My guest this week is Dr Anke De Boer. Anke is Associate Professor at the Inclusive and Special Needs Education unit, University of Groningen, the Netherlands. She is particularly interested in optimising the educational setting to realize social inclusion and the wellbeing of students with special educational needs. In this interview, she focuses on the importance of using interventions which encourage social participation among students with and without special educational needs. She also emphasises the importance of listening to students with special educational needs about what they want, what can help them, and how they can be meaningfully included. She finishes by describing the system of special education in the Netherlands over time and stresses the need for greater policy focus on teacher capacity and in particular initial teacher education which can prepare teachers for inclusive settings.

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“What did the council decide on item 42?” — answered with the speaker and the moment.

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