March 11, SENIA Vietnam partnered with UNIS Hanoi to increase the offerings about inclusion in their free of charge annual Teachers Conference.   The theme was  “Future Inspired”, and the aim was  to do just that - to inspire colleagues and educators across Vietnam to try new and different evidence based approaches to teaching and learning and  share proven strategies to support integrating student voice. Presentations were offered in person, online or both.  

Powerpoint slides shared by request

An online presentation titled “Secondary and Beyond Support Services” led by Morgan Dobroski (High School Learning Support Teacher at UNIS), Melanie Casul (Equitable Learning Services Advisor at RMIT Vietnam), and translated by Phuong Trang Phan (MSHS Learning Support Teaching Assistant at UNIS). They mapped the various academic and wellbeing support services students receive throughout their scholastic journey from high school transitioning into university. Examples of past student activities, best practices for teachers, additional support available for professional staff, parents and the wider community were 

Senia Vietnam board member  Ton van der Velden, a Hanoi based doctor, and Ms. Dang Thanh Hoa, a UNIS teacher and clinical psychologist presented about  ADHD in the classroom.  Their presentations can be found here in both English & Tiếng Việt.  They presented both online and in -person for an audience of about 120 interested teachers.

Elena Cistoldi and Jeannette Laureno, both from ISHMC’s Learning Support departments, presented together about Enabling learning by experiencing the world around us, and shared

 “April brings us together to strengthen acceptance, support and inclusion of people with autism, as valued members of our communities. In schools advocating for a neuro-inclusive education means transforming what we do, valuing the ways neuro-divergent students experience the world and how the environment changes those experiences. This means trialing new ideas and taking risks in piloting new ways to engage in learning. 

We had the privilege to share our experiences at the Learning Together Conference 2023. Inspired by the way surfers gain a deep understanding of the ocean by being in the water, we advocate for the use of experiential learning to develop and assess higher thinking skills at all grade levels. Designing, creating, actualizing, testing and modifying give opportunities to students to demonstrate an authentic level of understanding especially in cases where challenges in communication bias our judgment. Experiential learning provides an opportunity to engage all learners, redistribute motivation and give opportunities of affirmation for students that cannot build confidence and self-esteem in more traditional forms of learning. 

Taking it further, giving opportunities to experience the world around us using our senses can enhance learning by shifting the level of alertness and engagement of our learners especially when their neuro-profile magnifies the sensorial experience. This is what we have found out by piloting a systemic water therapy programme inspired by the research of Ippolito Caputo. We initially created a water based support programme to help a student to develop inhibitory control and emotional regulation through  the development of awareness and control of body movement as well as awareness of pathways to self-soothing. We observed transformational changes in the student in the focussed areas of interventions and areas such as communication. This pushed us to go further, bringing science and maths teaching in the water. We are not sure yet where this project will take us but we are sure that it was worthed the risk. Don’t be afraid to think outside the box. 

This workshop was an introduction to the concept of neurodiversity. Neurodiversity was explained as being differences in how our brains work, and how this is natural as a part of natural variation. We discussed the various models of disabilities and how neurodiversity lies within the Human Right Model of disability which, like the social model, advocates for rights to access and support is seen not as a charity, but instead as a basic human right. 

The UNIS Hanoi’s definition of Inclusion was shared along with Shelly Moore’s models of inclusion. The concepts of equity vs. equality instigated a critical discussion about how they could be applied to the Vietnamese school context to support student learning. 

Neurodivergent student voices were also heard at the Learning Together Conference, as two UNIS 12th graders shared  “All Brains are Beautiful,” a presentation they have been giving to middle school students over the past school year.  Here is an article from UNIS’s school newsletter with more details