Our 'Inclusion and Diversity in Education' (INDIE) project commenced in March 2007 and finished in 2010. The project united policy makers in the field of education and inclusion, head teachers and young leaders (pupils of participating schools) from nine European countries and provided the opportunity to exchange ideas and develop best practice guidelines on building and developing diverse and inclusive schools.
Inclusion and diversity is a very topical subject these days. Pupils in schools are increasingly diverse: they come from different ethnic and social backgrounds and speak different languages. This has become a more and more pressing matter as effects in school performance and the learning environment in schools become more visible. Therefore it is necessary to develop new ideas and strategies to develop diverse and inclusive schools.
The aim of this project was to promote social cohesion, raise educational standards and build lasting networks which focus on the common challenges presented by immigration and cultural diversity to school education in the participating countries.
The two participating schools in Malta were St Clare’s College in Pembroke (Girls Secondary School) and St Clare’s College in Gzira (Boys Secondary School).
INDIE "Guidelines for Inclusion and Diversity in Schools" were launched on 10 March 2011 in Glasgow.
These guidelines aim to provide policy makers and head teachers with a practical framework and examples of best practice to assist them in meeting the challenges of inclusion and diversity in education. Specifically the guidelines make suggestions as to how schools can:
- Raise achievement of all learners
- Respect and celebrate diversity
- Promote learner voice
- Incorporate best practice into their processes of improvement and self evaluation so as to make these practices sustainable in the longer term.
Read the Best Practice Guidelines
Every participating country organised a four-day training session for 20 to 60 pupils from selected schools. These pupils, on average 14 years old, are potential future leaders. The training focused on inclusion and diversity, with elements such as project management skills, communication and teamwork skills.
This training session aimed to empower young leaders and teach them to develop their ideas and express them to others, but also to put them into practice through the organisation of a project of their choice in their school on the subject of inclusion and diversity (a performance, film, intercultural fair, etc.).
In Malta the Young Leaders’ Training workshop took place at St. James Cavalier Centre for Creativity in Valletta on 17-21 November 2008. In total 24 students from two schools – St Clare’s College in Pembroke and St Clare’s College in Gzira - took part.
See Spreading Inclusion through Students by Jo Caruana (published in The Sunday Times of Malta on November 30 2008)
The two participating schools in Malta are linked to five schools in Italy, five in England and five in Belgium. Their Cluster Meeting took place in Birmingham in March 2009. Two Maltese teachers, Clare Azzopardi (Gzira school) and Steve Mifsud (Pembroke school), joined representatives from schools in other countries to discuss the projects they feel will best put the European Youth Charter on Inclusion and Diversity into practice.
Between September 2008 and June 2009, the 16 INDIE schools from the Belgium-Italy-England-Malta cluster are each working on two projects that they have created jointly.
Here’s a list of the projects taking place in Malta:
•A healthy mind in a healthy body
•Strengthening the student voice
•The family: culture, tradition and environment
•Student voice "Hear us"
In November 2009, Gzira Boys Secondary School and Pembroke Girls Secondary school organised INDIEfest, the Family Festival for Inclusion and Diversity. Read more about the event
Art History in the Making by Zillah Bugeja (published in The Malta Independent, 16 January 2010)
In April 2009 the INDIE project team met in Madrid with representatives of the partner organisations from the nine participating countries. A representative from the Malta Ministry of Education, Culture, Youth and Sport also attended the meeting.
Over the course of two and a half days we mapped out and planned our activities in the run up to the launch of the best practice guidelines (due to take place in the European Parliament in 2010). INDIE activities in all participating countries include a mobile phone video competition, and workshops with performance poet Levi Tafari who visited Malta in March 2009. We also examined academic research into diversity policies in participating countries. This will enable us to issue best practice guidelines on diversity and integration and to help schools to deal better with this.
In October 2009, INDIE students from nine countries across Europe met in Amsterdam. They took part in the Stranger Festival for young video makers and worked together to explore the fine points of video making and produce nine one-minute videos on the themes of inclusion & diversity. Additionally 30 international youth educators from the INDIE network participated in the Stranger Expert Meeting where they were joined by British Council staff from a number of participating offices. Collectively we learned a lot about how we can engage with a variety of audiences by using video.
Once the creative work was completed, the Young Leaders participated in a one day meeting during which students worked in their clusters to focus on preparing for the INDIE meeting in Brussels in May 2010. Two students from Malta attended the event.
Watch the one-minute films on inclusion and diversity (One Minute Fame).
30 policy makers and partners from all INDIE countries met in Berlin on 30 November and 1 December 2009 to celebrate successes, share best practice and build on the network for a future project. Mr Raymond Camilleri, Director at the Directorate for Quality and Standards in Education, Curriculum Management and eLearning Department at the Ministry of Education, Culture Youth and Sport, participated in the meeting. Read more
Young Leader representatives from all INDIE schools, teachers and policy makers met in Brussels from May 11 to 13 and held a debate with MEP-s at the European Parliament on what Europe is doing to help promote inclusion and diversity in schools. Young Leaders also shared the positive contributions the INDIE project has made to their schools and communities. New Best Practice Guidelines helping schools respond to increasing migrant pupil populations in the classroom were also launched in the European Parliament. The guidelines are the culmination of our extensive three year INDIE project. Two Maltese students attended the event.
New research conducted by the British Council gives a view of school in European countries that participated in INDIE project. The research was conducted across more than 50 schools in Europe who were chosen for their mix of children from different backgrounds. 4200 children participated in the survey. Have a look at the results here
In February 2008 the Inclusion and Diversity in Education conference took place in Brussels, at the European Parliament. International policy makers, head teachers and pupils from all participating countries discussed the subject. Between two and five young leaders from each country met and drew up a European Youth Charter on Inclusion and Diversity in Education together, outlining the challenges and questions they see in this field for policy makers and heads of schools.
This Youth Charter was presented to the policy makers and head teachers, who discussed the issues raised and, in response to the student voice, made a declaration on the management of diverse and inclusive schools. Keynote speeches were presented by Frank Vandenbroucke, Vice-Minister-President of the Flemish Government and Flemish Minister for Work, Education and Training and Odile Quintin, Director General DG Education and Culture, European Commission.
For more information see http://www.britishcouncil.org/indie
Over summer 2009 we asked participants in our Inclusion and Diversity in Education project, and anyone else who felt inspired by INDIE, to use their mobile phone cameras to make a 3-minute film about ‘diversity’. We had some fantastic entries and have announced the winners. Read more and watch the films
Our partners play an important role in the project and their continued involvement is crucial in terms of disseminating the best practice guidelines that we will publish with the participating schools.
•Ministry of Education, Culture, Youth and Sport (Malta)
•Flemish Ministry of Education and Training (Belgium)
•Dutch Ministry of Education (Netherlands)
•West Midlands/Birmingham Local Authority (England)
•Education Ministry of Baden Württemberg (Germany)
•Ministry of Education (Greece)
•Regional Education Authority and regional Research Institute for Ethnic Minority Issues in Lombardy (Italy)
•Ministry of Education (Portugal)
•Madrid Regional Education Authority (Spain)
•European Commission, Directorate-general Education and Culture & Committee of the Regions.
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