DISES President's Message August 2022
Dear Colleagues,
We are excited to share the recent highlights and activities over the past few months with DISES. Our passion, mission, and vision were supported by over 100 participants representing over 10 international countries at our Global Summit in Breckenridge in June. It was wonderful to see so many of you at the event and we look forward to future activities together.
The focus of the Global Summit was spurred by the CEC strategic plan # 4 Establish CEC as a globally recognized leader in the field of special education.
We hosted roundtable discussions with CEC leadership and I’m happy to share some of the highlights with you today from our incredible conversations. We have much to do and great enthusiasm to get started.
CEC in 5 years:
- Outreach to other organizations (International School Services, State Department, etc.).
- One-stop resources- if we want a global presence, we would like to see the resources available in numerous languages.
- Develop a global development plan (goals, progress monitoring/measurement and assessment plan.
- Define and operationalize diversity in a global context.
- Consider the potential cost-prohibitive nature of international CEC membership. Could there be a sliding scale (e.g., no cost for individuals from third world countries, reduced cost from LMIC). Can there be sponsorship opportunities for special education professionals from outside of the U.S.?
DISES 5 years:
- An international focus beyond the division with more interconnection and cohesiveness between our division and other CEC divisions and organizations.
- Increasing access to resources for all.
- Affordability is addressed with CEC and partnerships internationally.
- Address UNESCO information related to international education.
- Expand work in other countries- service projects, teacher training, web resources.
- More support for international members such as exchanging experiences.
- Build stronger networks for families and communities globally.
Together we have such an opportunity to create change and impact global special needs education. We welcome your input on these topics and more. Please share your thoughts here with a survey to continue the planning and work together.
We rely on our membership to build and work toward this mission. Unfortunately, our membership has decreased this year and we are reaching out to you as well to encourage your colleagues or sponsor an international colleague or teacher to be a part of this dynamic organization. We have some exciting things planned for fall and of course, we also just announced our 2023 Roundtable partnership. Stay tuned for a call for proposal information coming soon!
Upcoming highlights include:
September 24th 3pm EDT, 12 pm PDT - Our next Sip & Chat, please join in and share some time together with your DISES colleagues. This is very informal, we wanted to provide an opportunity to have some social time too! A big shout out to Jennifer Ward and Elizabeth Zagata for their efforts to host this event.
October 15, 2022 12pm EDT - Thanks to Rebekka Jez and her team for continuing the incredible conversations with educators around the world. Join us for these informative and interactive virtual events.
March 2023 Planning for CEC in Louisville - we hope to see you there!
And drumroll please…our 2023 Roundtable which will be held in Bangalore, India! We’re pleased to announce that we will be partnering with India’s Community-Based Rehabilitation Network (CBR) for this roundtable. Watch for the call for proposals which will come out in the fall. Meanwhile: SAVE THE DATE! JULY 12 - 14, 2023
DISES is truly a global family. The board is excited about all the upcoming opportunities to meet, gather and share. We invite you to join in committees, and events and of course share opportunities for membership with everyone you meet!
I wanted to share a special thank you to DISES member Jim Chapple who has served on the board in many capacities over the years, he is stepping down as Membership Chair and passing the torch to Jennifer Ward with the support of the board and membership committee. Sacha Cartagena will be stepping in as the member at large for membership as well. Thank you to everyone who dedicates their time to DISES! YOU are all so important to the work that we do.
I look forward to connecting with you at our upcoming events and can’t wait to share details about Bangalore.
Thank you and all the best today!
Clara Clara Hauth, PhD President, Division of International Special Education and Services