Past Event
NEWS
EVENT
June 24, 2025
1st Disability in Education Network Dialogue: Making Inclusion a Reality Across the Lifespan.
Please click here to register.
Dr. Bhan is a Professor, Head of the Department of Special Education and Chairperson Board of Studies Special Education, SNDT Women's University Mumbai. She has over three decades of experience in special education and inclusive education. Dr. Bhan has examined Ph.D. thesis from prestigious universities such as the University of Northampton UK, University of East Anglia UK, IIT Mumbai, JNU Delhi, University of Mumbai, Delhi University, Guru Nanak Dev University Amritsar, Punjab University Chandigarh, Banasthali University, TISS Mumbai, and MS University Vadodara.
Prof. Bhan is the Editor of a bi-monthly newsletter, DSE SYMPHONY, published by the Department of Special Education, SNDT WU. She has organized numerous international and national conferences, including the 3rd International Conference on Education, sponsored by ICSSR and accredited by the Rehabilitation Council of India. The conference attracted 400 participants in Mumbai. Prof. Bhan is also a member of the Advisory Board of DEGSN, NCERT, and has served on committees for special children for the Government of Maharashtra. She is consulted by State and Central Government Institutes like NCERT and the Rehabilitation Council of India for developing policies and curriculum for children with special needs. She has attended over 100 national conferences and presented at over 50 international conferences.
I am Professor of Education and Head of the Manchester Institute of Education, having served as Head of ITE since 2017. I was appointed as Director of Partnerships and Teacher Inquiry at The University of Manchester in October 2014. Prior to this, I was Head of School Direct at Edge Hill University and Programme Leader for the BA (Hons) Primary Education with QTS Part Time Programme. I joined Edge Hill University in January 2007, following several years as a senior lecturer at Newcastle University. I have always been passionate about seeking to improve my own practice and keen to work with others to develop their understanding and interpretation of new initiatives.
In September 2000, I embarked upon a PhD, to seek to develop an understanding of formative assessment, following the seminal review of Black and Wiliam (1998). The PhD thesis was grounded in developing insights into the practice of experienced practitioners, with a view that through unravelling their practice it could then be available to question and critically scrutinise, ultimately with a view to improving it.
My research interests lie not only in formative assessment but also in enhancing practice in pre-service teacher education, and my most recent research has focused more specifically on mentors, mentoring and the recent ITE reforms in England. My approach to research is rooted in the qualitative paradigm.
Dr Arianna Vivoli is a development economist with a focus on quantitative analysis of labour economics. She holds a PhD in Development Economics from the University of Florence and Trento. She has been a researcher at ARCO since February 2022, in the Inclusive Development unit. At ARCO, she works on operational research projects that aim to increase the labour inclusion and employability of young people, women and people with disabilities, both in Italy and abroad. Some of the clients she has worked for are PLAN International, UNICEF, Save the Children, CUAMM, ActionAid.
She is also part of the partnership working on the EU-funded Horizon research project Paths2Include, also on labour market inclusion issues. Prior to her experience at ARCO, she worked as an international consultant at UNU-WIDER and at the UN-WTO International Trade Center in Geneva on projects on women's inclusion in the agri-business sector and as a research assistant at the London School of Economics on projects analysing labour market conditions in the textile sector in South-East Asia.
Arlene is a postgraduate researcher at Manchester Metropolitan University. As a former nurse who presently lives with chronic illness, Arlene utilises her perspective from the other side of the medical fence to analyse and critique literary and scholarly representations of illness and disability. Her current project seeks to explore the meaning and value of fiction on audio format to individuals living with sensory impairments specific to Myalgic Enchephalomyelitis. Through collaborative research practice, Arlene explores stigma, epistemic injustice and literary exclusion – with an aim to amplify the voices of her co-contributors. She has published both critically and creatively, most recently in The BMJ Humanities, Synapsis and The Polyphony.
Chinyere Usen
Mrs Chinyere Usen is a doctoral researcher at the Nigerian Institute of Advanced Legal Studies (NIALS), affiliate of the University of Ife in Nigeria, and specializing in Legal Drafting. Her interest is in the area of Disability Law and Human Rights of Persons with Disability. She aims at contributing to the legislative reforms that can bridge the gaps in the legal frameworks in Nigeria on the education of children with disabilities.
Mrs Usen has over 35 years of Working Experience spanning from Banking to Legal Practice and has worked variously as an Administrative Secretary with both national and multinational companies in Nigeria. She is currently working with Masters Energy Group as the Executive Director Legal and Group Company Secretary.
Gabriel Agbobli is a motivated researcher with a passion for data science, machine learning, and analytics. He has been practicing data analytics and data science independently and is always eager to expand his knowledge in the field. Gabriel has had the opportunity to work on several data science projects, hackathons, and internships all with the aim of helping make the world a better place. Additionally, he served as a Google Developer Student Club Lead, where he helped students find their start in the tech industry.
His strong communication skills and commitment to learning make him a leader whom others look up to. His main area of expertise lies in applying statistical methods to machine learning to solve real-world problems. Currently, Gabriel works as a Research Assistant at the Department of Statistics and Actuarial Science at the University of Ghana.
Gabriel enjoys speaking at events on topics such as Data Science, Data Mining, Machine Learning, Responsible AI, and Explainable AI, and is a strong advocate for inclusive education.
Dr Gift Sontonye-Frank is a law lecturer to both undergraduate and postgraduate students at Queens University Belfast School of Law. Her research interests are in the areas of stereotyping of adolescent pregnant girls and also rights to equality and non-discrimination in the areas of education, gender, and sexuality.
Gift is currently the EDI lead at the Queen’s School of Law, an award winner of the inaugural NI hummingbird award for Workplace EDI champion. She is also a member of the Queen’s Race Equality Champions Network. Gift is a founding member of the Queen’s African Scholars Research Network. She volunteers with the Education working group of the African and Caribbean Support Organisation of Northern Ireland. She is an academic contributor to the Northern Ireland African and Caribbean Leadership Consortium. Gift is an external advisory board member of the NI Migrant and Minority Think Tank.
Niamh Hennessy is a registered primary school teacher with experience in a variety of educational settings in Ireland and abroad. She has contributed to several programmes with the Centre of Special Educational Needs, Inclusion and Diversity in ATU, St. Angela’s. Her research interests include quality teaching experiences, critical policy analysis, progressive learning environments, and teaching and learning for diverse populations in varied contexts. Niamh currently holds an advisory role with the National Council for Special Education. She has extensive experience supporting autistic learners and those with co-presenting disabilities. Her particular interest lies in teacher education for inclusive education, with an approach grounded in effective, inclusive pedagogy.
My name is Ruby Goodley, I am a first-year PhD student in the School of Sociology and Social Policy at the University of Leeds (UoL). I have obtained 1+3 White Rose Doctoral Training Programme funding from the Economic and Social Research Council. My PhD project is looking at how we can use the lived experiences of disabled anthropologists in their discipline of anthropology as a case study to promote more inclusive research environments in higher educational spaces. Alongside my academic interests, I am a postgraduate representative for the Centre for Disability Studies (CDS) at UoL, which involves hosting events and conferences for disability studies postgraduate researchers (PGRs) in and around Leeds. Moreover, I am a committee member of the White Rose Disability Network, which hosts disability-focused events that bring together PGRs and civil society members, located in northern England with an interest in disability studies.
Sara Fiori is a PhD student at Trinity College Dublin, School of Computer Science and Statistics. Her research on computer programming education for students with intellectual disabilities explores facilitators and barriers to enhance inclusive learning, aiming to support the co-design and evaluation of inclusive materials and best practices. She holds an MSc in Computer Engineering and has three years of research assistant experience, including teaching programming to secondary school children, exploring inclusion experiences and creating a digital skills education programme for adults with intellectual disabilities. She has over 15 years of volunteer experience with people with disabilities, focusing on inclusion.
Vicky Kaperoni is an award-winning English teacher, author, and dyslexia specialist dedicated to inclusive education. She is the founder of Teaching Brightly, a language center promoting innovative, multisensory learning methods. With a Master’s in Innovative Teaching and ongoing PhD studies, she trains educators through NOCN and has authored Greece’s first Pre-Junior EFL book for students with learning difficulties. Her work has earned her the ELT Excellence Award (2024) and the Global Teacher Award (2024). Paraskevi actively presents at international conferences, inspiring educators worldwide to embrace diversity and support all learners in the English language classroom.
The symposium schedule will be released on the first week of June.
This symposium is free of charge.