Inclusive education: what it is and how it has transformed the school.

An educational project that has set out to guarantee the possibility of learning effectively.

Formal education is one of the most effective methods of socialization that Western societies have built. That is why its theories, models and practices have been constantly modified in response to the social, political and economic events of each era.

Along this path, and especially since education began to be conceived as a universal right, a paradigm has emerged that argues that everyone should have access to formal education regardless of gender, ethnicity, disability or socioeconomic status. This paradigm is that of Educational Inclusion or Inclusive Education..

Next we will explain in more detail, although in an introductory way, what inclusive education is, where it comes from and what are some of its scopes and challenges.

What is inclusive education? Origins, proposals

In 1990 a UNESCO conference was held in Thailand, where several countries (mainly Anglo-Saxon) met and proposed the idea of "one inclusive education". proposed the idea of "a school for everyone"..

Specifically, they wanted to complement and extend the scope of what was previously called "special education", but they did not limit themselves to discussing the conditions of exclusion in which people with disabilities found themselves, but recognized many other contexts of vulnerability in which many people find themselves.

Four years later, at the Salamanca Conference, 88 countries agreed that education should have an inclusive orientation, i.e. that it should not be limited to guaranteeing access to education, but should also ensure that education is effective and efficient. it must also ensure that education is effective and efficient.

In other words, inclusion is a social phenomenon that for almost three decades has been at the center of the debate on education, which has generated and expanded a whole inclusive movement that is not limited to improving the quality of life of people with disabilities, but has made it possible to the model of assistance and rehabilitation for a model of accessibility in disability care, in which in disability care, where the problems are no longer sought in the person but in the conditions of the environment.

In short, inclusive education is the implementation of the paradigm of inclusion in all areas related to formal education (e.g. and mainly in schools, but also involving governmental and non-governmental organizations and institutions as well as public policies).

Inclusive Education or Educational Inclusion?

Both concepts refer to the same process. The difference is that the term educational inclusion refers to the approach or theoretical modelThe difference is that the term educational inclusion refers to the approach or theoretical model, i.e., the organized set of ideas that promote equal access to an effective education, while the term inclusive education refers more specifically to practice; for example, when a school is implementing concrete strategies to promote inclusion and accessibility.

Difference between special education and inclusive education

The main difference lies in the paradigm that underlies each of them. Special education emerged as a tool to ensure that people with disabilities, in some contexts called people with special needs, could access formal education.

It is called "special education" because it is assumed that there are people who have particular problems or needs that general (non-special) education does not have the capacity to address, so it becomes necessary to create a different way of educating and educating people with disabilities. a different way of educating and meeting those needs..

Inclusive education, on the other hand, does not consider that the problem is not people, but education itself, which hardly recognizes the diversity of ways of functioning that coexist among human beings, so that what was needed was not a "special education" for "special people", but a single education capable of recognizing and valuing differences and attending to them on an equal footing. value the differences and attend to them on an equal footing..

In other words, education for all, or inclusive education, is not about expecting us all to be the same, and much less about forcing children to have the same abilities, interests, concerns, rhythms, etc.; on the contrary, it is about creating an educational model that in practice allows us to recognize that we are very different, both in the way we function and in the ways we process or transmit information, which is why we must create strategies, programs and policies that are diverse and flexible.

Finally, although inclusive education is often directly associated with the intention to incorporate people with disabilities into education systems, it is more about recognizing the barriers to learning and barriers to participation that are put in place not only for reasons of disability, but also for gender, cultural, socio-economic, religious, cultural and religious reasons. for reasons not only of disability, but also of gender, cultural, socioeconomic, religious, etc.etc.

From agreements to actions

So what could we do to make education inclusive? In principle barriers to learning and participation need to be identified.. For example, by conducting qualitative assessments that provide a broad and deep understanding of the particular educational context, i.e., the characteristics, needs, facilities and conflicts of a particular school.

From there, evaluate the possibilities of realistic action and raise awareness among the educational community (teachers, family members, children, administrators) in order to promote a paradigm shift and not just a politically correct discourse.

Another example is the curricular adaptations or classroom accompaniments that are carried out after having detected the particular needs of both the children and the teachers. the particular needs of both the children and the teaching staff. and of the teaching staff. It is largely a matter of being empathetic and receptive and of being willing to analyze phenomena not only at the micro level.

Some challenges of this project

Although it is a project very committed to human rights and with very good intentions, as well as many success stories, the reality is that it remains a complicated process.

One of the problems is that it is a proposal to which the "developed countries" aspire, and the "developing countries" on an unequal footing, which means that its impact has not been generalized to all countries and socioeconomic contexts. its impact has not been generalized to all countries and socio-economic contexts..

Moreover, barriers to learning and participation are difficult to detect because pedagogical activity is often focused on the needs of the teacher (the time he/she has to teach, the number of students, etc.), and the problems are child-centered, which also promotes in many contexts an excess of psychopathological diagnoses (e.g., overdiagnosis of ADHD).

Inclusive education is therefore a project that gives us very good future prospects, especially because children who live together and recognize diversity are the future adults who will create accessible societies (not only in terms of space but also in terms of learning and knowledge), but it is also the result of a very complex process that depends not only on the professionals and not only on the children, but also on policies and educational models. depends not only on the professionals, much less on the children, but also on educational policies and models, on the distribution of resources, on the distribution of resources, and on the quality of education., on the distribution of resources, and other macro-political factors that must also be questioned.

Bibliographical references:

• Guzmán, G. (2017). "Articulations between education and psychopathology: reflections on psychopedagogical strategies from the bodies". Revista Palobra, Faculty of Social Sciences and Education, University of Cartagena, (17)1, pp. 316-325.
• López, M.F., Arellano, A. & Gaeta, M.L. (2015). Perception of quality of life of families with children with intellectual disabilities included in regular schools. Paper presented at the IX Jornadas Científicas Internacionales de Investigación Sobre Personas con Discapacidad, INICO Universidad de Salamanca.
• Escudero, J. & Martínez, B. (2011). Inclusive education and school change. Revista Iberoamericana de Educación, 55: 85-105.
• Parrilla, A. (2002). About the origin and meaning of inclusive education. Revista de educación. 327:11-28.