Inclusive learning in further and higher education Tuesday, February 14, 2012 - 13:10

Inclusive learning in further and higher education - organised by NIACE, The Open University and the Learning & Skills Improvement Service - recognised the improvements in high quality higher and further education for disabled learners in the last 15 years, and focused on the innovations and opportunities that will lead to further mainstreaming of inclusive learning.

In particular, the conference shared research and practice in further and higher education, with a view to understanding what the sectors can learn from each other and what researchers and practitioners can learn from engagement with disabled learners.

Workshops and presentations focused on three themes; Learners' Voices, Curriculum, Teaching and Quality and Policy, Strategy and Research. Delegates heard from leading voices in the field - Will Swann, Director, Students, The Open University, Dr. Peter Lavender, Senior Research Fellow, NIACE and Dr. Lesley Dee, formerly Senior Lecturer, Faculty of Education, University of Cambridge - and had the chance to attend a number of workshops including:

• Enhancing learning support - Allie O'Brien, on behalf of LSIS;
• Using a model of specialist support in a general further education college - Barbara Titmuss, Specialist Support staff and a learner, Weston College;
• What is reasonable adjustment? - Julie Young, The Open University;
• A curriculum for employability - Yola Jacobsen, Programme Manager, NIACE; and
• Creative listening: hearing the voices of learners with profound and multiple learning difficulties - Maria Chambers, Vice Principal, Beaumont College and Franki Williams, Programme Area Manager, Leicester College.