Improving inclusive education in Ecuador
Research can help to identify where there are issues with the provision of inclusive education for children with disabilities, and to develop solutions.
Funded by IOE International Funds, academics from IOE and Universidad San Francisco de Quito (USFQ), have established a research and knowledge exchange partnership to improve inclusive education in Ecuador.
Participants were united by a commitment to meeting the individual needs of each child and young person in schools in Ecuador.
Partnering to improve inclusive provision in Ecuador
Research has highlighted that it can be challenging to implement inclusive education in Ecuador because of the curriculum and pedagogy currently used in schools. Teachers feel that educators and schools are not sufficiently prepared for students with disabilities, creating a need for robust training for teachers in inclusive Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) practices.
Rosanne Esposito led on the collaboration with USFQ, to help to co-create a wise solution to the challenge of reducing social and educational inequality in Ecuador through the development of an inclusive teaching framework in Quito. Their goal was simple: to improve educational outcomes and life opportunities for Ecuadorian children and young people with SEND.
Stakeholder workshop
A workshop organised collaboratively by the UCL Centre for Inclusive Education and the Institute of Teaching and Learning (IDEA) at USFQ was held at USFQ in June 2023, led by Rosanne and Isabel Merino from USFQ. The event was attended by Ecuadorian teachers, school psychologists and representatives from the Ministry of Education (MoE) Ecuador and the British Embassy in Quito. Stakeholders worked together to build a shared vision of the inclusive principles that should underpin a co-created inclusive teaching framework.
The workshop gave a voice to professionals working in educational contexts across Quito and an opportunity for participants to share their perspectives on the barriers and facilitators to inclusive education in Ecuador. This in turn informed strategic planning by the MoE to drive forward the inclusive educational goals set by the Constitution of the Republic of Ecuador (2008).
A video was recorded by the British Ambassador to Ecuador and shared on social media. The ambassador celebrated the interchange of academic expertise as a clear example of the co-operation in the academic field between the UK and Ecuador:
Education is the key to any country’s socio-economic development and Ecuador is no different. Researching the needs of children and how to promote inclusive education systems is very relevant to improve education opportunities that embrace differences and promotes diversity and inclusion.
The embassy continues to support the partnership established between UCL and USFQ as we develop the inclusive teaching framework established through this project. The project has attracted wider international attention via a briefing paper produced during Rosanne’s fellowship summarising the research evidence. Rosanne has now sought additional funding to collaborate with academic partners across the Latin American region for further engagement activities, research outputs and research impact.
About the academic
Rosanne Esposito is an Associate Professor based at the UCL Centre for Inclusive Education in the Department of Psychology and Human Development, IOE. She has delivered a range of professional development activities in inclusive practices for local, national, and international education professionals. [2022–23 cohort]