Inclusive Education, Disability Advocacy and Technology for Inclusive Societies

Dear Colleagues,

Over the past 25 years, there has been growing international and European interest in defining, developing and advancing inclusive education. The concept has evolved considerably—from an initial focus on the placement and support of children with “special educational needs” in mainstream schools to a broader commitment to ensuring the participation, belonging and learning of all learners.

Teacher educators play a critical role in preparing a teaching workforce capable of responding effectively to learner diversity. Developing teacher education programmes that prepare teachers to teach all learners is therefore essential to advancing inclusive education and building more equitable and inclusive education systems.

At the same time, information and communication technologies (ICT), artificial intelligence (AI) and assistive technologies (AT) are creating new possibilities for accessibility, participation, communication and learning across diverse educational contexts and stages of life. These technologies have the potential to reduce barriers to learning and participation, support personalised and accessible learning experiences and empower learners with diverse needs.

Against this background, this Special Issue, entitled “Inclusive Education, Disability Advocacy and Technology for Inclusive Societies,” seeks to contribute to and extend the ongoing international dialogue on inclusive education, disability advocacy, accessibility and the role of technology in fostering more inclusive societies.

The Special Issue welcomes diverse perspectives, theoretical approaches, empirical research and innovative practices examining how education systems, teacher education, disability advocacy and emerging technologies can contribute to more inclusive, accessible and equitable educational opportunities.

Topics of Interest

Contributions may address, but are not limited to, the following themes:

• Preparing all teachers to teach all learners
• Inclusive curricula, teacher education and professional development
• Innovative approaches to supporting learner diversity across educational contexts and stages of life
• Disability advocacy and the development of inclusive societies
• Universal Design for Learning (UDL)
• Accessibility, participation and belonging in education
• Assistive Technologies and inclusive learning
• Artificial Intelligence and inclusive education
• ICT and digital technologies for accessibility and inclusion
• Policies, systems and practices aimed at reducing educational and social barriers

Contributions have to follow one of the three categories of papers (article, concept paper or review) of the journal and address the topic of the Special Issue.

Prof. Dr. Michele Domenico Todino
Dr. Argyro Fella
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the Special Issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as conceptual papers are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a double-anonymized peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Societies is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.