The University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus hosted an international forum on special education needs to bring together interested academics and practitioners in the field of special and inclusive education.
This forum which was held on March 23 was an initiative by the School of Education, and led by Associate Professor, Dr Jackie Dearden from the School of Education, the University of Nottingham, UK, who was in Malaysia to contribute to the teaching of a postgraduate taught module in Special Needs in UNMC.
The forum began a presentation of the history of inclusive education in the UK. Through video footages, Dr Dearden showed case studies of students with different levels of special needs and demonstrated how they have been successfully accommodated, academically and socially in inclusive schools in the UK.
The case studies highlighted key issues revolving good practice, parental and young peoples’ voice and staff roles and responsibilities.
The forum concluded with a panel discussion; besides Dr Dearden, the panel also included were Dr Alefiya Nomanbhoy, Dr Tida Tubpun and Dr Wong Tze Peng, experts in special needs education and Dr Daniel Seal, a clinical psychologist from the School of Psychology.
Topics discussed at the panel discussion included good international inclusive education models, the current perception and status of inclusive education for students with special needs in Malaysia.
Dr. Dearden highlighted that in many countries, the inclusive education movement began with advocacy from parents.
“Progression of inclusive education in any country is a journey with no ending. In order to accelerate the progress of inclusion, Malaysia could learn from the success and mistakes depicted in the history of inclusion in other countries,” said Dr Nomanbhoy.
Dr Wong added that the voice to advocate inclusive education needs to be heard from all layers of the community.
Dr Seal suggested that effective practices could begin with basic good teaching habits like not picking on a child who has learning difficulties in the classroom and not to be too attached with the diagnoses of special needs as this will lead to them being subject to stereotypes.
The forum called for continued advocacy for equality and equity in the education for students with special needs through various measures such as awareness raising and skill training.
The forum was well attended by educators and inclusive education advocators from private and international schools, special needs centres, NGOs, academics and students with interests in special needs.
N.B. The International Forum on Special Education Needs was part of the School of Education’s Series of Research- and Practice-based Seminars. More information about the seminars.
In 2013, UNMC in partnership with Ministry of Education and College of Allied Educators provided training in special needs to 292 primary school teachers from all over Malaysia at various centres located in Kuching, Sandakan, Kota Kinabalu, Kuala Terengganu, Batu Pahat and Melaka to train special needs teachers.
The School of Education at UNMC provides an exciting and rewarding learning experience with a global view. Committed to providing quality education to students from around the world, the School is a leading centres for research in education and actively contributes to the improvement of social justice and equality in education in the society.
UNMC's 15th Anniversary
One of the world's truly global universities, with campuses in Malaysia, the UK and China, 2015 marks the 15th year since setting up as UK's first full-fledged international campus in Malaysia and all three campuses continue to enrich the lives of students across the world through global education, ground-breaking research and community engagement
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For more information, please contact Dr Wong Tze Peng on tzepeng.wong@nottingham.edu.my or Josephine Dionisappu, PR & Communications Manager on +6 (03) 8924 8746, josephine.dionisappu@nottingham.edu.my.
The University of Nottingham has 43,000 students and is ‘the nearest Britain has to a truly global university, with campuses in China and Malaysia modelled on a headquarters that is among the most attractive in Britain’ (Times Good University Guide 2014).It is also the most popular university in the UK among graduate employers, in the top 10 for student experience according to the Times Higher Education and winner of ‘Research Project of the Year’ at THE Awards 2014. It is ranked in the world’s top one per cent of universities by the QS World University Rankings.
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Posted on 1st April 2015