Toward Social Inclusion and Education Justice in SEE and Turkey Sanilurfa, October 5 th , 2010

1. Education Support Program Toward Social Inclusion and Education Justice in SEE and Turkey Sanilurfa, October 5th, 2010

2. OSI Mission in Education Promote Education Justice: An equal chance for every child, a real opportunity for every adult. By strengthening advocacy, innovation and activism in: • Combating social exclusion: – equal access to quality education for all vulnerable children, inclusion and adequate care for children with special needs, “second chances” for adults.. • Openness and accountability in education systems and education reforms • Open society values in education: – social justice and social action – diversity and pluralism – critical and creative thinking Gordana Miljevic

3. Advancing Education Justice in SEE • Understand the reasons for policy – practice gap in social inclusion – particularly of parents into the life and governance of schools Two comprehensive, robust surveys in 10 countries (Albania - AL, Bosnia and Herzegovina - BiH, Kosova - KS, Macedonia - MK, Moldova - MO, Montenegro - MN, Romania - RO and Serbia - SER) • Build the pressure from below to close the gap - Strengthen social and professional networks - Demonstrate the models of building meaningful home – school partnerships Gordana Miljevic

4. 1. Surveys a) research on the school principals attitudes, opinions and views of the opportunities/school provisions for the parents’ participation in the school based education governance b) parents’ research to gain a sound understanding of different ways parents are involved and influential in school education c) action research to enhance the inclusive parents’ participation Gordana Miljevic

5. School Principals’ Survey (2008) • Qualitative: 16 focus groups involving 150 school principals • Quantitative Sample – representative, urban-rural and regional stratification 2,197 schools out of 11,293 in 8 countries • Face to face standardised interview – 30 q,140 items, (RO and BiH – country modules) • Response rate: < 90% Gordana Miljevic

6. Parents’ survey (2009) Sample -urban-rural and regional stratification • Qualitative: 60 focus groups with different categories of parents involving app 580 participants • Quantitative Parents N=11122 (regular, active, and Roma booster sample) from 10 countries • School principals N=317 • Face to face standardised interviews with sub-sets of questions for active and Roma parents Gordana Miljevic

7. Some findings • Few parents, if at all, have any systematic engagement in education policy matters related to factors that affect the school experience and learning outcomes of their children. • Schools seldom have comprehensive communication strategies for the work they intend to undertake with parents. • Important discrepancies between “mainstream” parents and those that belong to the “excluded” sub-sample (e.g. 50% vs 90% parents are never invited by school for an individual meeting). • The existence of limited, if at all, real opportunities for cooperation and partnership between parents and school. • Schools and parents need support, skills and knowledge to build partnerships and cooperation. Gordana Miljevic

8. Building the pressure from below to close the gap • Advancing Participation and Representation of Minorities in Education (APREME) project (AL, BiH, Croatia, KS, RO, SER and UK) • Six schools in each country curentlyundertaking action research focused on improving parental participation applying teacher leadership model developed by Cambridge. • Two-year project (2009-2011) funded by EC (CARDS) and OSI. • 2. International Teacher Leadership Project ITL (10 SEE + UK) • Development of a regional network for promoting teachers’ initiatives and teacher led development work. Partners: Greece, Portugal, Spain Turkey, ETF, EUROCLIO and EI. • A year project (2010/11) funded by OSI. Gordana Miljevic

9. TIEES proposal (Teacher-led Innovation in European Education Systems project)[1] for funding under the Education Audiovisual & Culture Executive Agency Lifelong Learning Programme, Key Activity 1, Call for Proposals EACEA/10/2010 - Part B. . Building the pressure from below to close the gap, cont’d.. 3. TIEES proposal (Teacher-led Innovation in European Education Systems project) submitted in July 2010 for funding under the EACEA/10/2010 Call for Proposals - Part B. Applicant: Open Society Institute Foundation - Sofia, Bulgaria. Partners: Greece, Portugal, Romania, Turkey and United Kingdom. • EUROCLIO regional project – History that Connects • In-country activities Advocacy for policy and practice change; strengthening parents’ associations; support to schools in reaching out to parents… Gordana Miljevic

10. TIEES proposal (Teacher-led Innovation in European Education Systems project)[1] for funding under the Education Audiovisual & Culture Executive Agency Lifelong Learning Programme, Key Activity 1, Call for Proposals EACEA/10/2010 - Part B. . Way Forward • Cooperation • Synergy • Horizontal learning and exchange To empower teachers, parents and schools for close cooperation in developing and implementing education policies that respond to the needs and capacities of ALL students and prepare them for the productive life in a society. Gordana Miljevic

11. Thank you for your attention Gordana Miljevic gmiljevic@fosserbia.org www.see-educoop.net/aeiq www.apreme.net www.fosserbia.org Gordana Miljevic