Conditions for Implementing the ICF-CY in Education: The Experience in Portugal

Manuela Sanches-Ferreira,Rune J Simeonsson,Sílvia Alves,Mónica Silveira-Maia

doi:10.3389/feduc.2018.00020

Abstract

Reflecting international trends for implementing inclusive education, Portugal enacted a special education law (Law No. 3/2008) in 2008, defining substantial changes in educational practice. One of the most important changes consisted in determining that eligibility for special education services be based on the functioning profile of students documented with the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health, version for children and youth (ICF-CY, WHO, 2007). The study described in this manuscript belongs to a broader project and consisted of the administration of a survey to a nationally representative sample of 551 professionals, to examine factors they considered as most influential to the perceived ease in using the ICF-CY, as well as identifying the extent to which the professional groups and the enrolment on training relates to the opinion about the use of the ICF. For sample recruitment, 414 clusters of schools were randomly selected, stratified according to the distribution of schools in the different Regional Directorates of Education in Portugal. The survey consisted of demographic questions and 49 scaled items, assessed on a 4-point Likert scale in which respondents rated: (i) the perceived ease on the ICF-CY usage; (ii) their level of knowledge on conceptual and procedural aspects inherent to the Law implementation, as well as, on regard to performed roles defined; (iii) the extent to which their schools presented conditions for collaboration; (iv) the importance of contextual variables as valued conditions for using the ICF-CY. Results showed that the establishment of mechanisms for collaboration and interdisciplinarity were central conditions to meet the comprehensiveness and rigor defining an ICF-CY based assessment. Likewise, consideration of diverse backgrounds and needs of professional groups in terms of knowledge needs to be a central requirement for implementing an ICF-CY informed approach. An important implication for training programs is to have an expanded focus on demonstrations on how the ICF-CY can be used to support the implementation of socio-ecological and inclusive perspectives.

Highlights

Within the field of education, special education is a dynamic element that has undergone structural changes over the past 30 years progressing toward inclusive and effective instruction for students with additional support needs
The functioning profiles based on the ICF-CY have supported: (i) the eligibility decision-making—differencing the profiles of eligible from non-eligible in terms of the severity of the problems assigned to body functions and activity and participation; (ii) the selection of educational responses—differencing the profiles subject to functioning-oriented curriculum from others in terms of how broad are the number of affected categories on body functions and activities and participation; (iii) a biopsychosocial perspective, with a focus on functioning and students’ performance on activities and participation rather than on body impairments
The findings of this study indicate that the establishment of mechanisms for collaboration and interdisciplinarity were central conditions for meeting the comprehensiveness and rigor defining an ICF-CY-based assessment

Summary

Introduction

Within the field of education, special education is a dynamic element that has undergone structural changes over the past 30 years progressing toward inclusive and effective instruction for students with additional support needs. As systematized by the European Agency for Special Needs and Inclusive Education—EASNIE (2011a), the adoption of such a perspective requires readjustments at different system levels: (i) macro-level—including legislation defining the criteria to base decisions on eligibility and educational interventions; (ii) meso-level—including school community and organization; and (iii) micro-level—embracing factors as classroom practices, knowledge sharing and collaborative processes in considering the specificities of the interaction between each student and the environment. In contrast to the traditional classification of disability, defined by a onedimensional approach in determining the nature and/or the severity of biological deficits, the multidimensional framework of the ICF-CY classifies disability and functioning as manifestations of the interaction of body functions (BF) and structures (BS), activities and participation (A&P), and environmental factors (EF) This multidimensional framework is presented in a taxonomy consisting of a list of variables (categories or codes) describing characteristics of an individual’s participation (e.g., focusing attention, learning to write, solving-problems, moving around, interacting with others), BF/BS (e.g., psychomotor control, visual perception, abstraction, control of voluntary movements, speech articulation), and surrounding EF (e.g., methods for education, specific equipment to move). This situation specific approach frames a holistic and comprehensive description of student functioning within a socioecological perspective, matching participation-oriented goals for students in environmental terms (Imms et al, 2017)

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Discussion

Conclusion