Support Support and and Inclusion Inclusion of of students students with with disabilities disabilities at at higher higher education education institutions institutions in in Montenegro Montenegro Support and Inclusion of students with disabilities at Higher Education Institutions in Montenegro WP2 Improvement of institutional frameworks for inclusion of students with disabilities DEV 2.2 Defining institutional structure to support inclusion of students with disabilities Final Report Prepared by Joe Cullen (Arcola), jcullen@arcola-research.co.uk Ramo Sendelj (UNIM), ramo.sendelj@gmail.com Ivana Ognjanović (UNIM), ivana.ognjanovic@unimediteran.net Enes Banda (UDG), enes.banda@udg.edu.me Sandra Tinaj (UDG), sandra.tinaj@udg.edu.me October 2012 This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This publication reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein. Tempus Project 516758-TEMPUS-1-2011-1-GR-TEMPUS-JPGR 1 516758 – TEMPUS – 1 – 2011 – 1 - GR – TEMPUS - JPGR Support and Inclusion of students with disabilities at higher education institutions in Montenegro Scope of this Document This document is intended to provide inputs to SINC@HE Deliverable 2.2 - Defining institutional structure to support inclusion of students with disabilities. The main aim of DEV 2.2 is to produce guidelines and recommendations for new institutional structures for support of students with disabilities; roles and responsibilities for all students and staff involved, and also the formal/legal structure on which the support services should be established at each HEI. On their basis, the Deliverable 2.3 will include the regulatory documents for possible and sustainable modifications of the present and establishment of new services for students with disabilities. In this context, this document sets out a framework for supporting this aim. Rather than developing a single, static text that sets out what needs to be achieved and how to achieve it, our approach to the goal of supporting the establishment of new services for students with disabilities is based on envisaging a new university regulatory system as a ‘process’. Moreover, this process is based on supporting progressive ‘adaptive learning’ within the HEIs in Montenegro. This approach draws on theory and practice from organizational learning and ‘adaptive systems theory’. It aims to support the progressive development and improvement of new services for students with disabilities as a result of iterative development, testing and validation of these services. Figure 1 shows this process schematically. Strategic Framework – results of WP1 and WP2 Iterative feedback Figure 1: Developing support systems for students with disabilities in Montenegrin HEIs through an adaptive systems process 2 516758 – TEMPUS – 1 – 2011 – 1 - GR – TEMPUS - JPGR Support and Inclusion of students with disabilities at higher education institutions in Montenegro As Figure 1 shows the overall aim of the proposed approach is to generate ‘iterative feedback loops’ within the overall Montenegrin education system and within the HEIs in order to support ‘organisational learning’ within the Montenegrin HEIs (Argyris & Schön, 1996). 1 Using this approach, the expectation is that a regulatory system for support of students with disabilities will be progressively established within Montenegrin HEIs. Furthermore, it should become progressively refined through the aggregation of the organisational learning derived from the experiences of the HEI stakeholders in applying its principles, methods and tools in their practice. As Figure 1 shows, four stages are envisaged in this process: Stage 1: Based on the results of SINC@HE work packages 1 and 2, initial regulatory framework should be developed. The framework should define methods for integration the EU practices in order to overcome gaps in current HEIs’ systems. Stage 2: A ‘Road Map’ document should specify tasks for the implementation of the process. Each task represents planned changes in current HEIs’ systems and needed services that should be implemented. Stage 3: Operational actions implement the Road Map and ensure the realization of defined services for support of students with disabilities. Stage 4: Validation of the system and Road Map through monitoring The methodology can thus be seen as an ‘action research’ and ‘action learning’ exercise that ‘endeavours to achieve an improved understanding of a practice, improved understanding of a situation and the improvement revision of practice through collaboration between researchers and practitioners’ (Carr and Kemmis, 1986)2 and via a cycle of empirical enquiry that is both grounded in theory and supported by evidence (Reason and Bradbury, 2001)3. By embedding iterative feedback loops within the process, the approach also aims to combine the formal knowledge embedded in the conceptual framework of the regulatory system with the ‘tacit’ and experiential knowledge of the stakeholders involved. This ‘adaptive systems’ design aims to ensure that the improvements recommended for Montenegrin HEIs are grounded both conceptually and through experiential learning (Nonanka and von Krogh, 2009). 4 As a starting point to develop this regulatory framework and process, this document sets out proposals to implement it in the form of a ‘Green Paper’ and accompanying ‘Road Map’. The Green Paper covers the following elements: Argyris, C. and Schön, D. (1996) Organizational learning II: Theory, method and practice, Reading, Mass: Addison Wesley 2 Carr, W. and Kemmis, S. 1986, Becoming Critical. London: Falmer 3 Reason, P. and Bradbury. 2001. Introduction: Inquiry and Participation in Search of a World Worthy of Human Aspiration. In Reason, P. and Bradbury, H. 2001. Handbook of Action Research. Sage 4 Nonaka, I; von Krogh, G (2009). "Tacit Knowledge and Knowledge Conversion: Controversy and Advancement in Organizational Knowledge Creation Theory". Organization Science 20 (3): 635–652 1 3 516758 – TEMPUS – 1 – 2011 – 1 - GR – TEMPUS - JPGR Support and Inclusion of students with disabilities at higher education institutions in Montenegro The context addressed – this encompasses the ‘environment’ in which Montenegrin HEIs operate; the main drivers that shape the need for reform in these institutions The target groups addressed – who should be the ‘beneficiaries’ of the new regulatory system, and who needs to collaborate in order to implement it Key challenges – the problems, issues and needs that the system should address Approaches – the broad strategies that need to be developed to promote support for students with disabilities in Montenegrin HEIs and the underlying principles of these strategies Actions – practical suggestions to implement these approaches and principles, and the expected outcomes and impacts aimed at, i.e. a ‘Road Map for Change’ 1. The Context The context in which the reform of the regulatory environment in Montenegrin HEIs is called for is shaped by the following key drivers: The Bologna declaration on the European higher education area (1999) and the Council Directive 2000/78/EC of 27 November establishing a general framework for equal treatment in employment and occupation. In essence, the main impact of the Bologna process should be to support increased standardisation and benchmarking in relation to legislation, policies and practices covering disability. The UN convention and protocol on rights of persons with Disabilities, which has been ratified by the Montenegrin Government, together with EU legislation - the Disability Action Plan and the new ‘Disability Strategy’ – as well as legislation and instruments put into place at the national level, like the ‘Strategy of integration of the persons with disabilities’ and the ‘Law of prohibition of discrimination of the persons with disabilities’ The ‘hidden demand’ for new forms of provision to support students with disability in Montenegrin HEI’s. At present only a very small number of students are either registered as students with disability in Montenegrin HEIs, or are currently receiving support. However, there is probably a much larger number of potential students who are currently not fully provided for. The readiness of key stakeholder groups to collaborate in the development of new support structures and services. At present, the NGO sector is a strong presence in the domain – but other key stakeholders – like Ministries; University management and staff – are less active, although the research carried out by SINC@HE does show a high level of support from these stakeholder groups for reforms. 4 516758 – TEMPUS – 1 – 2011 – 1 - GR – TEMPUS - JPGR Support and Inclusion of students with disabilities at higher education institutions in Montenegro 2. The Target Groups The main target groups for the proposed reforms in the HEI regulatory process identified by the SINC@HE research are as follows: Students currently studying at Montenegrin HEIs. As noted above, at present this constitutes a very small number in total, but is likely to rise significantly in the future. Young people with disabilities who are not applying for entry to higher education. The SINC@HE research shows that this group is currently hardly supported at all. Students who have completed their higher education studies and who have a need for support like career counselling; the provision of internships and other support aimed at supporting their transition from education to work. Staff employed at Montenegrin HEIs. Although the SINC@HE research identified a strong ‘will’ to collaborate in reforms, staff across the board – including management; teaching staff; technical staff and support workers – lack the necessary skills to provide ‘quality’ support for students with disabilities. In addition to these key target groups, any reform of the regulatory system will not succeed without the active collaboration of the following key stakeholders: The NGO sector in Montenegro – illustrated by organisations like the Association of Youth with Disabilities of Montenegro (AYDM) and already strongly active The Ministries, particularly those responsible for education policy Families of students with disabilities Schools – in addition to HEIs, elementary and secondary schools represent institutions responsible for youth education, and therefore, for education of upcoming students with disabilities. 3. The Challenges The main challenges that need to be addressed by regulatory reform are as follows: The absence of a coherent and integrated system of financial and benefits support for students studying at HEI’s The lack of a progressive and holistic support system – one that bridges ‘transition stages’ between school-higher education and work The lack of specialized administrative and academic staff trained to give proper support to students with disabilities The low level of technological infrastructure intended to facilitate the inclusion of students in HEI Poorly-developed pedagogical support for guidance and counselling Variability in the provision of environmental support infrastructure, such as signage, ramps and specialised accommodation facilities 5 516758 – TEMPUS – 1 – 2011 – 1 - GR – TEMPUS - JPGR Support and Inclusion of students with disabilities at higher education institutions in Montenegro The lack of a coherent structure to support collaborative action between different stakeholder groups The lack of opportunities to support greater awareness of the needs of students with disabilities 4. Proposed Approach To address these challenges, a new regulatory framework and process to support a Road Map for the development of support services for students with disabilities in Montenegrin HEIs is set out below, summarised in Figure 2. HEI Charter for Students with Disabilities Figure 2: Schematic of regulatory system for Montenegrin HEIs As shown in Figure 2, the central core of the proposed regulatory system is a new ‘Charter for Students with Disabilities’. This sets out the guidelines, procedures and practices recommended for Montenegrin HEIs to adopt. It is described in more detail below. Six additional support elements are proposed aimed at embedding the Charter in HEI organizational structures and practices. These are as follows: Stakeholder Forum Action: set up a Stakeholder Forum, which needs to be endorsed and formally adopted at Ministerial level. The Forum should be composed of representatives of the key stakeholder groups identified above, i.e.: students with disabilities studying at HEI’s; representatives of the management and governance agencies of the Montenegrin HEIs’; representatives of Ministries; representatives of key NGOs; schools representatives; representatives of the commercial sector – particularly those who 6 516758 – TEMPUS – 1 – 2011 – 1 - GR – TEMPUS - JPGR Support and Inclusion of students with disabilities at higher education institutions in Montenegro could play a role in supporting post-graduate labor market entry. The main tasks of the Forum are: to co-ordinate and oversee the Road Map for the implementation of regulatory reforms to oversee the monitoring and evaluation of the reforms to specify the terms of reference for the setting up of a new Financial benefits and Regulation Agency to specify and oversee an awareness-raising and support programme to raise awareness of the needs of students with disabilities to set up a strategy for continuing collaboration with relevant agencies in the EU and beyond who are currently working to support students with disabilities in HEIs, including supporting exchange of good practices and peer-learning Pre-entry awareness-raising and support Action: working through the Stakeholder Forum to implement an awareness raising campaign, working with schools, NGOs and family and parents groups. In particular, the campaign should develop methodologies and tools to enable a more accurate appraisal of the potential population of young people with disabilities who could benefit from being supported achieve entry to HEIs. Financial Benefits Agency Action: to set up a new Agency, involving representatives of Ministries and management and governance structures of HEIs. The task of this Agency is to review the current system of financial support for students with disabilities; to identify weaknesses and gaps in provision; to develop a strategy to address these gaps and weaknesses; to develop an integrated and cohesive benefits and support system. Advisory and Counseling Service Action: Working within the Stakeholder Forum, and with the particular collaboration of Ministries, HEI governors and managers and NGOs, to design and set up a national Advisory and Counseling Service to support the implementation of the Charter ‘on the ground’. The Service should develop an integrated set of services for students with disabilities covering: - Advice on rights Advice on finance and benefits Help with accommodation Pedagogic support, including access to assistive technologies Pastoral support, including help for emotional and psychological issues Post-study support (see below) Post-study support Action: Working in collaboration between the Stakeholder Forum and the Advisory and Counseling Service, to design and implement a programme to support students with disabilities on graduation. This should cover: 7 516758 – TEMPUS – 1 – 2011 – 1 - GR – TEMPUS - JPGR Support and Inclusion of students with disabilities at higher education institutions in Montenegro Career counseling and advice to prepare students with disabilities for the ‘world of work’ Internship programmes to enable students with disabilities to gain work experience Placement programmes to increase the participation of graduates with disabilities in jobs Monitoring and Evaluation System Action: to design and implement an M&E system, overseen by the Stakeholder Forum. The main objectives of this system are: - to map the current situation of young people with disabilities at a national level, in order to identify future needs for support for students with disabilities to monitor the implementation of the proposed new regulatory framework and Charter to continually assess progress with regard to baseline, benchmarks and performance targets set by the framework and Charter to carry out regular evaluation to measure the outcomes and impacts of the framework and Charter The next stage in the development of this Green Paper should focus on the production of a detailed ‘Roadmap for Change’, as follows. 5. Roadmap for Change This section more precisely defines the actions and changes needed to be implemented as well as recommendations for regulative bodies which should be adopted and established. The following main levels have been identified: 5.1. Charter for Students with Disabilities States Parties, HEIs and other relevant institutions should 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, they should ensure an inclusive education system at all levels and life-long learning directed to: (a) 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; (b) The development by persons with disabilities of their personality, talents and creativity, as well as their mental and physical abilities, to their fullest potential; (c) Enabling persons with disabilities to participate effectively in a free society. 8 516758 – TEMPUS – 1 – 2011 – 1 - GR – TEMPUS - JPGR Support and Inclusion of students with disabilities at higher education institutions in Montenegro States Parties, HEIs and other relevant organizations should ensure that persons with disabilities are able to access general tertiary education, vocational training, adult education and lifelong learning without discrimination and on an equal basis with others. To this end, States Parties, HEIs and other relevant organizations should ensure that reasonable accommodation is provided to persons with disabilities. States Parties, HEIs and other relevant organizations should take and continue to take all kinds of measures which have as their aim the creation of proper conditions for full participation of persons with disabilities in all forms of academic life. In particular, the States Parties, HEIs and other relevant parties should aim to continue removing all architectural and constructional barriers, as well as barriers in access to information, and will also aim to introduce such organizational measures as will provide equal opportunities to students with disabilities and chronic illnesses, without any lowering of academic standards -. 5.2. Student Advisory Office (SAO) To reach the highest level of providing support to students with disabilities, the Student Advisory Office (SAO) should be established. The Office should offer its services to all individuals with legally recognized disabilities, as well as to those who are able to document the negative effect of health on their education. Assistance should be offered whenever a health-related handicap is proven to influence the process of learning. The SAO’s work should be organized in the form of services that students may be qualified for the assistance. The SAO’s services should be addressed to anyone whose disability or other health-related problems make the following of a 'regular' course of studies difficult. The difficulties in question may be connected with an inability to participate in lectures (hearing disabilities), the availability of reading material (visual disabilities), access to university buildings (mobility disabilities) or attendance (e.g. due to recurring illness). 5.2.1. SAO’s services The aim is to develop the Office open to all students with good connections and cooperation with all participants in Stakeholder Forum (see 6.5 below). The results of analyzes performed in work package 1 and deliverable 2.1 of SINC@HE project give reasonable conclusions about moving from EU practice in establishing SAO for each 9 516758 – TEMPUS – 1 – 2011 – 1 - GR – TEMPUS - JPGR Support and Inclusion of students with disabilities at higher education institutions in Montenegro HEI to establishing of one integral SAO for students of all Montenegrin HEIs. The responsibilities and obligations (i.e. set of services) of SAO should be: Medical and Psychological Support Service. This service should establish cooperation with medical institutions in order to: - assist for required official documentation of students’ medical condition and certificate stating the degree of disability; - cooperate with both, student and HEI in deciding on the most effective solutions suited to the student's needs and to the facilities the HEIs have at their disposal; - provide psychological support and counseling. Transportation assistance of students with disabilities. The main objectives of the transportation assistance could be summarized as follows: - - - Using transportation facilities to cater for the needs of students with mobility disabilities, for those who use wheelchairs or have other difficulties with selfsufficient mobility. Providing a help of transportation assistant for students in appropriate situations (such as cases where lectures or classes are held in a building not adapted to the needs of students with disabilities, or where lectures or classes are held in several buildings, and a student with a disability cannot move independently between those buildings) Providing a help of a spatial orientation instructor for blind students and students with sight impairments in order to become acquainted with the topography of the HEI premises and with the routes between the place of living and the HEI buildings Accommodation in halls of residence/dormitories. The SAO should be responsible for accommodations of students in halls of residence and rooms adapted to the needs of students with mobility disabilities. Currently, Ministry of education and sports is responsible for the management of accommodation in Students’ dormitories. This role should be fully delegated to SAO with cooperation agreement with Ministry and Government. Rights and duties assistance. The SAO should provide full support for establishing, gatering and negotiation of students’ rights in respect to measurements which the SAO may decide to take in their case. To this end, the following more specific activities should be performed: 10 516758 – TEMPUS – 1 – 2011 – 1 - GR – TEMPUS - JPGR Support and Inclusion of students with disabilities at higher education institutions in Montenegro - - Legal representation of students’ rights and needs at all levels and organizations acting on their own behalf. Assistance to students in order to fulfill their administrative obligations, cooperate with HEI departments in the rescheduling of classes and examinations to suit the individual needs of students with disabilities and other non-learning activities. Provide full confidentiality, autonomy and privacy of students with disabilities Establish clear applicant procedures that include registration questionnaires, medical documentations etc. 5.2.2. HEIs support to SAO In order to provide full support for students with disabilities and accept SAO as organization with mentioned responsibilities and obligations, HEIs should consist of several units, among them the Administration Unit, Teaching Unit and Computer Centre for Students with Disabilities. Administration Unit should be responsible for cooperation with SAO, giving permanent information and implementation of recommendations provided by SAO. To this end, the following major activities should be recognized: - - - provide administrative procedure for students with disabilities with full assistance of SAO cooperate with SAO in order to recognise individual circumstances and abilities of each individual student in respect to its disability and medical condition make assistance to Computer Center Unit (see below) for selecting ICT services and facilities related to needs and disability of each particular student make assistance to Teaching Unit (see below) and Dean/Head of Departments for adaptation of teaching materials, examination procedures and scheduling tasks make assistance to Dean/Head of Departments for making decisions about increasing of allowed absences make timetables available sufficiently in advance of the beginning of a semester for needs of SAO’s transportation assistance 11 516758 – TEMPUS – 1 – 2011 – 1 - GR – TEMPUS - JPGR Support and Inclusion of students with disabilities at higher education institutions in Montenegro Teaching Unit should be responsible for HIE’s teaching process and adapting teaching materials to the needs of students. The following activities should be provided: - - - Adoption of teaching materials and examinations based on SAO’s and Administration Unit’s suggestions with full flexibility in considering the educational needs of students with disabilities. Adoption of teaching process by providing appropriate educational settings that best suits the individual’s needs of each student with disability (e.g. special classes/units in mainstream schools, special equipment in classes, etc.) Trainings for teaching staff for work with students with disabilities and preparation of learning materials Cooperation with Computer Centre (see below) in order to prepare learning materials and make them available to date on which it is planned to use the materials. Computer Centre for Students with Disabilities should allow ICT support for: - access to information and knowledge - learning and teaching situations - personal communication and interaction - access to educational and administrative procedures Furthermore, the following responsibilities should be emphasized: - offering specialized hardware and software equipment for each kind of disability (e.g. work-desks with personal computers, speech synthesizers, scanning devices, specially adapted keyboards, special equipment like FM System etc.) - implementation, development and maintenance of learning management system (LMS) that should provide full support to activities of Teaching Unit - usability adoption of LMS for students with disability (according to recommendations of SAO and Administration Unit) - cooperation with Teaching Unit in activities about adoption of teaching materials - creation of digital library which should be responsible for recording teaching materials in digital format (e.g. computer text files which can be further processed by specialized software, etc.) and making them available on external devices (e.g. CDs). 12 516758 – TEMPUS – 1 – 2011 – 1 - GR – TEMPUS - JPGR Support and Inclusion of students with disabilities at higher education institutions in Montenegro 5.2.3. Financial plan The Stakeholder Forum (see below) should make analyzes in order to make detailed financial plan including assumptions, key financial indicators, break-even analysis, financial details and long-term plans. During the SINC@HE project, SAO may be located at Association of Youth with Disabilities of Montenegro (AYDM) with provided full support from all governmental institutions and HEIs. 5.2.4. Management system The management system should be built up as an umbrella organisation, which shall include representatives of students with disabilities and their families. Administratively it should be structured under the Director for Administrative Matters. 6.3. HEI’s law regulatives HEIs should establish their own Charter for students with disabilities and all relevant regulative which clearly defines principles of implementation of alternative solutions concerning students with disabilities. To this end, the following principles are singled out: - - - Providing teaching materials in alternative form, including: o Administrative procedures for requesting the alternative forms of teaching materials o Specification of alternative forms of teaching materials (e.g. Braille print, enlarged print, audio recordings, video recordings, computer files etc.) Providing alternative forms of examinations and other tests, including: o Administrative procedures for requesting the alternative forms of examinations and other tests o Specification and recommendations of allowed forms depending on the type of disability (e.g. time extensions, use of additional equipment, changed forms of examination (written to oral or oral to written); thirdparty assistance during exams, involving for example sign language interpreters, short-hand note-takers or reading assistants, changes of examination venue, etc.) o supervision of the alternative form of examination o responsibility for the confidentiality of materials during their conversion into alternative forms. Providing rescheduling exam sessions including: 13 516758 – TEMPUS – 1 – 2011 – 1 - GR – TEMPUS - JPGR Support and Inclusion of students with disabilities at higher education institutions in Montenegro o Administrative procedures for requesting the exam’s rescheduling o Circumstances under which the rescheduling may be enabled and its relation to deadlines for the fulfillment of course requirements and other prerequisites The regulative should be established by each HEI in the form which is fully compatible with other existing acts and regulatives. It may include several steps which may start with Rector’s recommendation principles, further acceptance by Senate and the highest institutional bodies. 5.3. Stakeholder Forum Stakeholder Forum should be composed of representatives of the following key stakeholder groups: students with disabilities studying at HEI’s; representatives of the management and governance agencies of the Montenegrin HEIs’; representatives of Ministries (Ministry of Education and sports, Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare, Ministry of Health); representatives of key NGOs; schools representatives; representatives of the commercial sector – particularly those who could play a role in supporting post-graduate labor market entry. The main activities of Forum should be related to both, co-ordination and overseeing the Road Map for the implementation of regulatory reforms and later analyzes and monitoring of the ORD’s and HEIs’ activities related to implementation, providing and use of services for students with disabilities, such as follows: - Measurement of implemented and fulfilled rights and needs of students with disabilities Quality measurement of provided health care to students with disabilities Degree of provided transportation assistance of students with disabilities and Accommodation capacities in halls of residence/dormitories Control of efficiency and effectiveness in financing schemes for SAO and students with disabilities Control of efficiency and effectiveness in adopted learning process, the use of specialized equipment and implemented ICT services, quality and adequacy of learning materials related to all kinds of disability, adequacy and adaptivity of examinations and testing procedures 5.4. Dissemination plan SAO should be responsible for leading of the most of activities related to promoting, awareness raising and advising of rights and needs of students with disabilities. To this end, SAO should make annual dissemination plan finally accepted by Stakeholder forum, while both entities should take activities about consultation and controlling of its realisation. 14 516758 – TEMPUS – 1 – 2011 – 1 - GR – TEMPUS - JPGR