We are very active in the UNESCO communities relevant to our activities. We share our findings and resources at relevant national meetings and internationally, via conferences and online fora.
On the UNESCO-led World Summit on Information Society (WSIS) we share educational multimedia with teachers and educators in NZ and the world via our own platform at: www.wsis-community.org/pg/profile/annickjanson (see screenshot below).
We are members of the Open Educational Resources (OER) UNESCO Forum where we share the results of our applied research with researchers and global collaborators.
We also recently joined the UNESCO International Bureau of Education (IBE) Community of Practice in Curriculum Development and offered to contribute our expertise to their planning and establishment of the online forum where this Community of Practice will interact.
Our art teacher resource has been showcased on the APAH (Asia Pacific Art Hub) website as shown below. It is aimed to help teaching students with different abilities.
Our submission From Autistic to Artistic Submitted to the UNESCO Observatory Ejournal Vol 2 Issue 3 is under review.
Abstract: This case study describes the four-year journey
of a young artist with Aspergers syndrome. Starting from an Adolescent Mental
Health service in New Zealand supported by a Community Arts Council, he
progressed to an Inclusive Tertiary Education programme and achieved
international recognition with the help of a French community-based art health
project. Participant observation and narrative
methodologies demonstrated how the artist’s passion was enrolled to create
tangible outcomes such as social competencies. Many autistic people may never experience
achievement within their communities. Participatory arts offer unique prospects
for contribution and recognition. Inter-sectorial collaborations created
authentic inclusion experiences and incurred benefits spreading to the
community at large. The research describes the planning and implementation of a
series of interventions and impact evaluation with examples and paybacks to the
artist, family, therapists, educators and organisations involved. Participatory
arts also created unpredicted benefits – with the artist becoming a role model
to his non-disabled peers and recognised for his leadership.
Finally we contribute to the UNEVOC forum that facilitates the TVET (Technical and Vocational Education Training) concerned, amongst other things, with the positive transition from school to the workplace.
We are looking forward to contributing to the UNESCO Child and Family Research Centre 6th Biennial International Conference 13-14 June 2013 conference in Ireland.
