Webinar 6 | Inclusive Education in a Strengths-based Era: Mapping the Future of the Field 

It’s time to focus on what students can do, rather than what they can’t. This session will explore central, defining questions for the field of special and inclusive education: who, what, and where do we teach; what works in inclusive education; and where does inclusive education go now? The focus will be on educational practices that accrue when we presume that disability is part of, and not apart from, typical human functioning and we focus on student strengths. The presentation will examine how disability has been understood, historically, and how new ways of understanding disability are moving the field toward personalized education and strengths-based approaches. The presentation will focus on the centrality of self-determination and self-determined learning in the education of all learners in the 21st century.

Michael L. Wehmeyer, Ph.D.
Ross and Marianna Beach Distinguished Professor in Special Education and Chair, Department of Special Education
Senior Scientist and Director, Beach Center on Disability
University of Kansas

Michael L. Wehmeyer, Ph.D. is the Ross and Mariana Beach Distinguished Professor of Special Education; Chair of the Department of Special Education; and Director and Senior Scientist, Beach Center on Disability; all at the University of Kansas. His research and scholarly work has focused issues pertaining to self-determination, positive psychology and disability, transition to adulthood, the education and inclusion of students with severe disabilities, conceptualizing intellectual disability, and technology use by people with cognitive disabilities. He has published more than 470 peer-reviewed journal articles and book chapters. He is an author or editor on 45 texts. Dr. Wehmeyer is Past-President and a Fellow of the American Association on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (AAIDD); a Fellow of the American Psychological Association Division 33 (Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Division). He has been recognized for his research and service with lifetime achievement awards from numerous associations and organizations, including the American Psychological Association, American Association on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities, Council for Exceptional Children, and The Arc of the United States.

This webinar is part of the Distinguished Speaker Webinar Series on Special and Inclusive Education 2021-22. For more information visit https://www.unic.ac.cy/eduseries2021-22