PBS Europe virtual strand experience of the International Conference of the American Association of Positive Behavior Support from 13-16 April 2022, San Diego.
The 19th International Conference of the Association on Positive Behavior Support (APBS; www.apbs.org) was held in San Diego, CA, April 13-16, 2022. APBS' annual International Conference usually features over 150 oral presentations, posters, pre-conference and skill-building workshops highlighting empirical findings, assessment and intervention methods, current topics, and other aspects of Positive Behavior Support (PBS). This year’s international Conference included two strands of sessions live streamed in time zones for the Europe and Asia Pacific Regions. The agendas about this content were curated especially for attendees in these areas. The sessions were recorded and are available for on demand viewing in the conference platform for 90 days after the conference.
The conference convenor for the European Virtual Strand was dr. Sui Lin Goei, president of the PBS-Europe Network and Ex-Officio Board Member of the APBS; The board of the PBS-Europe Network, represented by prof. dr. Hannu Savolainen (University of Eastern Finland), dr. Michael Paal/prof. dr. Anna-Maria Hintz (University of Oldenburg, Germany), prof. dr. Edwin Jones (British Institute of Learning Disabilities, UK), Joke Kamstra (Windesheim University of Applied Sciences, Netherlands), Angeline van der Kamp (Fontys University of Applied Sciences, Netherlands) were the moderators of the subsequent virtual conference days. The strand was organized from April 13-16 parallel to the onsite conference in San Diego and each day lasted from 3- 6 pm CEST.
Day 1 (13 April) focused on Research in Early Childhood and School-wide Systems, and featured presentations from French-speaking Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Netherlands, and Cyprus. For instance the presentation by Germany focused on data-based decision making as a key factor for successful and sustained implementation of School-wide PBIS and highlighted the piloting of a tool for data-driven decisions in an inclusive school in Germany.
Day 2 featured School-wide PBS implementation in UK schools. From 2019-2021, a project was carried out by the British Institute of Learning Disabilities and Windesheim University of Applied Sciences aiming to find out what London schools need to implement SWPBS Tier 1 with fidelity; experiences were shared by mainstream schools and special education schools from London (Saxon Way Primary, Lordswood School, Elms School and the Garden School).
On Day 3 several European countries, such as Spain, Turkey, Lithuania, Czech Republic and Icesland featured their narratives of school-wide implementations in their local contexts.
Day 4 was reserved for new technologies and future directions. Dr. Crispino Tostino from CNR presented WP5 of the ARETE-project with the title ‘Augmented Reality for Elevating Students’ Behaviour Management and Self-regulation Skills Within SWPBS’.
The presentation was followed by a panel featuring the PBS-Europe board members discussing future directions of (School-wide) PBS throughout Europe, and special guest speaker prof. dr. Randall DuPrey from Portland State University (US). It was concluded SW-PBS could be a promising tool to elevate school well-being and an inclusive learning environment.
Apart from the virtual conference dr. Sui Lin Goei, dr. Crispino Tosto and dr. Luciano Seta also attended the onsite conference in San Diego. They presented a poster on WP5 of the ARETE-project.
Sui Lin Goei, VU Amsterdam, Netherlands
