The Haags Centrum voor Onderwijsbegeleiding in the Netherlands (see Useful Addresses) is currently involved in a very interesting project which they describe as follows:
The Lighthouse project is a collaborative effort between the Dutch and International educational communities. The aim of the project is to provide English language-based education for children with special education difficulties. The target group for the project is children between the ages of four and twelve who have educational needs that cannot be met in a mainstream school setting.
This initiative came about as the result of a research project conducted in The Hague. A final report was issued in January 1998 which investigated the existing services for international special needs students in the area. The entire report is available on the Internet, www.lighthousese.nl. The following excerpts come from this Lighthouse Report:
1.1.1 Education of expatriate students
Different countries have different policy and practice with regard to the education of their expatriate children-citizens. The Flying Dutchman research project (1992) has shown that the seven countries involved in the investigation (i.e. United States, United Kingdom, France, Germany, Sweden, Japan and the Netherlands) had the following in common:
- Education of the children of military families living abroad was seen as part of the country's own educational system and organized by the government.
- Education of all other expatriate families was seen as a private issue for those families and the employers that send them. As a result, private schools have been founded by parents to meet the educational needs of these expatriate children.
However, the governments vary in the extent to which they support or take over the initiative of those parents starting private schools abroad. The Flying Dutchman Report shows that Germany and France have developed educational policy for their citizens abroad as part of their foreign cultural policy. The governments of these two countries finance the schools and set standards with regard to the organization and educational requirements.
Neither the US nor the UK has developed such policy, while Japan and The Netherlands have selected a position somewhere in between these two groups.
1.1.1 Dutch Law, Children's Rights, Mental Health and Economics
Government policy regarding the education of their own expatriate children-citizens is one thing. Catering for the needs of expatriate children settled in a particular country is another. Dutch Law had made school attendance compulsory for all resident children.. . . The Rights of the Child as adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 1989 (articles 28 and 29) states the right of children to education suited to their needs, and also provides a justification for adequate educational service provision for expatriated students.
In terms of mental health, meeting the needs of the expatriate students with special needs is crucial, as the well being of the families forced to put their children in inadequate educational settings is at stake.
In economic terms, the availability of adequate educational services for a reasonably wide range of educational needs of expatriate students seems an important factor for companies deciding on an appropriate location for settlement. For an international city like The Hague, the question is whether it can afford to have an incomplete educational infrastructure. There is anecdotal evidence that the unavailability of sufficiently broad educational provisions has been a factor for at least some international companies to decide against settlement in the region.
2.2 Parents
2.2.1 Some characteristics:
For twelve of the seventeen families (who participated in The Lighthouse Report), the Netherlands was their first posting. Special needs were identified after posting here in eleven of the cases.2.2.2 Enrollment:
. . . However, there was a striking case in which the child had been identified as having severe speech problems and had been placed in a low level learning program in his previous school. The school records that were sent to the current school did not show any of this.2.2.3 School Career:
Parents comments: (not all are listed)
Parents referred to denial of the problems at the school and a lack of specialized knowledge.3 Findings: Needs (not all are listed)
- Placement facility for children with severe special needs: Children with severe needs who are not accepted for enrollment as well as children whose special needs can not/no longer be met at existing international schools need an educational setting that is able to meet their needs.
4 Findings: Comments/Suggestions
School-based:
- . . . The suggestion was made for a standard transfer form for use by all international schools.
- . . . More material resources (space!) for special education services
- Improvement of international schools' expertise regarding special education: teacher training of both special education teachers and regular classroom teachers (e.g. differentiation, inclusion, curriculum and test modification).
- Improvement of consistency in approach to special needs between schools, that is: between IGO schools and between departments within large schools.
Community-based: (not all are listed)
- More collaboration between international schools: sharing and exchange of available special needs services.
- International schools should come to agreed guidelines for assessment of special needs children.
- More collaboration between international schools and the Dutch special education system.
- Adequate network (information and procedures) to access special needs personnel in the area, including Dutch professionals (on consulting or part-time basis).
- Publication of a special needs information booklet for international students, in all relevant languages (including addresses of specialists, institutions, etc.)
- International employers should clarify what they are willing to pay and for how long.
- International employers should be informed of realistic possibilities of special needs education in international settings.
- International employers should accept some accountability when a special needs child is prematurely dismissed and help resolve the problem.
- Governments have a role to play in service provision for international special needs students: it is a Europe-wide issue.
Family-based:
- Families should set realistic long-term goals for their special needs children.
- Families should provide mutual support and sharing among families with special needs children.
- Parents should do advocacy for their special needs child and not rely on others to take command.
5 Conclusions: (not all are listed)
Special Needs:
- The number of special needs children who are not/no longer accepted seems to be increasing, and involved at least 20 students last school year.
- Several case studies presented to the research team show that referrals/rejections of children with severe special needs are difficult for the families involved, painful, time consuming and full of uncertainty regarding the outcome.
Enrollment:
- There is a gap between school philosophy and special education practice.
- Parents' expectations are not tuned in to international education.
School career:
- Administration in the private schools evaluated existing internal service provision more positively than either parents or staff.
- Almost no networking exists between international special education service providers nor with their counterparts in the Dutch system.
Miscellaneous:
- Education of international special needs children is not just a matter for their parents and international schools, but employers and educational authorities/governments also have a role to play.
6 Recommendations: (not all are listed)
At Community Level:
- Start a special education forum for coordination and regular evaluations of special education services in the international schools, involving representatives of administration, service providers, parents and the international assessment team. This should not be limited to the Netherlands. It should be considered whether the European Council of International Schools (ECIS) has a role to play in this development.
- Start a central special education unit with English as the language of instruction for special needs students (ages 4-11) whose needs can not be met by the existing schools. Jointly funded by international companies and the Dutch government, this unit should be run as a Stichting (foundation). The unit should have maximum inclusion possibilities.
- All international schools should encourage and facilitate the support groups so that they (continue to) organize relevant and easily accessible activities for families with special need students (conferences; courses; information evenings, etc.)
- International employers should guarantee reimbursement of all costs for special education services as well as for other necessary services related to special needs.
Update on the Lighthouse Project
The following information was taken from The Xpat Journal's article on "Special needs education in The Hague" and is reprinted with permission:
More than just a set of classrooms or a curriculum, the Lighthouse Project embodies a study of the educational needs of children who have been identified as having significant special needs, staff and classrooms established to teach students with special needs, and an ongoing research project into the effectiveness of various techniques used to address those needs. The Project is a groundbreaking endeavor working out ways to deal with severe academic challenges, and is unique in Europe and unlike any other special education facility in the world. Besides teaching, the staff will also function as a consulting resource for other schools, both international and Dutch, in working with children with special needs. Designed specifically to meet the needs of the expatriate population, the goal of the Lighthouse Project is to expand special needs education to include a population with a greater range and severity of needs. This could include students with multiple learning disabilities, severe language disorders, autism, severe attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), psychiatric disorders or significant social/behavioral problems. The Lighthouse is targeted at children ranging in age from 4 to 12. Classes will be small, averaging less than eight, with children grouped according to need. Instruction will primarily be in English, but where there is an extreme language disability, as in autism, and the native language is not English, the staff is prepared to accommodate the native language. For instance, provisions have been made for instruction in both German and Spanish, with the goal being to build on those languages until the child reaches readiness to begin learning English as a second language. The curriculum will be based on the English and American models of special education. Classroom space has been designed at the Johanna Westerman School, Jan Willem Frisolaan 4, NL-2517 JS, The Hague.
Requirements
In order to be accepted into the Lighthouse Project a child must be deemed educable, hopefully toilet trained, with at least minimal social development, and it must be demonstrated that the child will profit from inclusion in the project. The Lighthouse Project exists in cooperation with, and as an extension of, both Dutch and international schools, and the Lighthouse Advisory and Support Team facilitates the education of special needs children within mainstream classrooms. Subsidized by governmental and municipal aid, funds are still being raised for the project. Even after a very generous initiating donation from Origin, followed by donations from Newskies and Shell, further sponsors are being sought to provide for development and growth of the school's curriculum, activities, teaching materials, faculty and scholarships.1
Further information on the Lighthouse Project can be obtained by contacting
eastwestcon@cs.com
1 Mintz, Psy.D., Mary. "Special Needs Education in The Hague." The XPAT Journal. March-May 2000. p. 55.
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