Shaping future rehabilitation professionalism: innovative learning and best practice

Dr.Alan Bruce, Universal Learning Systems
ILARP Annual Seminar: Chicago, Illinois (19 September 2013)
ILARP:Chicago, Illinois (September 2013) Dr.Alan Bruce ULS Dublin

To develop the skills and knowledge of
participants in understanding the challenges of
globalization, international best practice and
continuing professional development needs in
advanced vocational rehabilitation leadership
through use of innovation and advanced e-
learning strategies
ILARP:Chicago, Illinois (September 2013) Dr Alan Bruce ULS Dublin

1. To develop a robust and focused overview of trends in
international rehabilitation management and practice in
contexts of sustained and profound change
2. To indicate future strategies and methods that underline best
practice in globalized disability management structures and
transformed labor market conditions
3. To demonstrate future professional learning needs and the
CPD benefits of innovative e-learning and ICT supported
education for ILARP members

 New work patterns – what happened to the Job?
 Technological revolutions
 New markets – public, private, financial, corporate
 Access and social inclusion – wishful or critical?
 Understanding permanent crisis
 Transnational linkage: from optional to essential

 Globalization
 Stratification
 Labor market transformation
 Rights and inclusion
 Value for money
 Access, quality and innovation in education

 Demographic changes: ageing and life expectancy
 Women and labor market participation
 Cultural and religious difference
 Immigration
 Conflict and stress
 Urbanization

 Patterns of constant change
 Permanent migration mobility
 Outsourcing
 Flexible structures and modalities
 End of job norms
 Knowledge economy
 Structural inequalities

 Planetary urbanization
 New diversities
 Equality, access and inclusive design
 Understanding crisis – living with crisis
 Globalization: obliteration of borders… but
creation of connectivity
 New markets
 Constant upskilling

 Exponential increase in information
 Critical reflection vs. need to know: where
does e-learning sit?
 Peer-to-peer learning economy: social media
 Free speech and autonomous expression
 Developing critical thinking skills
 Autonomous problem solving
 Games and the end of exams

 Historic pattern of low expectations
 Institutionalization and ‘special’ needs
 Embedded pervasive imagery of dependence
 Family, support and care
 Medicalization of discourse
 Legacies of charity
 The vocational imperative – where to now?
 Teaching – and learning – around difference

 Families
 Communities
 Culture and beliefs
 Schooling, learning and research
 Media and portrayal
 Work, employment and a full life
 Lifelong care – the cost of independent living
 Permanent dependence or rights?

• Lack of consensus – goals, strategies, aims
• Turf issues – professional confusion
• Attitudes – the negative mindset
• Casualization – from shiftwork to adaptability
• Built environment
• Unthinking exclusion
• Fragmented planning
• Disempowered families and social
stratification

The emergence of a true global economy
dictates a new role in international activities to
promote the well being of persons with
disabilities through access to jobs, better
technology and social supports...
Source: NIDRR Long Range Plan 1999-2004

 ILO
 Gladnet
 UN
 OECD
 European Foundation for the Improvement of Living
andWorking Conditions
 Rehabilitation International
 Developing countries’ networks - CBR, China

The OECD study shows that different policy approaches
in different countries had little or no effect on
outcomes. The most striking commonality was that
there was no outflow from disability programs to jobs.
OECD 2003

 Lisbon Declaration
 Inclusive education as principle
 Significant national variations
 Separation between health, social services
and education functions and responsibilities
 Poor multidisciplinary developement
 Family exclusion
 Focus on educational, health and social needs

 1994: UNESCO Salamanca Statement and Framework for
Action in Special Needs Education
 2003: Promoting the Employment and Social Integration
of People with Disabilities (EU Council)
 2003: Equal Opportunities for Pupils and Students with
Disabilities in Education andTraining
 2006: United Nations Convention on Rights of People with
Disabilities
Pupils with disabilities continue to experience inequality in the education
system. This has resulted in lower levels of educational qualifications and
workforce participation among people with disabilities (relative to those
without disabilities), which results in social isolation and economic adversity.

 Government - Citizen
rights, entitlements, services, standards
 Disability Rights
medicalization, independent living
 Equality - Diversity
empowerment, quality, linkage

 Resources significant and being increased
 Part of integration strategy since outset
 Structural funds address imbalances
 Designed to meet labour market needs
 Offers powerful alternative

 Research and innovation
 Competitiveness for SMEs
 Employment and labour mobility support
 Social inclusion and combating poverty
 Education, skills and lifelong learning
 Institutional capacity building.

 Lack of common conceptual frame or terminology
 Diverse professional structures
 Traditions of charity and dependence
 Lack of systematic research
 Weak policy
 Poor comparative evidence
 Public/private confusion

 University of Illinois (Urbana) - MS (1997-2000)
 University of Illinois (Chicago) - Intellectual Disabilities
 Johns Hopkins - NCI Dublin
 University ofWisconsin Stout - professional
development
 University of Memphis -Tipperary Institute (2007)
 Virginia Commonwealth - supported employment
 Cornell - post conflict

The ULS experience
Starting Year Programme or Initiative Identification number Contracting organisation Title of the project /
network
Website
2012 LLP Comenius 528005-LLP-2012-GR-
COMENIUS-CMP
Ellinogemaniki Agogi TRANSit www.transit.eu
2012 ICT-PSP ODS-297229 Intrasoft Ltd OPEN DISCOVERY
SPACE
www.opendiscoveryspace
.eu
2011 LLP 519242-LLP-2011-BG-
KA2-KA2MP
Eurinform Bulgaria LANGO www.lango.eu
2011 LLP Comenius 517748-LLP-1-2011-1-IE-
COMENIUS-CNW
Enable Ireland FIESTA www.fiestaproject.eu
2010 LLP 511641-LLP-1-2010-1-
RO-KA3-KA3MP
EuroEd MyStory www.mystories.eu
2010 LLP Leonardo 510784-LLP-1-2010-1-
RO-LEONARDO-LMP
EuroEd UEmploy www.uemploy.eu
2008 LLP Grundtvig
Partnership
GR2008-028P VUC-VS Denmark Mentor: Sink or Swim www.vuc.dk/sinkorswim
2008 LLP transversal
research
143725-LLP-1-2008-ES-
KA1-KA1SCR
University of the Basque
Country UPV/EHU
Creanova www.creanova.ehu.es
2008 LLP Comenius 142447-2008-LLP-IT-
CMP
Fondazione IARD Speak www.speak.it
2006 LLP Minerva 229413-CP-1-2006-1-
GR-MINERVA-M/2006
Platon School Educonlinux www.educonlinux.eu
2005 Leonardo da
Vinci
FI-05-B-P-PP-
160601
Adulta, Finland Catit www.catit.fi
2005 EQUAL2 IE-05-EQ2-19-EBM Galway City Partnership You Are Equal www.youareeqaul.ie/gcp
2003 Leonardo da
Vinci
IE-03-B-F-PP-153101 Enable Ireland, Cork Co-Guide www.coguide.ie
2002 EQUAL IE-02-EQ1-23-E NUIG/FAS TRED www.tred.ie

 Ubiquity and access
 Innovation – the new imperative
 Professionals, Customers, Communities
 Quality, standards and assessment
 Curriculum or competence: institutional crisis
of international educational systems
 Freedom, openness and creativity in the
digital economy

 Impact of universal schooling
 The university revolution – from distance
learning to MOOCs
 Impact of legislation and policy
 Technological revolution only starting
 From psychology to engineering – the altered
environment
 Shaping the mind – struggles with attitudes

 Widened access
 Improved cost-efficiency
 Quality of teaching and learning
 Three impact areas:
 Lifelong Learning
 School Education
 University Education
IPTS Institute for ProspectiveTechnological Studies (Sevilla)

 Communication with Self; Other; World
 Personalized learning management to navigate to
future competencies
 Demonstrated capability and ability in context of
change
 From teaching to facilitation
 Ubiquity; telepresence; interoperability
 Competency based assessment
 Waves of innovation
 Adult learning networks

 Critical shift in distance and e-learning
 Major impact: scale and impact of online
learning
 Questions remain on pedagogical approaches
 Shift from dedicated structures of past (OUs;
media labs; academic departments) to
broader universal non-expert actors
 Quality, values, standards
 Ownership and control

 Focus of motivation
 Problem solving focus
 From curriculum to competence
 Content to meaningful action
 From formal teaching to creation of bonds and links
 Mentoring
 Models of best practice

‘I refuse to join any club that would have me as a member.’

 Modeling
 Empathic analysis in transition support
 Social analytics for multidisciplinary work
 Roles and responsibility
 Advanced digital competence/assistive
technologies
 Universal Design
 Comparative research methods
 Independent living/rights based models

 Defining needs
 Defining required supports
 Developing teams: communication
 Avoiding traps – the standardized label
 Critical and reflective thinking and practice
 Empathy
 Sensitivity and clarity – goal setting
 Evaluative review

 Openness as global logic based on free and
open-source software
 Battles over digital rights management and
IPR
 Links between open content, open science
and open collaboration make collaborative
creativity sustainable
 Move from InformationAge to Conceptual
Age (Daniel Pink 2005)

 Attentiveness
 Responsibility
 Competence
 Responsiveness

 Assessment
 Progression
 Competence
 Service models: brokers or advocates?
 Funding and resources
 Complex disabilities (dual diagnosis)
 Quality standards development
 Linkage to emancipatory research models
 Universal design models

 Rights and advocacy
 Quality circles (Netherlands)
 Collaborative research
 Culture of innovation
 Highly qualified staff
 Equality frameworks and enforceable standards

 Professional training
 Best practice
 Standards and ethics
 Learner centered dynamic
 Innovation imperatives

 How does learning sustain innovation?
 Necessary focus on inherited structures and
delivery mechanisms
 Access and validation of knowledge have
become central concerns
 Focus on mediation role, hierarchy and
control
 What is now the role of the University?

 Addresses core of what already exists
 Airplanes that fly farther
 Batteries that last longer
 Computers that process faster

 Evolves very rapidly
 Replaces traditional solutions
 Rooted in simple applications
 Personal computer
 Internet
 Mobile technologies

 Innovation and creativity as starting point not
destination
 Responsiveness to permanent change
 Staff competence and empowerment
 Engaging with excellence
 Doing the unexpected - better!
 Content validity and academic rigor
 Customer delight

 E-learning as possible solution, not panacea
 Digitization transforms all aspects of cultural
production and consumption
 New digital logic alters traditional
organization of knowledge, education and
culture
 Engaging with obsolete structures
 New grammar of digital culture is being
created (Michael Peters 2012)

 Defining - and agreeing - scale of social
challenge occurring around us
 Understanding the extent of change
 In a transformed world all institutions are
transformed
 E-learning as symptom and solution
 Opening e-learning’s Pandora’s box

 Flexibility and adaptability
 Cost
 Time efficient
 User friendly
 Creative and enjoyable: relevant
 Learning lasts
 Mobile and accessible
 Rapidly updated
 Functionality: de-mystifying technology

 Flexibility
 Diverse learners/digital immigrants
 Learning outcomes
 Pedagogical design
 Integrated learning
 Social capital and inclusion

 Commodification of knowledge
 Impact on education systems (Freire, Illich, Field)
 Impact on work (Braverman, Haraszti, Davis)
 Impact on community - alienation and anomie
 From community to networking
 Knowledge and learning now centrally linked as
product and process dimensions in the generation
of innovation

 If learning, working and production are controlled
innovation is at best powerless, at worst sinister
 At the core of innovation is an ability to assess
critically and express freely
 Fundamental to innovation is the ability to ask
questions that challenge existing relations
 Innovation is re-examining existing reality while
posing viable alternatives

 Role of the military
 Imperatives of war and violence
 Biotechnology
 Patenting biodiversity
 Genetics
 Social engineering
 Hard futures

 Adaptive/assistive
technologies
 Vocational
evaluation
 Assessment
 Counselling
 Materials design
 Environmental
design
 Software design
 Medical supports
 Legislation
 Innovative
pedagogy.

 On-line courses
 Pilot schools
 Project based learning
 Experimental schools in degraded social
communities
 Non-formal learning
 Abolition of the teacher

 Community development
 Social solidarity
 Environmental management and conservation
 Arts and culture
 Sports and leisure
 Health and well-being
 Social inclusion and demographic change
 Advanced technologies

 Identity and creativity: eLearning as eMeaning
 Learning processes no longer controlled by
traditional knowledge institutions
 Creativity now facilitated by platforms and
infrastructures that encourage large-scale
production and challenge old hierarchies
 Process of profound institutional re-structuring
comparable to European 16th century
 E-learning redefines learning
 Developing competitive edge

 Increased application on new knowledge
 Open and distance learning technologies
facilitating learners and staff competence
 Transformation of traditional teaching role to
mentoring, guiding and facilitation
 Development of network of innovative best
practice at international level

 The innovation imperative
 Reprising discovery
 Challenging certainties
 Re-asserting values
 Defining rights

 Avoiding innovation mantras and clichés
 The poetry of open discovery and delight
 Rescuing liberation in thought and practice
 Back to the future - the construction of
cathedrals and creativity in a fractured
Europe

Dr. Alan Bruce
ULS Dublin
abruce@ulsystems.com
: AMSTERDAM HELSINKI EDINBURGH ATHENS CHICAGO
Associate Offices:AMSTERDAM HELSINKI EDINBURGH ATHENS CHICAGO

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