REPORT

Australian Awards Fellowships

Strengthening Inclusive Education: Developing a
Coaching/ Mentoring Framework and Resource
Centre (Maldives)

BY: MOHAMED ARIF

Australian Awards Fellowship
Workshop Participant
 Australian Awards Fellowships
Strengthening Inclusive Education: Developing a
Coaching/ Mentoring Framework and Resource
Centre (Maldives)

This report gives a brief overview of the nclusion workshop held from 2th to 28th April 2018 at

the Queensland University of Technology (QUT) in Brisbane of Australia. The Inclusion

Workshop was attended by a total of 15 Maldivian participants to gain knowledge about the

Inclusive Education and curriculum related matters of inclusion. It also offered us an

opportunty to share some of the issues and concerns regarding in handiling coaching

sessions and how to become inclusive coaches.

The report includes an introduction, rationale and objectives, organisation & content, what

was learnt from the workshop, workshop evaluation and certification, conclusion and

recommendations, acknowledgement and appendices.

Australian Awards Fellowships
Strengthening Inclusive Education: Developing a
Coaching/ Mentoring Framework and Resource
Centre (Maldives)

From 2th to 28th April 2018 – QUT Australia

Funded by Australian Awards

1. Introduction

It is necessary to know how inclusive education is developing and adapting in different parts
of the world. As we are moving Special Education Needs (SEN) towards the inclusive
education, we need to find ways to convince the community in changing their mind-set on
inclusive education so that perspectives of the whole community will accept and change
their mind-set towards inclusive education. As we all know education is a right for all
regardless of any kind, foundations laid by teachers based on the new knowledge will make
the teachers achieve the vision of the new curriculum.
It is vital to have an overseas programme on inclusive education for the Education
Development Officers at National Institute of Education (NIE) of Maldives based of catering
the individual needs. We need to think of ways that teachers, leading teachers and school
management of the schools to get better experiences about the inclusive education. This
Australia visit enhanced education development officers in transferring knowledge to all the
teachers of Maldives through professional development as well as through inclusive
coaching. This will lead to the teachers to cater for individual needs and to support for no
child left behind policy of Maldives.
The knowledge offered from these kinds of overseas programmes, enriches and broadens
the Education Development Officers. All the knowledge gained from these types of
programmes may not be very appropriate and applicable for all situations of each and every
atoll, but I as a participant of the Australian Award Fellowship programme, believed almost
all the things learnt from the one month programme is applicable for the schools of
Maldives. This report gives details of the Australia Award Fellowship programme on
inclusive education which was held from 2nd April to 28th April 2018.
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2. Objectives

1. To observe schools and educational institutions with best inclusive practices (field
experiences in inclusion).
2. To network with Education Queensland and other relevant units for understanding
effective strategies to identify student needs and allocating resources.
3. To learn best practices in providing regional and national level support by meeting with
professionals in inclusive education field.

The learning intentions of the Australian Award Fellowship programme were:

 Experiencing best practices of overseas on inclusive Education.
 Network among the professional staff for students with individual learning needs
effective strategies to identify student needs and allocating resources.
 Create a module on moving to inclusive education from Special Education Needs.
 Practically implement inclusive coaching in Maldives.

3. Organisation and Content

The Australian Award Fellowship programme was organised by National Institute of

Education (NIE) with the full support of
Queensland University of Technology in
Brisbane. This programme was
conducted at QUT in Brisbane of
Australia. All the 15 participants are from
National Institute of Education (NIE).

The inclusion workshop visit in

Queensland University of Technology
(QUT) in Brisbane was held from 2th April
2018 to 28th April 2018. Participants of the
workshops are 15 professional
Development staff of National Institute of
Education (NIE) Maldives

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Using an experiential learning approach, the fellowship was delivered in three components:
They are

1. 3-day Pre-fellowship program (online, commence in January): focused group

discussions and meetings were held to facilitate detailed needs analysis, and
development of real-world case studies.
2. The 4-week fellowship (April 2 to 28) engaged us in cyclical approaches to learning and
inquiry. An essential element of this approach was that we were able to see ourselves as
agents of change for their students engaging overall progress.

The program was essentially based on the ‘Index for Inclusion’ (Booth & Ainscow, 2005)
framework which encompasses the key dimensions of inclusive education – developing
inclusive policies, fostering inclusive culture, and evolving inclusive practices.

The program leaders acknowledge that schools exist in specific socio-cultural contexts and
education must be responsive to the lived realities of learners and educators in those
contexts. We were given learning opportunities that were collaborative in a number of ways.
Collaboration through dialogue and partnerships were achieved through a mentorship and
critical friend approach that was inclusive, rather than top down expert knowledge or based
on benevolence or arrogance (Carrington & Duke, 2014).

The course featured a series of knowledge building/action learning workshops, thematically-

focused school visits, interactive meetings with Education Queensland departments
(inclusive education, disability support), structured networking and inspirational events, and
thematic discussions and experience sharing among ourselves and with expert-mentors and
practitioners in the field of inclusive education whereby we were naturally engaged as active
partners in the learning process.

3. Post-fellowship (Maldives): participants will deliver training modules, and provide

progress report on implementation of the sound practice guidelines and capacity
development framework, with ‘virtual’ guidance from the fellowship Convenor, and an
expert-practitioner coach.

The whole Australian Award Fellowship programme will be completed after completing post
fellowship programme which is scheduled to hold by the end of June 2018.

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The schedule of the sessions were rather busy but were well organised (see attachment
below). All the sessions were taken by the experienced senior personnel of QUT. The
lecturers and professors who delivered the sessions were prepared to adapt their sessions
and presentations to whatever logical and relevant requirements the participants needed.
Their experiences in Australia and in different parts of the world were shared with attendees.
The QUT professor Suzanne Carrington also facilitated sessions about how they are moving
into inclusive education from Special Education. Their best practices and their involvement
in improving inclusive education in Australia were also shared, and what was appropriate to
the Maldivian context was extracted and discussed among the participants. The possibility
and feasibility of implementation of such practical coaching ideas in the Maldives was
discussed and the unique nature of the geography of the Maldives was also considered. The
lecturers and professors were well aware of the contextual differences of Australia and that
of the Maldives and hence all the sessions were quite locally appropriate. Participants were
encouraged and motivated by the lecturers to share their current practices in their fields. NIE
and the schools role in providing good coaching sessions for teachers in Maldives were
discussed at length during the programme. To obtain maximum information about the
inclusive approaches and methodologies used in the Maldives were also being discussed by
the lectures and participants during the programme. Comprehensive and constructive
feedback and ideas were given for the improvement of the inclusive education in the
Maldives.

One of the very first and foremost discussions highlighted by the facilitators and discovered
by the participants was their ways of thinking about inclusivity. Cost effective and locally
appropriate ways of promotional of inclusion in the Maldives were considered. As little things
make big difference it’s the heart and love for the inclusive education which makes it
happen.

In general, all aspects of inclusive education programs, starting from their commencement,
were addressed during this visit at QUT. These include the use of knowledge and
application, importance of using high order thinking skills, assessment, evaluation and
feedback to the teachers and students. A more detailed content schedule by QUT is
attached below.

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4. schedule

Day/Time Topic/Activity Facilitator Location

Week 1 Welcome, orientation, Inclusive Education Intensive Workshops,
April 2 - 6 Inclusive Teaching and Learning, Evolving Inclusive cultures, Inclusive Policies
April 2, Monday
12:50pm – 8:40pm Flight: Male to Singapore Velana International
MI 481, MLE-SIN Airport
9:30pm – 7:05am Flight: Singapore to Brisbane Changi International
SQ 235, SIN-BNE Airport
April 3, Tuesday
7:05am Arrival in Brisbane Mr Nelson Brisbane
SQ 235 Salangsang / Ms International Airport
Roxanne Tobias
8:00am – 9:30am Travel to Quest Apartments Ms Roxanne Quest Conference
Check-in Tobias Room
9:30am – 10:30am Orientation Ms Roxanne
Tobias
10:30am – 12:00am ID registration Ms Roxanne
QUT KG tour Tobias

NB: Please bring along your passport

with you.
12:00pm – 2:00pm Welcome Lunch Stamford Plaza
2:20pm – 2:42pm CityHopper Ferry to North Quay Eagle Street Pier
April 4, Wednesday
9:00am – 12:00pm Moving from a special education Prof Suzanne S403, QUT KG
model to an inclusive model of Carrington
education

12:00pm – 1:00pm Lunch Break

1:00pm – 3:00pm Reading/Reflection Mr Nelson Library, QUT KG
Preparation of 15-minute Salangsang
Presentations on assigned Readings
Learning Circles
April 5, Thursday
9:30am – 12:00pm Education Queensland meeting – Mark Hohnke, Level 12 Boardroom,
Queensland’s policies and strategies to A/Director, Education House
foster inclusion Statewide
Services Disability
NB: Bus driver will pick you up from & Inclusion,
Quest lobby at 9:00am Education
Queensland

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Day/Time Topic/Activity Facilitator Location
April 6, Friday
9:00am – 12:00pm The Index for Inclusion Framework Prof Suzanne S403, QUT KG
Carrington
12:00pm – 1:00pm Lunch Break
1:00pm – 4:00pm Using The Index for Inclusion to Prof Suzanne S403, QUT KG
Support Review and Development Carrington
April 7, Saturday
900am – 5:00pm Social Program

Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary

Mount Coot-tha Lookout
Direct Factory Outlets (DFO) Brisbane

NB: Bus driver will pick you up from

Quest lobby at 9:00am
Week 2
April 9 - 13
April 9, Monday
9:00am – 4:00pm Developing Tools and Resources to Prof Suzanne S403, QUT KG
Support Inclusive Education in Carrington
Maldives
Universal Design for Learning
April 10, Tuesday
9:00am – 4:00pm Creative Workshop: Resource Prof Suzanne B301, QUT KG
Development Carrington
April 11, Wednesday
9:00am – 12:00pm Inclusion Works visit Mr Nelson
Salangsang
12:00pm – 1:00pm Lunch Break
1:00pm – 3:00pm Small Group Reflection S403, QUT KG
April 12, Thursday
9:00am – 4:00pm Creative Workshop: Resource Cameron Jones Arc,
Development 186 Brunswick St,
Fortitude Valley
April 13, Friday
Presentation of Outputs Cameron Jones
Peer feedback
Learning Circles for Inclusion
Week 3
April 16 - 20
April 16, Monday
9:00am – 10:00am Mindfulness: Observation framework S403, QUT KG

NB: Bus will pick you up from QUT

Kelvin Grove (at A Block Courtyard on
Victoria Park Road) at 10:00 am
10:30am – 1130am Acknowledgment of Traditional Gardens Point
Owners of the Land Presentation Theatre Foyer, QUT
GP
12:00pm – 1:30pm Lunch to Welcome the Nepalese Gardens Point

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Day/Time Topic/Activity Facilitator Location
Inclusive Education Awardees Theatre Foyer, QUT
GP
1:30am – 4:00pm Mindfulness: Observation framework S403, QUT KG

NB: Bus will pick you up from QUT

Gardens Point (on Alice Street) at
1:30pm
April 17, Tuesday
9:00am – 12:00pm School Visit – Systems in School and Vicky Booth, Autism Hub and
Practices (Curriculum, Teaching and Director, Autism Reading Centre, 141
assessment) - Autism Hub and Reading Hub and Reading Merton Rd,
Centre Centre Woolloongabba QLD
Learning Circles for Inclusion:
Participant driven

NB: Bus driver will pick you up from

Quest lobby at 8:30am
12:00pm – 12:30pm Lunch Break
12:30pm – 3:30pm School Visit – Systems in School and Stafford State Stafford State School
Practices (curriculum , Teaching and School
assessment) - Stafford State School
3:30pm School Visit Reflection S403, QUT KG
April 18, Wednesday
9:15am Travel to North Stradbroke Island via
Ferry

NB: Bus driver will pick you up from

Quest lobby at 9:15am for the
11:00pm barge transport to
Stradbroke Island.
12:00pm – 2:30pm School Visit – Systems in School and Dunwich State Dunwich State
Practices (curriculum, Teaching and School School, North
assessment) - Dunwich State School Stradbroke Island

NB: Bus driver will pick you up from

2:30pm for the 3:00pm barge
transport to Brisbane.
April 19, Thursday
Learning Circles for Inclusion S403, QUT KG
A123, QUT KG
School Visit Reflection S403, QUT KG
A123, QUT KG
April 20, Friday
9:30am – 12:30pm Inclusion Coach Visit North Lakes North Lakes Office
Inclusion Coach
12:30pm – 2:00pm Lunch Break
2:00pm Learning Circles for Inclusion S403, QUT KG
Reflection on School Visits
Week 4
April 23 - 27
April 23, Monday

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Day/Time Topic/Activity Facilitator Location
9:00am – 4:00pm Developing Coaching and Mentoring Liesl Harper S403, QUT KG
Framework: Leadership and School
Planning Lens
April 24, Tuesday
9:00am – 4:00pm Developing Coaching and Mentoring Sally Bannah S403, QUT KG
Framework: Communication and
Facilitating Creative Thinking Lens
April 25, Wednesday
Anzac Day Holiday – Digital story B236, QUT KG
telling workshop (Joint with AASWA)
April 26, Thursday
9:00pm – 12:00pm Joint seminar with AASWA – Inclusion Volunteer B225, QUT KG
Issues Participants will
be asked to
deliver a 10-
minute
perspective paper
12:00pm – 1:30pm Networking Lunch Gardens Theatre
Foyer, QUT GP
1:30pm – 4:00pm Change Management, Action Planning Nelson S403, QUT KG
and Rehearsal Salangsang
April 27, Friday
9:00am – 10:00am Colloquium, Graduation A105, QUT KG
Presentation of Outputs
10:00am – 11:00am Farewell Morning Tea A105, QUT KG
April 28, Saturday
11:55pm – 6:20am Flight: Brisbane to Singapore Brisbane
SQ 246, BNE-SIN International Airport

NB: Bus call time is 7:55pm at Quest

KG lobby
8:45pm – 10:10pm Flight: Singapore to Male
SQ 452, SIN-MLE
11-14 June 2018 Post course workshop
(TBC)

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5. Participants

No Name Designation Office

1 Shuhuda Rizwan Educational Development Officer National Institute
Coordinator of Education
2 Zaeema Mohamed Educational Development Officer National Institute
of Education
Abdul Rasheed Saed
3 Niuma Mohamed Educational Development Officer National Institute
Coordinator of Education
4 Asiyath Sama Educational Development Officer National Institute
of Education
5 Lizna Abd Educational Development Officer National Institute
Rasheed Coordinator of Education
6 Aishath Shiyama Educational Development Officer National Institute
Coordinator of Education
7 Aishath Shifa Educational Development Officer National Institute
of Education
8 Aishath Shibana Educational Development Officer National Institute
Coordinator of Education
9 Abdul Rasheed Educational Development Officer National Institute
Saeed of Education
10 Ibrahim Rasheed Educational Development Officer National Institute
of Education
11 Mohamed Arif Educational Development Officer National Institute
of Education
12 Aminath Abdulla Educational Development Officer National Institute
of Education
13 Jadulla Rasheed Educational Development Officer National Institute
of Education
14 Ahmed Nizam Educational Development Officer National Institute
of Education
15 Adhila Rushdhee Educational Development Officer National Institute
Coordinator of Education

Participants of the inclusion workshop @QUT

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6. What We Extracted from the Australia Fellowship Programme

This inclusive coaching programme has helped to learn a lot of new ideas on planning,
organising and conducting
coaching sessions for teachers,
parents and community members
based on inclusive education. At
the same time, discussions on how
to improve coaching, some of the
coaching sessions we are
conducted practically during the
session hours by Liesal Harper..
Some of the ideas have highlighted
practicality of the procedures and
challenges faced while coaching in
the field. The following are the most specific points we gained from the programme

a. We learnt the difference between SEN and inclusive learning.

b. Build confidence in carrying out practical coaching sessions for teachers.
c. Let the Education Development Officers have an insight into training in another
country
d. Increased the motivation levels of Education Development Officers in implementing
inclusive education in Maldives
e. Enhanced teacher training capacity in Maldives in the inclusive education field
f. Had first-hand experience in developing coaching materials on inclusive education.
g. Strengthening support system for teaching of inclusive education in Maldives
h. Practiced some of the different approaches in coaching.
i. Explore the education system of a different country and how they develop and
improve their inclusive education
j. Learnt how assessment is incorporated in the subjects and the curriculum and how
they are progressing the children with disabilities
k. Importance of commencing the use of a prototype

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7. My future plan at Baa Teacher Resource Centre (BTRC)

1- Create awareness among parents, teachers and other stake holders of the atoll on
“moving into inclusion” from the special education needs (SEN).
2- Conduct a workshop with the teachers of island school to make them aware of the
concepts and ideas that I have learnt in inclusive education, so that they can implement
in their teaching practices.
3- Prepare some power point presentations based on the inclusive activities so that
teachers can use it in their teaching.
4- Create and share an inclusive education kit and a fact sheet for each for Baa Atoll
School with locally available materials which can be used in each and every island while
teaching the students with special needs.

8. Evaluation and Certification of the programme

Evaluation of any program is crucial in order to know about the success or failure of the
program. The usefulness of the Australian Awards programme was itself a catalyst for the
carrier of our work. In view of all the participants the programme was a great help in
promoting inclusive education in Maldives. At the end of the programme QUT evaluated it by
using a questionnaire. At the end of the one month programme each participant was
awarded a certificate of participation.

9. Expenses

All the expenses were funded by the Australian Awards fellowship

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10. Conclusion and Recommendations

Every new thing learnt must be well understood before delivering to others. Although the
Australian Award Fellowship programme in Australia was a one which, almost everything
learned from the programme can be considered locally appropriate as the contexts, because
of the geographical features of Maldives it is difficult apply some of the things learned.

Workshop participants are very interested to implement ideas they received from the
inclusive coaching programme. It also will be a great help to take prompt action based on
the information to incorporate these
new creative ideas while
implementing the new curriculum.

Promoting coaching sessions and

activities to cater individual needs in
the Maldives needs to be improved
by the schools. As such cost effective
advertising campaigns can be
organised throughout the year.
Before conducting workshops about
the inclusive education and caring of students, we need to advertise and promote the
importance of activities which will be carried out in the inclusive workshop so that teachers
will be more interested to attend the workshop. It is also important to consider to each and
every school to have workshop throughout the year to encourage teachers to create
teaching learning materials which are related to the inclusive education and relevant to each
individuals.

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11. Acknowledgement

It is with great help and support of Australian Awards that this inclusive education
programme became a success. I thank the cooperation and assistance provided by
Australian Awards followed with QUT and NIE of Maldives. The support and closeness kept
by QUT with NIE, was a major factor in achieving the accomplishment of this whole
programme. So I thank all the members of QUT for their effort in making this a reality. And I
also want give a special thanks to NIE for letting me a part of the inclusive coaching
programme and helping me to complete the overseas programme successfully. Thanks to
all.

Prepared by: Mohamed Arif

Education Development Officer
Baa Teacher Resource Centre
Participant of the Australian Awards Fellowship Programme

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Appendix 1

Combined session with Nepal Coaching session Index of Inclusion with Suzanne

closing session group work

inclusive coaching visit @North lake
inclusion coach

Session at Autism hub Reflection on what we learnt Session with Nelson

Session at arc centre School visit

Inclusion works

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