Inclusive Education Wiki
At the end of 2014 our SENCO, who has been at the school for over 15 years, may be retiring or at least taking a years sabbatical. This raises the question of what will happen to all the knowledge that she holds around agencies, families, strategies and policies connected with her role and also the interprofessional relationships she has developed. Some of this information is , by nature, confidential, but a vast amount of it can be shared with other staff at the school, professionals working with the school and also families and whnau in the school community. With this in mind I have set out to create an interprofessional Inclusive Education wiki for our school. The wiki can be assessed at: http://ncsinclusiveeducation.wikispaces.com/ and is still in its very early days.
The vision Naku te rourou nau te rourou ka ora ai te iwi With your basket and my basket the people will thrive
To share information to support inclusion for all across the school To increase collaboration and communication towards an inclusive school To share and recognise knowledge of professionals from within and outside the school To share and recognise knowledge of our community, including families and whnau For anyone in the school community, or beyond, to be able to contribute to the wiki
Structure and content
The wiki began with 11 pages as listed below: Home
SENCO Inclusive Education Research Restorative Justice RTLBs Gifted and Talented ESOL Autism Spectrum Disorder Hearing Fragile-X Family and Whanau A further 3 pages were added after suggestions from colleagues at a school Advisory Meeting of Special Needs (AGSN) in September 2013. These were: RTLit Transition Behaviour The idea was enthusiastically received from all members of the AGSN. The next step is to allow editing rights to members of the AGSN. The wiki will then be shared with the whole school and opened up to everyone to contribute to. This is looking very good and should become an excellent resource. (Principal, personal communication, email, 18 September, 2013)
Future Development of the wiki
Enablers: The continuing increase of children with diverse learning needs joining our school Wealth of knowledge and experiences to be shared within our school and community Send out regular wiki updates Regularly invite colleagues to contribute to specific pages Support information on the wiki with in house professional development opportunities Commitment of the organiser to keeping content current and relevant
No confidential information to be shared, any case studies must use a pseudonym
Barriers: Time to contribute to, and visit, the wiki ICT skills required to contribute to the wiki Yes sounds like a great idea. Need the electronic push as a very special needs area for me. (SENCO, personal communication, email, 29 August, 2013)
General
This wiki was set up after the August Block Course in Canterbury and time to develop it beyond a basic framework has been limited due to study commitments. Feedback has been received from colleagues within school and from professionals working with the school and contributions have already been offered. Don't know whether or not you have seen this. I found it on line today when I was searching for information. Could be included in your Wiki?? (RTLB, personal communication, email, 13 September, 2013) In Term 4 I will be leading a professional development session supporting and building on the information shared on the transition page of the wiki. This will provide an opportunity for teachers, teacher aides, ORS teachers, RTLBs, senior management and families to explore the wiki, and use and contribute to, the knowledge shared on it. Pre-reading for this PD is already posted on the Transition page.
Conclusion
The lives of all educational professionals and families and whnau are always busy and time is precious. Looks great Tracy. Havent got time to give it more than a flick through at the moment as this is a manic week for all of us with all the end of term requirements for Cluster Manager and MOE. (RTLB, personal communication, email, 19 September, 2013) I hope that through trust, respect and value for others ideas, experiences and knowledge we can share information in a time effective manner and develop this valuable resource using our own shared experiences.
References
(2013). Retrieved from NCSinclusiveeducation: http://ncsinclusiveeducation.wikispaces.com/Home
