News
November 2011
In this issue:
- illiteracy in the prison population
- webinar on prison education
- German version of online course
- course updates
- 'Greetings to the Children of Japan'
- change of personnel
- D.I. Literacy for All
- D.I. Regional ambassadors
Illiteracy in the prison population
Surveys in Canada, the USA reveal up to 75% illiteracy rates in prisons and UK research shows levels of specific learning difficulties amongst those inmates who are illiterate are double the average in the general public. Throughout the prison population, the majority will have had a negative experience at school.
Dyslexia International has been asked to conduct a feasibility study for the introduction of an online course for prison educators and is currently seeking sponsorship for this project.
Webinar on prison education
D.I. is coordinating a webinar, kindly hosted by Microsoft Schools Technology Innovation Center, Brussels, on 21 March 2012 at 17 00 Central Europe Time: Illiteracy in the prison population
The speakers are:
- Professor Linda Siegel, University of British Columbia, Canada, expert on dyslexia and early learning difficulties in both maternal and second languages; Linda has also studied illiteracy and suicide in the adolescent population
- Professor Elena Grigorenko, Yale University, USA, an expert in the genetics of learning difficulties, who has written papers on learning disabilities in harsh developmental environments with high rates of illness, intoxication, and poverty
- Ms Marion Walker, UK, author and teachers of adults with dyslexia, whose training course is used in prisons in Scotland
- Ms Melanie Jamiesen, UK, Dyslexia Consultant, author of Guidelines for supporting clients and users of the justice system who have dyslexia and other specific learning difficulties
- * Professors Siegel and Grigorenko spoke at the World Dyslexia Forum in 2010. Their presentations can be found here.
Please join this webinar on your PC if you have a broadband connection. You will be able to post comments or questions in real time by email.
You may send your request to join .
German version of online course
A consortium has been set up to apply for EU funding under the Comenius programme*. Its members are:
- supervised by Dirk Schleis (Zentrum voor Psychopedagogiek), Belgium working in collaboration with Switzerland and Germany, and the germanophone Ministry and the francophone Ministry of Obligatory Education, Belgium
- with scientific supervision by Dr. Karin Landerl (former student of Heinz Wimmer), Germany
- a school in Vienna
- the Ministry of Education, Italy
- Dyslexia International
The project will have three major facets spread over several years:
- Evaluation of the online learning course currently being used in the French-speaking community of Belgium (see October newsletter)
- Adaptation of the online course into German
- Comparative evaluation of the efficacy of the new course
The consortium is holding a preparatory meeting in Bozen, Italy, on 13 and 14 December. D.I. Consultant, Dr Vincent Goetry is planning to attend.
* The Comenius programme helps young people acquire the basic life skills and competences necessary for personal development, future employment and active citizenship.
Course updates
Dyslexia International will enhance the online learning courses by adding new reading tests which are more sensitive as they measure both accuracy and speed. Some existing tests and the new tests will also be provided with norms against which to compare the results obtained by a particular child. This will give more precise information about a possible developmental delay or learning difficulty as an improvement on the current provision, which compares the child to another single child from the classroom.
An e-mail address will be provided for participants who have specific questions to ask about the contents of the course.
These improvements are based on the feedback from a session run by Vincent Goetry with liaison persons who are currently being trained in Belgium, in collaboration with the Ministry of Obligatory Education and Social Promotion as well as with the Lifelong Learning Institute.
'Greetings to the Children of Japan'
We are indebted to the City of Brussels and International Solidarity for hosting this exceptional event in the splendid Town Hall in the Grande Place. The concert provided Dyslexia International with an opportunity to acknowledge our association with Mr Yamamoto, former Attaché of the Brussels Capital Region, Tokyo.
We were able to liaise with the Japanese Embassy and the Japanese School of Brussels, where we are working with its director, Mr Okuda, on seeing that the funds raised reach the most pressing projects for children in the tsunami-stricken area. Mr Okuda himself comes from the area and is helping us all to provide what might be most needed for these children who lack basic items including heating, books, and musical instruments.
The concert music director, David Miller, composer, conductor and pianist, brought together outstanding singers and musicians. The event was filmed thanks to Harald Eeckels of ALL-TV so that the distinguished artists who took part and the children’s choirs from both the European School and the Japanese School who sang so well can be seen on DVDs which we are making available from our office.
We were honoured by the presence of our Patron HRH Princess Margaretha of Liechtenstein and His Excellency Mr Yokota Jun, Ambassador of Japan to Belgium. Photocalls were limitless.
Change of personnel
Barry O'Halpin
D.I. extends a warm welcome to Barry O'Halpin, new Office manager, taking over some of the duties of volunteer Project manager Selma Tuncoz.
Selma left us to return to further education in electrical engineering before moving to the USA. She will be missed by all her colleagues in D.I.
D.I. Literacy for All springs to life
Our Literacy for All fundraising programme is now active with Victoria Eulaerts generously giving her energy and time as President. More in the next newsletter.
Victoria invites all readers to order their copy of Dyslexia International’s ‘The Mystery of the Lost Letters’ - an adventure with Tintin and Snowy on the road to success. They can be ordered here for 15 EUR (or more of course).
This is after all ‘Tintin time’ – and Spielberg himself admitted to having dyslexia.
More here on page 5.
D.I. Regional ambassadors
We are indebted to our 14 Regional ambassadors in Africa, the Arab States, Asia and the Pacific, Latin America and the Caribbean, and Europe and North America, who promote our work towards meeting the UNESCO goals of ‘Education for All’ and ‘Inclusion’. In particular, Dyslexia International appreciates them as trusted friends and associates who identify with our aims, and also for their professional expertise as university professors, peace education specialists or business people. It also values their communications skills and their willingness to represent us at meetings within their area. We plan to run a series of profiles of these important members of our team.
Zhang Baihua
Our Regional ambassador in China is Zhang Baihua, who graduated from Leuven University in 2003 in Education. She writes recently to say, ‘My colleagues and I have been working on how to help children learn Chinese speech, reading and writing more effectively. We have looked at Steiner’s theories of adopting the arts as a way to nourish children holistically – theories that are increasingly popular in China.’