What’s necessary for innovation to occur? What are the preconditions for social renewal? These issues aren’t just the concern of the 2014 Ars Electronica Festival; scholars and practitioners in the field of education are working on them too. The pedagogical answers are many and varied. One especially promising one is inclusion.

Inclusion: All Join In

Inclusion means integrating everybody and excluding no one. In an inclusive school system, there’s no more special ed because in an inclusive school, pupils’ differences constitute enrichment and not a problem. Inclusion is already changing our school system and our educational culture—attitudes, values, methods and even the premises in which educational work is done.

Inclusion Changes Education

Pädagogische Hochschule OÖ , a teacher training facility in Upper Austria, and the Ars Electronica Festival are jointly staging a series of events dealing with these changes. The first is part of under [my] control, a focal-point theme of u19 – CREATE YOUR WORLD. Kicking this off is an encounter with two program highlights in the Ars Electronica Center: the Microcosmonauts in BioLab and zOOm_IN in RoboLab.

Henri Julius on Bonding

After an opening reception, there’ll be a speech by pedagogical scholar Henri Julius followed by a panel discussion. Julius’ area of expertise is how interpersonal bonds are formed especially in the educational process. His address will shed light on what inclusion in the classroom could mean for interpersonal relationships, and show that bonding and forming relationships are also key factors in successfully preventing addiction.

Big Panel Discussion

In addition to Julius, panelists include Irene Gebhardt (Inklusionsprojekt Wiener Neudorf / AT), Eva Prammer-Semmler (Pädagogische Hochschule OÖ, Institut Inklusive Pädagogik/BZIB Bundeszentrum für Inklusive Bildung & Sonderpädagogik / AT), Rainer Schmidbauer (Institut Suchtprävention / AT), Caren Ohrhallinger (nonconform/vor ort ideenwerkstatt / AT) and Gerfried Stocker (artistic director of Ars Electronica / AT).

Schedule

4 PM All inclusive: Visit to BioLab and RoboLab

5:30 PM Reception in Sky Loft

6 PM Keynote address by Henri Julius: What Bonding and Inclusion Can Accomplish, followed by a panel discussion

Other Scheduled Events