Pushed to Build Socially Diverse School Communities: Are We Happy Together?

• In Event: Challenging Inequality: The Complex Enactment of Social Inclusion in Education

Abstract

Word count: 497

Objectives

In 2017, Chile began the implementation of the Educational Inclusion Law (EIL) and, with this, a new School Admission System (SAE, in Spanish) consisting of a lottery-based online system where families apply to schools under a free school choice policy. Consequently, all types of selection in the admission processes started to be forbidden in those schools receiving state funding (90% of the national enrolments). This paper draws on a study focused on a small subset of schools categorized as ‘Schools with High Academic Standards’ (SHAS). The SHAS have been permitted to continue some degree of academic selectivity to keep their academic excellence, while slowly incorporating open admissions to include students from more diverse social backgrounds without considering their previous academic records. In this context, we explore how the SHAS are adapting to a possibly more socially diverse corpus of students. The purpose of the paper is to characterize the SHAS’s views and strategies related to the New Admission System’s consequences on their student compositions and social relationships within the schools.

Theoretical Framework

The paper’s theoretical framework is based on research about social diversity in schools (school mix), which shows that this may promote cultural exchange and democratic learning among students (Janmaat, 2022). However, internal segregation, conflicts and reinforcement of prejudices might also occur, particularly when there is no school mixing (i.e., interactions). Thus, it is necessary to avoid a romanticized conceptualization of social diversity as ‘happy togetherness’ (Wise & Noble, 2016) and rather explore how school actors in SHAS are experiencing inclusion and diversity while trying to keep high academic results.

Data and Methods

This paper focuses on the qualitative component of our mixed-methods study, specifically, on the in-depth interviews we conducted with members of staff who work on the students’ coexistence and socioemotional wellbeing in 15 SHAS (out of a total of 34). The data sources of this paper are three of the dimensions addressed in the interviews (approximately four in each school): a) perceived changes in the student compositions, b) views on the Inclusion Law and its inclusion mandate, and c) coexistence challenges and institutional adjustments. The data have been analyzed through thematic analysis (Braun & Clarke, 2022).

Results

The analyses reveal that while there is an extended appreciation of social inclusion and school mix, this is often intertwined with strong concerns about school mixing. The interviewees tend to perceive that SAE is promoting the admission of students who are not happy with the school where they were allocated, leading to their lack of motivation and increasing conflicts with their peers. The paper analyses the discursive tensions between school actors and the strategies that, depending on their available resources, the establishments deploy to face the challenges associated with school mixing and promote convivencia or peaceful coexistence (Fierro & Fortoul, 2022).

Significance

The scholarly significance of these findings rests on their contribution to the evaluation of inclusion policies and their degree of feasibility in environments of academic excellence, providing evidence on what these schools need to foster school mixing and peaceful coexistence.

Authors

• Manuela Mendoza, Universidad de O'Higgins
  Presenting Author

• Alejandro Carrasco, The Pontifical Catholic University of Chile
  Non-Presenting Author

• Juan de Dios Oyarzun, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Valparaíso
  Non-Presenting Author