In the SIPP project, researchers work with teachers to create social inclusion for students. The project is funded by Erasmus plus and involves researchers and teachers from 5 different countries.
One of the starting points of the project is to create opportunities for social inclusion where the project partners (teachers and researchers in Europe) develop and implement educational activities on social inclusion. In relation to this, the researchers monitor the different activities and together with the teachers evaluate them.
Important aspects of social inclusion are how learning practices, both in formal and informal contexts, are designed to enhance pupils’ participation, influence and feelings of belonging. Social inclusion in schools encompasses a range of areas. It is about having friends and being part of a peer group but also about how teaching is organised to include pupils and consider the different needs and circumstances of pupils. There is thus a link between pupils' own experiences of social inclusion and structural conditions in the organisation of the school.
Pupils' own perspectives are a central starting point for the project. This means that pupils are given a significant role as actors and participants in all parts of the project. The project brings together these tools for teachers to work with social inclusion in the form of two final products: a handbook and a toolkit.
The aim of the project
The overall aim of the project is to:
- initiate international cooperation as a means of developing professional teacher knowledge and strengthening European cooperation between teachers and researchers
- compile best practice and research on social inclusion, belonging and pupil participation in schools at national level
- discover, develop and analyse pupils' experiences and perspectives on social inclusion, belonging and participation as a starting point for developing useful tools for achieving a higher level of social inclusion in schools
- support teachers to develop, implement and follow up proven experience as a means to explore and change their own practice in order to increase pupils' social inclusion at school
- strengthen the professional role of teachers by increasing knowledge and awareness of social inclusion as a phenomenon and thus teachers' ability to identify risks of social exclusion and create opportunities for social inclusion
- evaluate and develop pedagogical tools to work with pupils' perspectives and experiences on social inclusion, belonging and participation
- compile and disseminate the professional knowledge and proven experiences developed in the project to a wider audience nationally and in Europe
