Session aimed at assisting Belleville committee further inclusive post-secondary education
Bruce Uditsky and Anne Hughson to lead mentorship event
Deron Hamel
An inclusive post-secondary education (IPSE) committee, which is connected to Pathways to Independence, a Community Living Ontario sister organization, is hosting May 8 information sessions led by two noted experts, in an effort to promote inclusive post-secondary education in the Belleville area.
Laurie Baker, a manager of support services at Pathways to Independence and chair of the IPSE committee, notes the community committee has been working on an initiative in the region to enhance inclusive post-secondary education. The initiative is based on a model used in Alberta and British Columbia that encourages social and academic inclusiveness in universities and colleges.
Bruce Uditsky, CEO of the Alberta Association for Community Living, and Anne Hughson, the director of community rehabilitation and disability studies at the University of Calgary, will be speaking at the event, which is being held at Belleville’s Loyalist College of Applied Arts and Technology.
Baker says Uditsky and Hughson were chosen as speakers because they are both recognized leaders in the inclusive post-secondary education movement in Alberta, adding that she hopes attendees will walk away with information about what inclusive post-secondary education “means and how it should work.”
“They’ve done this very successfully for over 25 years in Alberta and British Columbia, and they are internationally known for their work in Mexico, Europe, Australia and New Zealand,” says Baker.
“They are advocating and educating people on how to roll (initiatives) out.”
Baker says the event has two goals: to foster the philosophy of inclusive education and to discuss practical solutions to obstacles faced when trying to implement inclusive post-secondary education.
“Part of their goal is to help us work through those barriers,” says Baker.
Baker says she hopes attendees walk away from the event with a stronger understanding of how important inclusive post-secondary education is, not just for students, but also for communities and families.
She adds that research undertaken by Hughson and Uditsky points to the benefits everyone receives from inclusive post-secondary education.
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