Inclusiveness or travel for all
The MIJE association is a non-profit organisation that has been involved in community education since its creation in 1958.
The number of children with disabilities integrated in primary and secondary schools has done nothing but increase since the 11 February 2005 law came into effect. It sets forth the principle of the right to compensation for disability and the obligation of solidarity of society as a whole towards people with disabilities.
As a result of this law, the right to education for all children, regardless of their disability, becomes a fundamental right. The law on education reform consecrates the principle of inclusive education for the first time.
We are committed to working alongside teachers to help them organise their educational school trips, whatever the nature of the difficulty. We share the idea that a trip “beyond the classroom” is a unique and powerful experience that can be a remarkable opportunity for living together and inclusion regardless of differences…
To go further, and to ensure quality support from professionals, in 2018 we signed a partnership with FOXP2, an association specialising in mobility and inclusion.
Training to improve our response to teacher and student expectations
Our wish is to accompany and welcome all young people in our Paris hostels and school trips, regardless of their health or disability.
In order to enrich several aspects of our profession, we have trained all our advisers via a three-session awareness-raising course.
- First, we deconstructed the stereotypes with a question and answer session allowing everyone to express themselves and share their experience.
- Secondly, during a face-to-face session using more traditional media, we provided figures on the different sorts of disabilities in order to familiarise the counsellors with the WHO classification. During a special session on the “school of trust”, they also discovered the role of the players (MDPH – departmental centre for disabled persons, school doctors, supervising teachers) as well as the different school inclusion schemes. The counsellors are now able to exchange with the teaching profession using the same reference system.
- During the last key session, we worked on scenarios based on real cases which helped us find relevant adaptation solutions as a team.
Our counsellors can now identify focal points and propose reasonable accommodations that allow teachers to devote themselves fully to their pedagogical project.
Accompanying teachers means proposing and anticipating
From the welcome in our hostels to the selection of our suppliers and the commitment of our transport partners, it is the entire educational school trip chain that must now be transformed in order to provide practical answers and facilitate the accessibility of stays.
FOXP2 is accompanying us in this transformation in order to design inclusive stays that are prepared in advance.
This promise of accessibility now gives us the opportunity to offer a youth hostel in Paris with the CNLTA (National Council of Adapted Recreation and Tourism) label, as well as numerous trips in France and Europe.
As a committed partner of the “school without walls” concept, MIJE advises and accompanies close to 2,000 groups every year.