Addressing the global challenge of disability inclusion and education

The challenge

Virtual exchange is a vital learning tool with the capacity to connect people around the world on an unprecedented scale without a need for travel. Virtual exchange connects young people from diverse places using everyday technology for collaborative learning and interaction through sustained and facilitated engagement. Through virtual exchange programs, young people have access to life-changing opportunities that can shape their trajectories, bring new friends into their lives, and expand their worldviews.

The approach

Arizona State University's Future Educators for Inclusion project  —  which also is referred to by the formal grant name of Access to Inclusion: Local Action for Global Change — is a project that engages college students from Morocco and the United States through mutual discovery, shared learning, and local action to address the global challenge of disability inclusion as they prepare to become classroom teachers. MLFTC's Alexander Kurz, an associate research professor with Arizona State University's Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College, serves as the principal investigator in coordination with MLFTC's Wendy Oakes, associate professor, and Nicole Thompson, vice dean of teacher preparation. Both Oakes and Thompson are co-investigators.

The project is supported by The Stevens Initiative, an international leader in virtual exchange, which brings young people from diverse places together to collaborate and connect through everyday technology. Created in 2015 as a lasting tribute to Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens, the Initiative invests in virtual exchange programs; shares research, resources, and promising practices to improve impact; and advocates for broader adoption. Future Educators for Inclusion is implemented by ASU and is supported by the J. Christopher Stevens Virtual Exchange Initiative (JCSVEI). JCSVEI is a U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs program administered by the Aspen Institute. 

ASU's Future Educators for Inclusion connects college students enrolled in teacher preparation programs from Morocco and the United States who seek to address the global challenge of disability inclusion as future classroom teachers. Students engage through virtual exchange in activities that allow them to discover how individuals with disabilities in other countries experience educational access and inclusion, learn from international experts about best practices for disability inclusion, and implement a local inclusion project in their respective communities. Together, participants create an international community of teachers dedicated to helping learners of all abilities succeed in their classrooms.

MLFTC is one of 15 schools, higher education institutions, and nonprofit organizations to receive funding through the grant to run virtual exchange programs that connect young people in the United States and the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region.