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Māku e mihi atu
Kia koutou te iwi Māori
No reira, tenei te mihi
Kia koutou, kia ora rā
My admiration goes
to you Maori people
And so this is my wish
May you have a healthy happy life.
(Maori folk song, sung at the conference opening by the conference Chair and local celebrity Amiria Reriti)
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Aoga Amata PIC Avondale, Playgroup, New Zealand |
Kia ora. A moving traditional Maori welcome ceremony marked the opening of an international conference in Auckland on 17-20 August 2008 entitled “Inclusion and Integration through Innovation: The Role of 21st Century Learning Environments in Promoting Social Participation and Access to Education for Learners with Special Needs”.
Co-organised by OECD/PEB and the Property and Special Education sections of the New Zealand Ministry of Education, the conference attracted 140 participants from a variety of countries and professional and academic backgrounds.
The conference focused on the successes and challenges of creating inclusive learning environments, emphasing the role of facilities design and management in fostering these environments. New Zealand, with its ethnically and linguistically diverse population – with more than 50 Pasifika languages spoken –, is an exemplary case study in how school leaders, property managers and designers, policy makers, disability advocates, parents and others share a commitment to ensuring that the diverse needs of all of these groups are met in its schools and communities.
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Oak Lynn Special School, Auckland, New Zealand
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Mt Roskill Campus, Grammar School, Auckland, New Zealand
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Speakers from Australia, France, Greece, Ireland, Japan, South Africa and the United Kingdom (Scotland) highlighted how facilities designers and planners are working with a range of professionals, users of the schools and the broader community to incorporate the principles of inclusive design into new and existing schools.
The goal of inclusive educational service provision is a policy priority in New Zealand, and visits to nine schools in the Auckland area – including special schools, regular schools and one centre for secondary students at risk of school exclusion – highlighted the commitment of school principals, students, teachers and communities to this objective. Participants were welcomed by staff and students with traditional singing and dancing, and school principals were keen to share with visitors their experiences of managing schools following inclusive learning models.
For more information on the conference, visit www.oecd.org/edu/facilities/specialneeds or contact: Hannah.vonahlefeld@oecd.org.
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