Classifications of disabilities in the field of education

The research project aims to provide an international and cross-cultural comparative study in the field of special needs and inclusive education. It investigates which environmental factors facilitate or restrict activity and participation of school-aged children with disabilities in the field of education in different societal and cultural contexts. The project refers to the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) of the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the adapted Child and Youth version (ICF-CY). This classification regards disability as a product of impairments of physical and mental structures and functions, activity limitations and participation restrictions in combination with environmental and personal factors. Based on the classification scheme of the ICF/ICF-CY the research project investigates barriers and facilitators in the field of education in Austria, Thailand, and Ethiopia in cooperation with staff members of local universities. These three countries differ to a great extent in regard to societal and cultural contexts. With reference to the Human Development Index (HDI), the societal development can be regarded as high in Austria, medium in Thailand, and low in Ethiopia. The empirical data for this study will be collected through field research. The study will follow a uniform design and will be undertaken simultaneously in the three countries. Using a mixed-methods approach including a grounded-theory-based qualitative part, the project takes an ecological perspective on children and the micro systems, which they are involved in, such as their families and school classes. Interviews with professionals and parents as well as adapted techniques for capturing the perspectives of the children with disabilities will help to reconstruct societal and cultural aspects of disability. Additionally, the project will include quantitative surveys with the same target groups to identify societal and cultural factors regarded as barriers and facilitators in the educational process. Thus, while the study intends to use the ICF classification as a tool for educational research, it will critically examine its applicability in different cultures and societies. The research project involves innovative aspects such as: (1) fundamental research on the relations between society, culture, disability and education, (2) application of the ICF and ICF-CY in the field of education including its critical examination, (3) development of research methods through international scientific cooperation in the field of special needs education.

The project comprises basic knowledge on interrelations between education and disability in countries differing to a high degree in their level of development as well as their society and culture. In accordance with the Human Development Index the level of development can be regarded as high in Austria, middle in Thailand, and low in Ethiopia. All three countries look back at hundreds of years of development of their society and culture, which has not been affected by colonialism. Applying the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF, ICF-CY) by the WHO as a tool the project explored barriers and facilitators students with disabilities between 8 and 12 years face in school education environments. In several phases of data collection the educational conditions of students with sensory, somatic, and intellectual disabilities were investigated by interviewing and questioning parents, children, teachers, and experts in each capital of the three countries (Vienna, Bangkok, and Addis Ababa). The collected data enable claims regarding society and disability and on significant differences between the countries. The advocacy of Austrian parents for the individual benefits of their children in school, determines the view on school and the collaborative relations with the institution and related actors. Ethiopian parents appreciated the possibility for their disabled child to go to school at all, which is not regarded as given. Circumstances of poverty percolated all school-related activities. The sense of belonging to a community is a crucial societal and cultural aspect of shaping relations in all relevant areas in school in Ethiopia. The Buddhist notion of re-incarnation and karma was a main point of orientation for the perception of disability among Thai parents. The dominating view on disability could not be attributed to the prevalent international western models, and was classified as karma-medical model of disability by the project team. Based on this view, the interpretation of collaborative relations and ways of dealing with disability, were interpreted as being different to the two other countries.