DUBLIN, IE
In February 2023, Marino Institute of Education (MIE) held a successful conference aiming to introduce SIDiT to the educational community in Ireland. The event featured six keynote speakers who shared their expertise on inclusive educational practices and methodologies. Dr. Ebun Joseph shared her extensive experience as an academic from the Institute for Antiracism and Black Studies and an activist in the field. Dr. Alison Egan from MIE highlighted the importance of digital competency development and how that was incorporated in the development of SIDiT methodology. Dr. Aiveen Mullally from MIE presented the SIDiT handbook and announced the teacher training course. Aisling Coleman provided insights into the implementation of SIDIT in her classroom, while her students shared their experiences and challenges. Dr. Lindsay Myers presented on the multilingual books project developed at the University of Galway, and Annmarie Collins advocated the use of tools like SIDiT to foster inclusion in schools.
The conference attended representatives from various educational and activist bodies. Their feedback was overwhelmingly positive, with many describing the event as a "huge success" and "stimulating and informative". One delegate expressed their gratitude to the organizers and said “I just wanted to say THANK YOU to you and all the team for organising a most stimulating and informative conference with so many thoughts and reactions to percolate and process. It makes me feel like getting into a classroom and putting things in action immediately! Thank you very much. May all the seeds scattered and planted grow into strong action.” Overall, the event was an excellent opportunity to bring together a diverse community of educators and activists committed to supporting inclusion and diversity in schools.