The Rodrigo Mendes Institute (IRM) is a non-profit organization whose mission is to collaborate so that every person with a disability has a first-rate education in a mainstream school. The Institute's projects follow an architecture based on 3 pillars:
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Training
Contribute to the training of educators, public managers and schoolchildren who are agents of transformation in the contexts in which they operate, ensuring the implementation of inclusive education practices.
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Good practices
Systematize experience and generate applied knowledge on inclusive education, ensure full access to information for the implementation of initiatives across the country.
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Advocacy
Lead actions in public policies related to inclusive education through networking with other institutions, aiming a joint action in advocacy nationally and internationally and ensuring that associations that influence the direction of education in the country have equity as a principle.
IRM programs are implemented through established partnerships with organizations from diverse sectors. Internationally, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), the J.P. Morgan bank, the FC Barcelona Foundation and the Brazil Foundation deserve special mention.
Diversa
DIVERSA is an internet platform about inclusive education best practices. It offers references and knowledge for teachers, principals, public policy managers and families of persons with disabilities. DIVERSA was created in 2011 by the Rodrigo Mendes Institute with the support of the Brazilian Ministry of Education and other organizations committed to the promotion of equality. This platform offers articles, experience reports, accessible pedagogical materials and case studies on successful experiences in all regions of Brazil, at different levels of education, as well as in other countries, such as the United States, France, Denmark and Argentina.
Open Doors to Inclusion
The “Open Doors to Inclusion” is a teacher training program focused on reducing the exclusion of children and teenagers with disabilities through sport and physical education activities in mainstream schools. It was created in 2012 by a partnership between the Rodrigo Mendes Institute, UNICEF and the Barcelona Foundation. The project offers teacher training to educators, school principals and members of education secretaries from different regions of Brazil. The strategy is to support them on how to change the guidelines followed by the physical education classes so that every student with a disability can participate and develop his or her full potential.
IRM Impacts 2011-2020
Training
- 265.000 impacted students
- 3.100 certified educators
- 20 Brazilian states
This impact will grow substantially from 2019 onwards with the launch of its first distance learning training course developed in partnership with UNICEF, which has received more than 30.000 entries from all Brazilian states.
Good practices
- 137.000 participants in lectures
- 4 millions DIVERSA visitors
Since 2015, the IRM has supported the Angolan Ministry of Education in the creation of a National Policy on Inclusive Education. This Policy was signed by the Angolan president in 2017 and is in the implementation phase. This project will impact hundreds of thousands of school-aged children and adolescents.
"We dream of educational networks and schools that offer children and adolescents with disabilities the opportunity to achieve their best as human beings. To gain autonomy through education."
Rodrigo Hübner Mendes Founder of IRM