Inclusion in the Classroom and in Practice
An educational program for general and special education schools that enhances the culture of inclusion.
The beginning of the educational program “Inclusion in the Classroom and in Practice” is announced by the Athens International Children’s Film Festival, which is extending an open invitation to primary education teachers in general and special education to participate.
The program will be fully implemented from the new school year and aims to enhance the culture of inclusion from an early age, within the school community. Students from general and special education schools will have the opportunity to experience shared and inclusive cinematic screenings.
The program “Inclusion in the Classroom and in Practice,” supported by the donation of the Ioannis S. Latsis Public Benefit Foundation, will be hosted at the Greek Film Archive (Tainiothiki tis Ellados), while its design and methodology are the result of collaboration with the accessibility and inclusion consultants liminal and TheHappyAct.
All the films in the program, both Greek and international, are accessible with SDH subtitles, Greek dubbing, embedded interpretation in GSL (Greek Sign Language), audio description, sensory processing, and social stories. Additionally, educational materials have been designed for teachers, including film presentations and basic principles on how to discuss disability and inclusion with children without prejudice.
Educational workshops precede the screenings in the classroom, preparing the two different communities for their cinematic encounter. For the general education schools and typically developing children, through games and interactive exercises on sensory functioning, students become familiar with various accessibility tools: audio description, social stories, interpretation in English. For special education schools, the educational workshops focus on introducing students to the art of cinema on equal terms. Through this process, students from special education and general education meet in the same movie theater and watch the same films together.
Throughout its implementation, the program is evaluated by professors from the Department of Primary Education at the University of Athens, including Maria Dimaki-Zora, Associate Professor of Theatre Studies, Konstantina Tsoli, Assistant Professor of School Pedagogy and Practical Training, and Elisavet Lazarakou, Assistant Professor of Evaluation in the Learning Process.
The festival extends an open invitation to primary education teachers, both in general and special education, to participate in the program for their classes by completing the relevant interest form.
