INnovative Training via Embodied Learning and multi-sensory techniques for inclusive Education Erasmus Project

Project Title

INnovative Training via Embodied Learning and multi-sensory techniques for inclusive Education

Project Key Action

This project related with these key action: Cooperation for innovation and the exchange of good practices

Project Action Type

This project related with this action type : Strategic Partnerships for school education

Project Call Year

This project’s Call Year is 2017

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: Disabilities – special needs; New innovative curricula/educational methods/development of training courses; Inclusion – equity

Project Summary

BACKGROUND OF THE PROJECT
According to the European policy agenda ‘Changes in education and society place new demands on the teaching profession […] classrooms now contain a more heterogeneous mix of young people from different backgrounds and with different levels of ability and disability […] Yet, to date, initial teacher training rarely prepares teachers for working in diverse classrooms and does not equip them with confidence, knowledge and skills on the use of modern ICT multi-sensory technologies available today, to effectively support children with and without disabilities.

OBJECTIVES
INTELed aimed at supporting SEN teachers in acquiring knowledge and skills about the use of interactive multi-sensory techniques for learning and assessment, for addressing the needs of SEN children.

PARTICIPANTS
As part of INTELed there were two main target groups involved in the project activities:
• In-service SEN teachers: The main target audience of the project were in-service SEN teachers who work in primary education schools in mainstream or special education settings and special units with SEN children. In particular, 115 in-service SEN teachers across the four participating European countries (Cyprus, Greece, Italy and Spain) were positively affected by the INTELed project.

• Students with and without disabilities: INTELed’s ultimate beneficiary were SEN children, such as those diagnosed with autism, dyspraxia, ADHD, emotional disorders and other learning disabilities. However, given that some of the INTELed school pilots took place in mainstream educational settings a significant number of students without disabilities benefited from the INTELed pedagogical framework as well. In particular, 877 students took part in the INTELed school pilots, 642 of which (73.2%) were students with no disabilities, and 235 (26.8%) were SEN students, with disabilities.

UNDERTAKEN ACTIVITIES
This INTELed project developed a novel pedagogical framework and an innovative training method, driven by theories of embodied cognition and kinaesthetic learning. The training materials emerged during the INTELed project had the form of educational resources under the licence of Creative Commons, in order to be adaptable, accessible and widely available to educational institutions, teacher trainers and teachers. The INTELed training materials were also accompanied by evidence of its effectiveness through pilot studies in schools at the partner-countries resulting in a set of a good practices. The good practices are available on the project’s website (https://www.inteled.org/channel/). A Community of practice (CoP) was also built around the INTELed thus contributing to the further exploitation and sustainability of the project outcomes (https://platform.inteled.org/). The project was also disseminated though multiple press releases and three main newsletters (https://www.inteled.org/news-events/), as well as via the partners relevant organizations. Finally, a Facebook page was also created (https://www.facebook.com/INTELedErasmus/) to contribute to the INTELed project’s social media publicity.

RESULTS & IMPACT ATTAINED

Quantitative results:
• 115 teachers attended the INTELed training events from which 75 participated in the school pilots across the 4 partner countries
• A total of 877 students took part in the INTELed school pilots across the 4 partner countries
• A total of 480 (date: 10/12/2019) relevant stakeholders joined the INTELed online community platform during the project
• A total of 230 relevant stakeholders, participated in the multiplier events for the dissemination of the project outcomes
• More than 2400 academics were reached via INTELed presentations/publications at national and international conferences
• More than 20000 relevant stakeholders were reached through the INTELed dissemination activities

Qualitative results:
• High level of satisfaction of teachers’ participants following the completion of the INTELed teacher training
• Development of cognitive and social/emotional aspects of the pilot SEN-student participants
• High level of satisfaction of parents of the piloting of SEN children
• Interest by SEN teachers, parents and other stakeholders to continue using the INTELed method and being active members of the CoP via the community platform

LONG TERM BENEFITS & IMPACT
After the end of EU funding, the partners will maintain a contact will all stakeholder who attended the multiplier events, participated in the training events and pilots, joined the INTELed Community of platform, liked our social media channels etc. and use these contacts as liaisons to continue to promote the INTELed method. The INTELed CoP is also expected to continue functioning even after the project is completed, providing immediate access to the project educational resources. Finally, the project partners will continue to present the outcomes and results of INTELed in conference venues and publish in scientific journals.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 125338,01 Eur

Project Coordinator

TECHNOLOGIKO PANEPISTIMIO KYPROU & Country: CY

Project Partners

• UNIVERSIDAD DE VALLADOLID
• CESIE
• UNIVERSITY OF PIRAEUS RESEARCH CENTER