ACER India represented at ECER 2024

The European Conference on Educational Research (ECER) 2024, which had the theme Education in an Age of Uncertainty: memory and hope for the future,  was held at the University of Cyprus in Nicosia, with more than 2000 participants from about 70 countries. This year also marks 30 years of the European Educational Research Association.

Anannya Chakraborty, Manager, Communications presented a paper on family-school collaboration in disability-inclusive education. The study explored the opportunities and challenges of family-school collaboration for better inclusion of students with a disability in mainstream schools in India. The paper was co-written with Ashtamurthy Killimangalam, Senior Research Fellow, ACER India.

The researchers interviewed private and government school leaders to understand traditional and innovative practices of family-school collaboration in schools, mechanisms at the school level that support collaboration, and hindrances to building strong partnerships with families.

The study did not aim to evaluate the effectiveness of the school level initiatives for partnerships but to understand ‘family-school collaborations on the ground’ that support academic and non-academic improvements for students with a disability.  

The preliminary findings showed that generally, school leaders valued family-school collaboration. However, the initiatives are school specific and largely depend on the school leader’s will, knowledge, and understanding to set up new collaborative practices. Most school leaders reported collaborating with parents of students with a disability during the preparation of individual educational plans.

If you are interested in collaborating on inclusive education research, please contact: commsindia@acer.org