UMPI hosts delegation of Swedish educators

    PRESQUE ISLE – Almost 40 Swedish educators will be paying a special visit to northern Maine and the University of Presque Isle on Sept. 20 to learn about inclusive education in the United States thanks to the research efforts of a local education professor.     The delegation of Swedish educators is touring Canadian schools in New Brunswick between Sept. 15 and 22 to see “inclusion in action,” according to Dr. JoAnne Putnam, UMPI education professor. Inclusive education involves transitioning students with intellectual impairments and special needs into traditional schools and classrooms. Officials in Sweden place such students in a separate education system but are thinking of changing that.
    As part of their trip, the Swedish teachers are setting aside time Thursday to make their only stop in the U.S. They will observe inclusive education at a school in New Sweden in the morning and from 2 to 4:30 p.m. in the Campus Center’s Multipurpose Room they will take part in an educational exchange with the university’s education faculty members.
    “It’s a true honor to have a country like Sweden seek best practices from the University of Maine at Presque Isle and the local area,” Putnam said. “Sweden is one of the top-rated countries in terms of education, so we have a lot to learn from them.”
    This will be the third visit since 2000 that a Swedish group has made to the area to learn about inclusive education. About a decade ago, according to Putnam, the Swedish Parliament began studying the feasibility of merging the country’s segregated education systems. Two researchers who had read Putnam’s book, “Cooperative Learning and Strategies for Inclusion,” visited schools in Mapleton and Caribou to learn about how the concept works in the U.S.
    The second visit involved members of a parliamentary committee who wanted to examine the inclusive education being done in Maine. Following that visit, Putnam and her colleague, then UMPI Education Professor Gordon Porter, were invited in the spring of 2006 to tour five Swedish cities and give lectures on inclusive education. At one of those lectures, the teachers requested seeing inclusion in action.
    That is what led to the third visit this fall and the plan to host the Swedish-UMPI Inclusive Education Exchange. The Thursday afternoon seminar will include presentations on education in Sweden from the Swedes and some presentations on inclusive education in the U.S. by Putnam, Porter – who is now the chair of the New Brunswick Human Rights Commission – and UMPI Education Professor Dr. William Breton. Education students, local teachers and community members are invited to attend the exchange.
    Putnam is hoping the visit will help both to raise awareness of inclusive education and get more local educators excited about this topic.
    The Swedish-UMPI Inclusive Education Exchange will be held from 2 to 4:30 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 20 in the Campus Center’s Multipurpose Room. The public is invited to attend.