, our approach has been to keep the cost at a level we believe is sustainable, rather than basing it on large but temporary grant funding. Our funds have included contributions from KARE, St John of Gods Kildare Services and from Maynooth University, together with grants from Genio Foundation and the Callan Institute (St John of Gods) Part of our ongoing work is to develop a model of funding that will allow students to participate in higher education on the same basis as their peers. !In addition to funds, partners have made contributions in kind in order to facilitate the initiative. The contributions made the partners during the pilot have included staff time across a range of activities and have been significant. Theses activities have included he following: !

Developing the partnership Researching the model Recruitment and selection of staff and students Setting up systems

Saranne Magennis , Laura Burke and Josephine Finn, March, 2015

Induction and training of student mentors Fundraising (Bids to Genio, SJoG, Lottery, Discussion: NDA, HSE and NCSE) Research and evaluation Events !Staff time has been provided by University directly in the form of the participation of staff in establishing and managing the development of the initiative through its pilot phase. Academic colleagues in departments that have hosted a student and service and administrative departments that have supported their learning and participation have also been contributed. By using existing protocols and mechanisms, these have been kept fairly much in line with the costs of any other student. Colleagues from KARE and St John of God Services have assisted with training and have supported the initiative with their specific professional expertise. !!The contribution in staff time has been significant, especially in the start up phase of the initiative, but this cost has been declining as the project has progressed. For example management Committee meetings, which would have happened weekly at the outset are now generally monthly as the Facilitator has developed into the role and now operates on a much more autonomous basis. Likewise, time spent on Implementation Committee has decreased as the model is familiar and well implemented. ! !Close

In closing this paper it seems appropriate to offer some comment from the most important people in the entire picture – the students. Here is what two of our students said:

I’ve changed in so many ways because when I started in Maynooth I wasn’t been excluded, I wanted to meet all of the volunteers, I wanted to work with Laura, I wanted to work with the lecturers to achieve my goals, to look forward to my life. It’s all about moving forward ... it’s leaving behind that. It’s getting to know other people, like getting to know [D names two people] or anyone in the college and that’s important [...] It’s a totally different life for me.

I thought actually we were going in here and we were going to be put into a class altogether and there was just going to be the five of us together and we weren’t going to be able to get out and ... I thought it was going to be just like a course thing [..]a group course but I prefer that it wasn’t anyway [...] because then I wouldn’t have been able to go around and see the college and meet new people and I would have been stuck in with the same people over. You have more freedom and you’re more treated like an adult and you’re allowed to say what you’re not allowed to say in school ...it’s quite different in school [...] they give you more freedom.

!!!

Saranne Magennis , Laura Burke and Josephine Finn, March, 2015

!Appendix 1

!!

Extracts from UN Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities

!Article 19 - Living independently and being included in the community

States Parties to this Convention recognize the equal right of all persons with disabilities to live in the community, with choices equal to others, and shall take effective and appropriate measures to facilitate full enjoyment by persons with disabilities of this right and their full inclusion and participation in the community….

!Article 24 Education! States Parties recognize the right of persons with disabilities to education. With a view to realizing this right without discrimination and on the basis of equal opportunity, States Parties shall ensure an inclusive education system at all levels and life long learning directed to:

• The full development of human potential and sense of dignity and self-worth, and the strengthening of respect for human rights, fundamental freedoms and human diversity;

• The development by persons with disabilities of their personality, talents and creativity, as well as their mental and physical abilities, to their fullest potential;

• Enabling persons with disabilities to participate effectively in a free society.

!

Saranne Magennis , Laura Burke and Josephine Finn, March, 2015