School Efforts in Favor of Inclusion

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

Abstract

Word count: 491

Objectives

We face a growing questioning of public policies of inclusion in Latin America in recent decades, in a context of exhaustion of the neoliberal model, expressed in the worsening of inequalities of traditionally excluded population groups. This situation indicates the urgent need to review the meaning of the educational space, from the point of view of social justice (Cuenca, 2012; Bolivar and Murillo, 2017) with a view to reversing the consequences of the deep social inequalities experienced by students. This text presents some results of a case study of schools in México, Guatemala, Perú, Chile, Colombia and Argentina committed to improving peaceful coexistence.

Theoretical Framework

The cases are analyzed based on an operational concept of convivencia escolar, one of whose axes is inclusion, understood as the recognition of the diverse identities and needs of students, as well as the creation of supportive communities (Fierro and Carbajal, 2019).

Four elements describe inclusion: a) inclusion is a permanent process of searching for better ways to respond to diversity; b) it is concerned with the identification and elimination of barriers; c) it is related to the presence, participation and achievement of all students; and d) it implies placing special emphasis on groups of students who may be at risk of being marginalized, excluded or having low levels of achievement. At the school management level, the challenge of inclusion lies in building inclusive structures, procedures and activities (Booth and Ainscow, 2002).

Data and Methods

This paper is a second-level reading based on case narratives of Latin American schools. The 18 cases analyzed come from research projects whose purpose was to identify and analyze practices carried out by schools located in vulnerable environments, committed to improving convivencia (Fierro and Mena, 2008; Fierro and Fortoul, 2012).

Results

The results show a diversity of projects committed to inclusion:
- Alternative curricular model Interventions that modify the prescribed curriculum in terms of its purposes, learning content, and pedagogical models, fundamentally rethinking the role of the teacher, students, and community agents.
- Interventions with an initial focus described, but whose development progressively involves actions at other levels, spheres, and scales, favoring the creation of networks of practices.
- Diverse and unconnected interventions, which coexist in the same school institution, and which are not linked to each other.
- Proposals that have a punctual or specific focus of attention.

Although the inclusion practices reported focus mainly on students, they require an organizational base and links with the family and community life of the students: encouraging the formation of a respectful and supportive community is a central purpose in the cases. The main actions are related to personal and cultural affirmation, good treatment among members of the school community, supportive and respectful community, integration of all in diverse activities, and valuation of contributions.

Significance

The analysis carried out allows us to consistently sustain that there is no improvement in school coexistence apart from efforts to strengthen the formative work of the school in any of its aspects or areas.

Authors

• Cecilia Fierro-Evans, Iberoamericana University
  Non-Presenting Author

• María Bertha Fortoul-Ollivier, Universidad La Salle
  Presenting Author