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Anabel Moriña Díez. University of Seville. Faculty of Education Sciences. Department of Teaching and Educational Organization. Seville, Spain.

SUMMARY. The purpose of this article is to present and analyze the trajectories, experiences, perspectives, and assessments of young people with disabilities who have been schooled in diverse educational contexts. The data presented in this work are part of a broader investigation whose aim has been the analysis of the construction of the social exclusion process of young people between 18 and 25 years of age.
The methodology used in this study has been biographical-narrative, as it allows for a dynamic, participatory, and comprehensive approach to the issue of exclusion by giving voice to the participants through the narration of their life stories.
This work focuses on a subsample of the study (that formed by young people with disabilities). Likewise, a single area of those that make up these life stories is presented: the school paths and experiences of these young people. Specifically, through a cross-sectional analysis of these school narratives, the results revolving around five questions are presented: Are educational trajectories that run throughpaths parallel?; an educational mainstream that segregates?; an educational context specific that facilitates initial integration experiences?; a social life limited to special contexts?; and, finally, a learning process in the classroom that does not guarantee the participation and belonging of all? The conclusions of this work will revolve around the barriers and aids to educational inclusion that these young people identify in their school histories.

Keywords: social exclusion, educational exclusion, inclusive education, biographical-narrative methodology, disability.

ABSTRACT. The purpose of this article is to explore and analyze the background, experiences, perspectives and opinions of young people with disabilities who have been educated in a number of different educational contexts. The data that appear in this paper are part of a wider investigation whose purpose is to analyze the construction of the process of social exclusion in young people between the ages of 18 and 25.
A biographical-narrative methodology is used in this study, because, in giving voice to the participants through the narrations of their life stories, the chosen methodology enables a dynamic, participative, comprehensive approach to be taken to the topic of exclusion.
The paper focuses on a subsample of the study (the subsample of young people with disabilities). Furthermore, only one of the component realms of the subjects’ life stories is presented the educational pathways and school experiences of the young people. Transverse analysis of these accounts of school yields results that revolve around five questions: Educational careers that travel parallel paths? An «ordinary» educational context that segregates? A «specific» educational context that facilitates the first experiences of integration? A social life limited to special contexts? And lastly, a learning process in the classroom that does not guarantee the participation and belonging of «all»The conclusions of this paper revolve around the barriers to educational inclusion and the aids to educational inclusion that these young people identify in their school stories.

Key words:social exclusion, educational exclusion, inclusive education, biographical-narrative methodology, disability.

Theoretical bases

Inclusion and social exclusion are two closely linked processes that are part of the same dynamic. This connection implies that, to the extent that barriers acting as mechanisms of social exclusion are reduced, it is possible to contribute to the generation of practices leading to social inclusion.

Both processes can be identified on a continuum where they would occupy opposite extremes. An idea that this approach suggests is that there is not a single form of exclusion, but rather that one can speak in terms of various degrees of it that can lead to different personal experiences and social histories (Subirat, 2006; Tezanos, 2001). From this perspective, exclusion can be defined as a dynamic, social, and complex process that implies a denial of fundamental rights and includes deprivations, among others, of economic, social, political, and educational rights, etc. In this area, there is widespread agreement in pointing out the multidimensional nature of social exclusion. It can also be understood as a phenomenon that involves the interaction of various risk factors responsible for shaping people’s paths (Atkinson, 1998; Kronauer, 1998; Tezanos, 2001).

On the other hand, another significant characteristic that helps explain social exclusion processes is that they are not circumstantial, as the causes leading to situations of exclusion are structural (Witcher, 2003). Social exclusion is the result of a specific social, political, cultural, and economic structure. The very organization of society, directly or indirectly, is what generatessurplus populations.

This argument is also supported by authors such as Barton (1996), Oliver (1990), or Shakespeare and Watson (1996), who, from the social model of disability, have provided a series of explanations about how exclusion is generated. This model denounces that it is the practices, attitudes, and policies of the social context that generate the barriers or aids that either hinder or favor access and participation in different areas. Hence, there is some consensus in affirming that labor, economic, educational-training, and social (family and community social networks) exclusion are among the main factors that can lead to exclusion (Brandolini and D’Alessio, 1998; Jiménez et al., 2003; Kronauer, 1998; Levitas, 1998; Malgesini and García, 2000; Subirats, 2004; Tezanos, 2001).

Current research establishes a close relationship between social and educational exclusion. The former is more general, while the latter is more specific. Furthermore, the literature review conducted indicates the educational sphere as one of the most potent factors generating exclusion. Thus, Macrae, Maguire, and Melbourne (2003) have contributed to the thesis that school exclusion can generate social exclusion in the medium and long term. These authors present data showing how recent studies reference young people who could be considered individuals in situations of or at risk of social exclusion. These young people share, among other traits, frequent absenteeism from school, limited or nonexistent academic qualifications, etc. Another author supporting the link between social and educational exclusion is Howard (1999). For him, the group of persons with disabilities is one of the most vulnerable to social exclusion processes. He justifies this argument by explaining that this group often receives more restricted training compared to boys and girls their age, which can limit opportunities, for example, for employment and, therefore, make access to economic independence difficult.

Conceptually, educational exclusion, like social exclusion, can be defined as a process that unfolds through various phases. It is a complex phenomenon attributable to diverse factors, structures, and dynamics (Slee and Allan, 2005). Some phenomena associated with educational exclusion, according to Escudero (2005), include: school dropout, educational failure, lower-than-desired levels of training, school conflict, etc. The situation of school exclusion can be recognized, for example, in children who cannot access education, in those who drop out of school, in those who, while attending, are ignored in their differences (special educational needs, social origin, ethnicity, gender), and in those who, having completed the different educational stages, do not manage to integrate satisfactorily into society. Educational exclusion, therefore, can occur in access, as well as in school processes and outcomes.

Likewise, it is also possible to establish a continuum where one end is the right to education and the other is total inclusion. Within this continuum, it is also possible to identify school integration practices, which are currently questioned, for reasons including their inability to guarantee the learning and participation of all students on equal terms. This is because their main purpose is to reintegrate someone or some group into the normal life of the school and community from which they were excluded, which would be achieved by adapting them to the context into which they are integrated, without questioning or revising existing practices. Therefore, although integration and inclusion are sometimes used as synonymous concepts, they connote opposite meanings.

In this sense, inclusive education can be considered a process that fosters the participation and belonging of all students (Booth and Ains- cow, 1998). Social and educational inclusion can therefore be considered a way of living, a particular style of acting and participating in society, of understanding and considering each person (Ainscow, 1999; Arnáiz, 2003; Corbett, 2001; Echeita, 2006; Parrilla, 2002, 2007; Sapon-Shevin, 1998; Slee, 2001). From the perspective of inclusive education, the school and the classroom are conceived as a community that must guarantee the right that all students have to learn alongside their peers within a common curricular framework.

Authors like Torres (2008) support this inclusive school approach, in which no type of practice that could generate discrimination or segregation has a place. Instead, for this author, the school must take a more active role through, for example, denouncing discourses and practices that legitimize any educational exclusion process.

Precisely, biographical-narrative methods are an appropriate methodological tool for denouncing and explaining the processes of oppression, discrimination, and exclusion that some groups suffer (Booth & Booth, 2006; Goodley, 2001). We share with Owens (2007) the idea that this type of methodology can contribute to liberating the voices and stories of people who have habitually been silenced.

Finally, in the specific case of people with disabilities, Tim Booth (1998) explains that the “thesis of the excluded voicefacilitates, through narrative methods, access to the perceptions and experiences of oppressed groups who lack the authority to make their voices heard through traditional academic discourse. Other authors such as Biklen (2000) or Tangen (2008), in addition to highlighting this liberating character, emphasize the idea of how the studies carried out demonstrate that when the voices of people with disabilities are heard, it contributes to an increase in proposals for improvement to move towards inclusive education.

Methodological design of the research

The information presented in this article is part of a broader research project titled The construction of the social exclusion process in young people: Guide for the detection and evaluation of exclusion processes(1). This study, currently in its final phase, has been developed at two universities: the University of Seville and the University of Cantabria. The general purpose is to analyze the construction (as a personal experience) of the social exclusion process in young people aged between 18 and 25 years (2).

The total sample of the study is composed of 48 young people in situations of or at risk of exclusion belonging to groups vulnerable to processes of inequality due to minority culture or ethnicity, disability, socioeconomic class, and gender. The methodology used is biographical-narrative research, which allows participants to have a voice through the construction of their life stories.

The research design is organized around two phases. The first aims for a descriptive and explanatory approach to exclusion processes through the narration of the life trajectories of different young people who have personally experienced processes of social exclusion. In a second moment of this first phase, a comparative analysis is carried out of the main barriers and aids that the participants in the study recognize in their processes of social inclusion or exclusion. The second phase is a direct consequence of the results of the previous phase, and is subdivided into two stages or moments that advance from the identification of exclusion indicators to the actual design of a guide for detecting and evaluating the social exclusion process.

The information analyzed for this article focuses exclusively on the subsample of the disability group consisting of nine young people. Among the new young people, at the time we collected the information, most of them are between 22 and 25 years old. The exception is three girls between 18 and 20 years old. The participants are people with disabilities resulting from intellectual, speech or hearing difficulties, vision, and mobility impairments. Likewise, their life stories are not presented, but fragments of them, as it is not the purpose of this work to know the construction of the process of social exclusion globally, but instead, it is chosen to analyze a single area of exclusion: the school paths followed by young people so that, through their experiences, reflections, and emotions, they explain how they interpret their own school experiences. Through a cross-sectional analysis of different key aspects in the school histories of the participants, the barriers that act as obstacles to their full participation and learning that exclude these young people are identified and analyzed, while at the same time, the support they themselves find in their diverse educational experiences is pointed out.

After identifying the sample and obtaining informed consent from each of the participants, the following data collection techniques were generally used with each of them: self-presentation, biographical interview, biogram, life line, and photo technique.

Self-presentation consists of a brief description that the person makes of themselves. Through various questions (e.g., how would you introduce yourself?, what circumstances in your life have been most important to you?, etc.), the aim is for the person narrating their life to reflect on their self-image and certain aspects of their life that have been, are, and will be relevant in their biography.

The biographical interview (or guided retrospective self-analysis (Bolívar, Domingo, and Fernández, 2001)) consists of an in-depth interview in which, through various questions, young people are invited to reconstruct their life stories. In this research, a distinction has been made between two biographical interviews; both take place at different times. The first interview aims to reconstruct the family socio-educational context and the social context, along with personal data, while the second addresses the school context and development, the work context and development, and finally, future perspectives.

Regarding the biogram, it is a graphical representation of the young people’s life trajectory viewed from the present. It combines biographical chronology and the evaluation of events.3

The line of change aims to delve into the perspectives and assessments that young people make about some of the most significant moments in their lives. Through a three-column chart, each participant identifies an important event in their life (central column), places it in time (left column), and describes and evaluates it in terms of its impact on their own life (right column).

In the photograph, each participant is invited to select and comment on a photograph from their life, freely chosen because they consider it important. This technique, as Aldridge (2007) suggests, allows for the evocation of memory and provides great detail about the narrated scene.

Regarding data analysis, following the proposal by Bolívar, Domingo, and Fernández (2001), we have sought to combine narrative analysis (emic perspective) with paradigmatic analysis (etic perspective). In this process, an individual analysis of each life story is carried out first, attempting to respect the voices of the young people and avoiding value judgments and interpretations. In this part of the analysis, what is truly of interest are the narratives of the life stories themselves, in which it is possible to develop a plot or argument that reveals the unique and subjective character of each story. In the second part of the analysis, from a paradigmatic approach and through all the transcriptions of the documents generated with the indicated techniques, a data analysis has been carried out following the proposal by Miles and Huberman (1994). To this end, we rely on the Maxqda2 data analysis software. For this data analysis, categories and codes were inductively generated, which subsequently allowed for a comparative analysis of all the collected information. Specifically, the categories that guided this analysis were 14:

• Socio-demographic data. 
• Social relationships.
• Barriers to inclusion.
• Critical incidents.
• Habits.
• Self-image.
• Perception of themselves by others. 
• Desires.
• Satisfactions/dissatisfactions.
• Expectations.
• Inclusion support.
• Worldview.
• Sense of belonging.
• Affinities and preferences.

Specifically, the data presented in this article come from the cross-sectional analysis of those collected in relation to the school environment in the nine life stories of young people with disabilities.

Results

This section provides an approach to the educational exclusion stories of young people. To do this, we address the most significant and relevant issues that have arisen from the analysis of all their narratives. In total, this analysis has led us to five questions: are educational trajectories that run along parallel paths?; does an ordinary educational context segregate?; does a specific educational context facilitate initial integration experiences?; is social life limited to special contexts?; and, finally, is the learning process in the classroom not guaranteeing the participation and belonging of all?

The purpose of this article is not to generalize about the opinions and perceptions expressed by these young people. It is not, therefore, about their voices representing others, but rather, through a cross-sectional and comparative analysis of their school histories, to identify the barriers and supports that these nine young people experience in their educational journeys. Specifically, barriers are recognized by them as obstacles to inclusion that hinder or limit learning, belonging, and active participation, under equal conditions, in educational processes. Supports, on the other hand, represent elements of the educational context that contribute to being socially and educationally included in classrooms and schools. Based on the narratives of the research participants themselves, it is possible to reflect on how the various practices, behaviors, and attitudes generated by certain school experiences influence their lives.

An educational trajectory that runs along parallel paths?

The phases of schooling that the young people have gone through constitute initial data that can help contextualize the stories of the new participants. All of them share school trajectories characterized by continuous ruptures. Their stories are different from those of other students their age, as they have had to face and adapt to continuous changes (remaining in a combined integration educational center along with attending an integration support classroom; changing schools two or even more times within the same educational stage; combining teaching in a mainstream context and in a special education context, etc.).

Regarding their academic results, there are also clear commonalities. Seven of the nine young people have studied up to Compulsory Secondary Education. Of these, only two have obtained the School Graduate title. The exception is one young woman, who is currently finishing a university degree. The option for many of these young people once they have finished or dropped out of Secondary Education has been to participate in Social Guarantee Programs (P.G.S.) with a wide variety of qualifications (hairdressing, wallpapering, home care assistant, etc.) and vocational training courses for people with disabilities (office assistant, industrial refrigeration, etc.). This is a fact shared by almost all the boys and girls; they start in mainstream educational settings, but prefer to continue in special settings (4) as the best alternative to finish their studies (in their life stories, this circumstance extends to other contexts, such as work or social life).

A mainstream educational setting that segregates?

If I had started, and they had put me directly in the special education classroom, then maybe I would have had a slightly better time. (Sergio’s life story).

I, myself, would have liked to change schools and stay in the special school for the deaf, right? To have more friends, but since I had support there (Mainstream School), I had to put up with it. (Blanca’s life story).

A truly controversial piece of data that appears redundantly in these young people’s stories is the one that points out that schooling in inclusive educational contexts is experienced as a painful and also segregating process. For these young people, the experiences offered in inclusive contexts have not provided academic or social opportunities, but rather, in many cases, have been identified as obstacles in their educational paths. As they seem to perceive it, the educational process would have been less harsh if they had been schooled solely in specific contexts, as they understand that in these contexts, the rejection and discrimination experienced in ordinary educational settings would have been avoided.

For this reason, their assessment of the years schooled in integration educational contexts is negative. As the following narrative shows, as has happened in the stories of other young people in this research, in the centers where they were schooled, a process of labeling and stigmatization took place. These processes were made transparent through various behaviors (whether it was by where they sat in the classrooms, by their trips to the support classroom, because they were referred to using labels and clichés, etc.) that made differences identifiable as an attribute of a few. As Corbett (1991) has argued, the dominant culture towards diversity has been to view it negatively. This is the approach present in the school trajectories of the nine participants. Therefore, an approach to diversity linked to deficit conceptions that do not recognize diversity as a value is appreciated.

R5: She was known for DA (learning difficulty), for that aspect, but nothing else.
P: Known by your classmates?
R: And because of other classes too… the teachers… all the teachers say my name and they already know who I am…
P: And how did that make you feel?
R: How did it make me feel? Many times there were moments, many, that I wished I were normal, in a way, why? Maybe to go more unnoticed, in that aspect… because I didn’t want to stand out just because I had a hearing impairment, because I was deaf. (Ana’s life story)

And although it may seem paradoxical, as we have already pointed out, it has been precisely the experiences in a special schooling context that, according to these young people, have helped to improve their self-esteem and self-concept, by offering them a space where they feel useful, helped by their peers and teachers, and where they experience their first friendships. They prefer to take refuge in a safe place like specific contexts, where they usually find a much more welcoming, less hostile, and socially less unequal environment.

We find this situation worrying, as it implies acknowledging a significant educational paradox: the segregating nature promoted by some mainstream schools leads students and their families to consider the suitability of specific, segregating models over inclusive ones. Something similar happens in Pitt and Curtin’s (2004) research, as the young people participating in that study, after being schooled in mainstream settings and not having positive experiences there, opt for education in specific centers.

A specific educational context that facilitates the first experiences of integration?

R: What I remember most, what, that, the day they told me I had to go to a support class and that’s where I met those kids.
P: And, how old were you then?
R: At 6 years old, and, and, what happened was that I felt useful there, the support teachers would give me things, tasks just like them, which is what I could handle, and I felt useful there, I felt good, I got along very well with them (…). It’s like if you take a footballer and put him in Manchester out of the blue, to give an example, and the Manchester managers get along very well with him, but he plays terribly there, and now there’s the other team, Recreativo de Huelva, they take him to Recreativo de Huelva, and he plays very well there and this and that, it’s where he feels good playing, in the lower team because he sees himself as important there. (Sergio’s life story).

This young person simply raises a particularly alarming situation: how a complementary tool in the processes of inclusive education, such as support, can become a way to escape the exclusion processes experienced in mainstream classrooms. It is not surprising, therefore, that the majority of participants perceive integration support as practically the only help they have received throughout their schooling, arguing that it was in this context that they truly felt useful and on equal terms, by learning the same as the rest of their classmates, by receiving the attention and support of teachers, and by not suffering the constant humiliation experienced in mainstream classrooms.

But at the same time, some participants criticize the support activities planned by the center; above all, those that take place in the integration support classroom have been seen as obstacles in their school trajectories. Thus, in the stories of Ana, Desiré, and Blanca, support reinforced the labeling process experienced in mainstream classrooms, as they were the only ones who attended these classes. Furthermore, they disapproved of the type of support received, considering, on the one hand, that the number of teachers assigned to this action was insufficient and, on the other hand, that the professionalism of the teachers dedicated to this task was questionable. In this regard, Blanca refers to her center’s speech therapist and how the role she played in her linguistic improvement was practically imperceptible. Once again, from this perspective, support becomes a double-edged sword: while ostensibly serving inclusion, it actually generates segregation and exclusion.

R: I asked the speech therapist to help me write and summarize, and she told me, “Look, that’s not my responsibility; what’s my responsibility is the photocopies I give you (…)”. I didn’t value the speech therapy classes at all because they gave me a vocabulary worksheet of synonyms and antonyms, and they only told me what was right or wrong; I looked it up in the dictionary and wrote it down, yes, but I didn’t learn anything because I didn’t learn the meaning of what I was looking for here; I’d grab the word, cross it out, and put it in its place. (Blanca’s life story).

This brief comment about an experience in a support classroom places us before a truly complex and difficult issue. That is, the support that the young people in our study outline is seen as contradictory. On the one hand, it is a space for recognition, help, and personal validation, but on the other hand, it is another link in the chain that leads to labeling and marginalization.

A social life limited to special contexts?

In a work by Fernández Enguita, Gaete, and Terrén (2008), it is explained how the type of interactions, both social and academic, established between peers are significant for personal educational aspiration and academic achievement levels. Likewise, these authors recognize how a person’s self-perception, in terms of positive or negative self-image, is largely a result of the social group to which they belong. In relation to this, we pose a question: how might the peer groups in the life stories we are examining have contributed, to a greater or lesser extent, to the construction of self-concept and self-image? The answer to this question comes from the voices of the young people themselves, for whom their classmates in the mainstream classroom did not exactly facilitate this process.

R: They treated me terribly. My classmates never wanted to sit next to me.
P: And why did they do that to you? Do you remember that?
R: I don’t know, they’d see me as a mongoloid or something… They didn’t want to stand next to me (…) they looked at me with a bad face. (Desiré’s life story).

R: I wanted to be one of them, but they didn’t let me. Sometimes they didn’t let me. I didn’t like the kids who laughed at me, because then I saw myself as nobody, like I saw this kid is laughing at me, he’s laughing at me because he’s surely better than me and I’m nobody (…) Q: And what did you do to be…? How did you show them you wanted to be part of them?
R: Well, I’d go over to play with them, I’d try to talk about animals and they’d talk about football, for example (…)
Q: Could you give an example?
A: For example, when I was a kid, I didn’t know how to run, and many times my friends, when I was 6 years old, would say, ‘Come on, let’s play a race.’ They would race, and since I couldn’t run well, they would tell me, ‘Well, no, Sergio, you don’t play because you don’t know how to run.’ Of course, I understood then, ‘Oh, I don’t know how to run, I can’t run with them’ (…)
Q: And what would you have liked your classmates to do for you that they didn’t do?
R: Well, for example, on that topic of when I was a kid and used to race with them, even the girls used to beat me in races, they told me, look Sergio, even if you don’t know how to run, you’re going to race with us and we’ll run at your level. (Sergio’s life story).

In the nine life stories analyzed, the accounts of all the young people invite us to think that the behaviors and attitudes of their peers in the mainstream context have not contributed to their acceptance or inclusion in the classrooms; rather, everything seems to indicate that they have acted as a source of exclusion. This type of barrier (their own peers) present in all the school stories analyzed for this work is also experienced by our young people as the most painful, as it limits the possibilities of social relationship in the classroom and school to marginalization or ignorance by their equals.

In the accounts, we can identify direct discrimination in the form of open and clear rejection by classmates, through social isolation. However, other times the barriers manifest through extremely negative and even aggressive attitudes and behaviors: insults, mockery, and, on occasion, physical aggressions that extend beyond classroom life and are reproduced in other settings, in each and every one of the boys’ and girls’ school and extracurricular activities.

On the other hand, in these life stories, once again, the help in establishing social relationships comes from peers in specific contexts (peers from the support classroom, from the special education center, etc.). It is with them that these young people regain their social image and self-esteem, where they learn what it is like to feel like an equal, with whom they feel valued, and where they meet their first friends.

Q: And did any of these friends, classmates, significantly influence your schooling? Did any of these classmates influence you?
A: Mostly, those from the support school.
Q: Why?
A: Because yes, because with them I discovered that I was someone (…).
Q: And at recess, who did you go with?
A: With the support staff.
Q: With the support staff always? Why?
A: Because I felt just like them (…). We always had the same conversation… about this or that, it wasn’t like with my other classmates, I would talk to them about cars and they would jump into a conversation about football. (Sergio’s life story).
It’s like you know everything, but something is missing. So, by entering there (meeting a group of deaf people), I discovered a part of myself that I still need to discover. So, by entering there, I realized that there were more people like me. And that helps you to be stronger, to see that you are not alone.

A learning process in the classroom that does not guarantee the participation and belonging of all?

As we approach the teaching and learning process in the classroom as described by the young people, we will distinguish three areas of classroom life: the academic role of peers, the role of teachers, and the methodology used in the classroom.

As we have seen in previous sections, the boys and girls in this study have not found it easy to establish personal relationships and friendships with their classmates in the mainstream classroom. We will now hear from them how it has also not been easy to establish peer academic support relationships. In fact, the most frequent complaint that emerges throughout all the conversations with the nine young people is the complete absence of academic support from their classmates in the mainstream classroom. Sergio’s story perfectly illustrates this criticism, as emphasis is placed on this issue when revealing the lack of help from his peers, who considered that, since he did not have the same academic level, he should do different tasks, and therefore, he only received help from them exceptionally.

R: When I was a kid, maybe I was in my regular class; I would approach a classmate of mine from my regular class and ask, ‘What are you doing?’ ‘Well, I’m doing some math problems.’ ‘Let me do them, I want to do them.’ ‘No, don’t tell the teacher to give you those problems because it’s too difficult for you.’ (…) At that moment, it was a barrier she put up for me. If at that moment she had told me: ‘Yes, wait, I’ll tell the teacher to give you this problem and help you,’ that would have made it an easier path for me, and it would have been easier because she would have been opening doors for me. But the moment my classmates acted like that with me, even if they didn’t mean any harm, what they did was close doors on me one after another (…)
P: And what would you have liked your classmates to do that they didn’t do?
R: Instead of maybe laughing, they told me: you don’t understand, but I’ll explain it to you… (Sergio’s life story).

On the contrary, continuing with this same life story, Sergio did feel the academic support of his classmates in the support classroom by giving and receiving help from his peers. Thus, we can appreciate how the formal support context (outside the classroom) again offers academic opportunities to the boys and girls.

I already felt good there (support classroom) because I saw myself as one of them. We did things together, subtractions, additions. Then there were psychology games; we did them together. I went with them to recess together… What one talked about, we always had the same conversation: about this or that. (Sergio’s life story).

Regarding the role played by teachers, the stories from this research speak of the limited contribution of this group to the social and academic inclusion of these young people, whether due to passivity towards their educational and social needs (such as the absence of educational activities for certain students, inflexibility towards methodological changes, ignorance or permissiveness of insults and humiliation received from their peers, etc.) or due to excessive attention, not requested by the student.

Q: How did you get along with the teachers?
A: Awful and well, both.
P: Well, why?
R: Because sometimes they didn’t pay attention to me. (Desiré’s life story).
R: For example, the language teacher who gave us everything in writing and all that… and I told her to write more slowly on the board, and she said she couldn’t waste so much time. Look, I can’t, the light from the window, I can’t, and I was already tired. And if I stopped, she would scold me, so I had to ask my classmates for my notes. (Blanca’s life story).

When we invited young people to reflect on the attitudes and practices of teachers that had been helpful and supportive, all of them, without exception, agreed that those who helped them were the ones who showed interest in them, dedicating more time to them in class, seating them in the front row, being patient with them, supporting them during classes, and even after they had finished.

R: And what else?… That… I value the good teachers I’ve had, because they were on top of me supporting me, telling me to sit in the front row so I could explain things better (…). I remember their patience with me. For the students in my school who didn’t need support, they explained it once, but for me, 20 times. (Sergio’s life story).

R: Facilitations? The teachers who helped me. That is, they would say, for example, we have to study this lesson, and they would come to help me study it, to give me more help to learn it. (Luisa’s life story).

Finally, how the classroom is organized, the way tasks are developed in the classroom, has been identified as a significant barrier in the teaching-learning process. Regarding classroom methodology, two situations emerge:

• That of those young people who report having studied in classrooms where the work was guided by the same, single type of educational activity for everyone, without any adaptation to learning needs. In this sense, activities were not planned considering the strategies, methods, and support that might be needed, but rather thinking of a typical student or, as other authors have described, a single size (Tomlinson, 1995).
• Classroom methodologies that considered their presence through activities different from those of others, unique to them and carried out in isolation. This is a frequent situation experienced by the nine participants. Learning in their classrooms happens completely disconnected from what the rest of their peers do, even occupying a different space in the classroom.

Q: Did you do different tasks in class?
A: No, the same. We copied a book and copied from the book. (Desiré’s life story).

A: He sometimes paid attention to me (the teacher), because he was explaining something to the 20 students and I was doing something different that the teacher told me to do, so sometimes he would come over and ask how things were going with Sergio, this and that. (Sergio’s life story).

Therefore, the arguments of the young people in this study do not help us identify methodological proposals that make it possible to respond to all students in the classroom, but their voices and stories invite us to reflect and consider how we can build inclusive classroom communities.

Conclusions

A general reading of the results of this work may lead to the conclusion that, for these young people, ordinary educational contexts have not acted as a source generating processes of learning and social participation. On the contrary, for them these scenarios have contributed to generating discrimination and segregation in their school histories. This same conclusion appears in recent works such as those by Connor and Ferri (2007), Gibson (2006), Pitt and Curtin (2004), or Shah (2007).

In the nine life stories analyzed, young people perceive that there are more barriers encountered in their school trajectories than help offered. In this sense, taking up the idea from the previous paragraph, school integration contexts do not offer positive educational experiences. These boys and girls describe an evidently critical panorama when recalling their experiences in ordinary educational contexts.

The arguments provided by the research participants also coincide with some of the main criticisms made of the school integration model: how this process has been basically limited to the physical integration of students with disabilities, how practices have been characterized by a process of assimilation in classrooms, with this reality being taken as normal, or how ordinary educational practices have not been questioned or revised.

However, the same does not happen when they recount their experiences in special settings, as they value their suitability. Although it may seem paradoxical, it is in these settings that young people experience their first instances of integration, which in many cases act as a lifeline to overcome the social, curricular, and methodological void suffered in mainstream classrooms. Most of the time, the support classroom for integration is precisely their main point of reference when reconstructing their school histories. It is in this space where the construction of self-concept and self-esteem improves, contributing to the rebuilding of a damaged identity. The first networks of friends emerge in these contexts; there they feel protected, as equals. They also feel part of the group by being able to give and receive help from their peers, by everyone learning on equal terms, and by having a professional attentive to their needs.

We cannot end this article without reflecting on and pointing out the risk involved in presenting this benevolent image of segregated education without denouncing it, because even though special settings are the most integrating for young people, they are still special and segregating, meaning they are false integrating settings. In this regard, mainstream educational settings must change. It is necessary to review and improve the practices in these settings to make them places where all young people feel safe, welcomed, and part of a true social and academic community.

Schools cannot stand by and become complicit in practices that generate educational exclusion. The path forward cannot be to create special classrooms or parallel tracks that provide students with educational and social support they do not receive in mainstream classrooms. We believe the direction to follow must be one that leads to inclusive education processes, where all students are valued, and whose purpose is the recognition of the right of all to full learning and participation, and in which barriers that contribute to developing exclusion processes are eliminated.

Bibliographical references

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Electronic sources

• Gallego, C. and Moriña, A. (2007). Barriers and aids to inclusion: the life story of Gema. Retrieved from http://www.quadernsdigitals.net.
• Subirats, J. (Dir.). (2004). Poverty and social exclusion. An analysis of the Spanish and European reality. La Caixa Foundation: Barcelona. Retrieved from: www.estudios.Lacaixa.es.

Contact address: Anabel Moriña Díez. University of Seville. Faculty of Educational Sciences. Department of Teaching and Educational Organization. C/ Camilo José Cela, s/n, 41018, Seville, Spain. E-mail: anabelm@us.es.

Notes

1. Research funded by the Ministry of Education and Science, R&D&I, 2004-07, Ref. SEJ 2004-06193-C02-02/EDUC, Dirs. Ángeles Parrilla and Teresa Susinos.
2. Additional information about this research can be found in the works of Susinos and Parrilla (2004, 2008), Gallego & Moriña (2007), Susinos (2007), etc.
3. The article by Beijaard, Van Driel, and Verloop (1999) can offer more detailed information on this technique.
4. Elsewhere in this article, we will repeat this idea and provide the reflections that the young people themselves make about this reality.
5. R is the abbreviation for response (response of the study participants) and Q for question (question asked by the researcher).

La entrada Vulnerable to Silence. School Stories of Young People with Disabilities se publicó primero en Educación inclusiva. Quererla es crearla.

Promoting equity in education. Translated by Patricia Alejandro Arias. Received date 28/02/2013. Acceptance date 25/05/2013. Contact address: Mel Ainscow. Centre for Equity in Education, The University of Manchester, Oxford Road, Manchester, M13, 9 PL. United Kingdom

ABSTRACT: This article addresses the challenge of how to develop inclusive and equitable education systems based on research evidence. The authors conclude that a multidimensional strategy is required. More specifically, they argue that school improvement processes need to be included in local efforts to achieve more equitable school systems, and to unite the work of schools with area strategies that address inequalities more broadly and, ultimately, with national policies aimed at creating more just societies.

PALABRAS CLAVE: Educación inclusiva; Equidad; Mejora escolar; Sistemas educativos.

ABSTRACT: This paper draws on research evidence to address the challenge of how to develop education systems that are inclusive and fair. The authors conclude that this requires a multi-dimensional strategy. More specifically, they argue that school improvement processes need to be nested within locally led efforts to make school systems more equitable, and to link the work of schools with area strategies for tackling wider inequities and, ultimately, with national policies aimed at creating fairer societies.

KEY WORDS: Inclusive Education; Equity; School Improvement; Educational Systems.

1. Introducción

Los sistemas de educación en todo el mundo se encuentran con el reto de alcanzar la equidad. En los países económicamente más pobres, este reto hace referencia a los 70 millones de niños sin escolarizar. Mientras tanto, en los países más ricos muchos jóvenes dejan la escuela sin ningún título significativo, otros son enviados a distintos tipos de centros especiales alejados de experiencias educativas ordinarias, y algunos simplemente eligen dejar unas clases que parecen totalmente irrelevantes para sus vidas.

This article draws on evidence from a research program to identify the changes needed to address this crucial political challenge. It also asks: how can schools ensure that every child receives fair treatment, especially those from more disadvantaged backgrounds? England is a useful context to consider when reflecting on this issue, as a 2007 OECD study indicates that the impact of socioeconomic circumstances on young people’s performance is more pronounced than in any of the other 52 countries studied.

2. Making Sense of Equity

Our research is guided by the principle of equity, as well as the notions of inclusion and social justice implicit within it. Having worked with schools for many years, we have become aware of the complexities involved. One way of thinking about the processes we work with is to see them as interconnected within an “ecology of equity” (Ainscow et al. 2012). By this, we mean that whether students’ experiences and outcomes are equitable does not depend solely on their teachers’ educational practices, or even on their schools, but is conditioned by a wide range of interactive processes that reach the school from the outside. These processes include the demographics of the areas served by educational centers, the histories and cultures of the populations that enroll (or do not enroll) children, and the economic realities faced by these populations. They also encompass the underlying socioeconomic processes that make some areas poor and others prosperous, and that concentrate migratory groups in certain locations.

They are also influenced by broader policies relating to the teaching profession, by decision-making at the district level and by the development of national policies, as well as by the effects that schools have on each other regarding issues such as exclusion and parental school choice.

Furthermore, they reflect new models of school governance, the ways in which local school hierarchies are established and maintained, and the extent to which a school’s actions are enabled or limited by its position within those hierarchies. It is important to recognize the complexity of the interactions between the different elements of this ecology, and their implications for achieving more equitable school systems. When working on improvement projects in schools, we find it useful to think about three interrelated areas where issues of equity arise. These are:

• In schools. These are the issues that arise from the school and pedagogical practices. They include: the way students are taught and how they are engaged in learning; the ways in which teaching groups are organized and the different types of opportunities that result from that organization; the type of social relationships and personal support that are characteristic of the school; the school’s response to diversity in terms of performance, gender, ethnic identity, and social background; and the kind of relationship the school establishes with families and local communities.
• Between schools.These are issues that arise from the characteristics of the local school system. They include: the ways in which different types of school appear locally; the ways in which these schools acquire different statuses so that hierarchies are created in terms of performance and preference; the ways in which schools compete and collaborate; processes of integration and segregation that concentrate students with similar backgrounds in different schools; the distribution of educational opportunities in schools, and the extent to which students in each school can access similar opportunities. 
• Beyond SchoolsThis wider-ranging context includes: the broader political context in which schools operate; family processes and resources that shape the ways in which children learn and develop; the interests and understanding of the professionals who work in schools, and the demographics, economy, culture, and histories of the areas that schools serve. Beyond this, it includes the underlying social and economic processes at national and – in many respects – global levels, out of which local conditions arise.

Seen in this way, it is evident that each school has considerable capacity to address issues within the walls of its own organisation, and that such actions are likely to have a profound impact on students’ experiences, and perhaps influence inequalities that appear elsewhere. However, it is equally true that these strategies do not lead schools to the direct resolution of issues between schools and beyond schools.

No school strategy can, for example, make a poor area more prosperous, or increase the resources available to students’ families, any more than it could contribute to creating a stable student population, or address the global processes underlying migration patterns. But perhaps there are issues relating to access, or the allocation of students to schools, that could be addressed if schools worked together on a common programme. With these arguments laid out, we now explore different possibilities for joining up strategies within schools, between schools, and beyond schools, that can facilitate the development of more equitable improvement approaches.

2.1. Factors within the school

Our research had shown how the use of evidence to analyse teaching within the school can help to promote the development of inclusive practices (Ainscow, Booth and Dyson, 2006; Miles and Ainscow, 2011). In particular, the act of interrupting existing discourses creates valuable space for rethinking. Techniques that are especially effective in this respect involve the use of reciprocal observation of lessons, sometimes by means of video recordings, as well as evidence, gathered from students, about the mechanisms of teaching and learning within the school. Under certain conditions, these approaches provide “interruptions” that make it possible to see the familiar as strange, so that self-questioning, creativity and action are stimulated. Sometimes, the reframing of perceived problems through these approaches makes it easier for teachers to see solutions for the elimination of barriers to participation and learning that had been overlooked. 

However, such approaches to the development of practice based on questioning are far from straightforward. Disruption to thinking, resulting from an analysis of evidence by a group of teachers, may not necessarily lead to consideration of new ways of working. Indeed, we had documented instances of how deeply held beliefs within a school prevent the experimentation needed to promote the development of more inclusive practices. 

This points to the importance of forms of leadership that promote the challenging of conjectures about a particular student among professional colleagues. We know that some schools are characterized by having ‘inclusive cultures’ (Dyson, Howes and Roberts, 2004). Within such schools, there is a consensus among adults about the values of respect for difference, as well as a commitment to offering all students access to learning opportunities. This consensus may not be total and does not necessarily eliminate all tensions or contradictions in practice. On the other hand, there are possibilities for a high level of staff collaboration and joint problem-solving, and similar values and commitments can be extended to all students, parents, and other interested community members of the school. 

Between 2006 and 2011, we had the opportunity to explore these ideas in more detail through our involvement in a group of English secondary schools (see Ainscow et al., 2012 for a detailed explanation of this project). The initiative was located in an area characterized by socioeconomic deprivation, and social and ethnic segregation. The district’s secondary school system comprised a hierarchy of sixteen schools, some selective based on achievement or religious faith, alongside others that were non-selective and described as comprehensive schools.

The network started with an existing collaboration between four schools, with ten more schools joining at different stages over a five-year period. While the headteachers of the participating schools had developed very good working relationships that had resulted in some collaborative activities, they felt that the impact had been limited. Consequently, they decided that there was a need to develop ways of working that challenged staff practices, conjectures, and beliefs, and would stimulate further, more sustained progress. With this in mind, they approached us to support and facilitate the use of research to strengthen their network. The schools agreed to fund our involvement. 

Following several conversations with the headteachers, it was agreed that equity was one of the most important issues facing each participating school. It soon became apparent, however, that this meant something different in each context, and not least in relation to the groups of students who seemed to be left out of existing systems. As a result, it was agreed that the network’s work should take note of these differences, adopting a broad group of research questions to focus their activities, within which each school would determine its own particular approach. These questions were as follows: 

• Which of our students are most vulnerable to school failure, marginalization, or exclusion? 
• What changes in policy and practice are needed to bring these students back in? 
• How can these changes be introduced effectively and evaluated in relation to student outcomes? 

When making the strategic decision to focus attention on groups of students who were thought to be outside existing systems, we were concerned that this might lead to restricting and focusing efforts on “fixing” students considered incapable in some way. However, the collection of evidence about these groups usually led to a new vision focused on the contextual factors that were acting as barriers to their participation and learning. In this way, most of the projects carried out gradually became efforts to improve the conventional school with the potential to benefit a large part of the student body.

As with our previous projects, research groups were formed in each school, consisting of five or six members representing different perspectives within their school communities. These groups took part in introductory workshops where we discussed with them an initial analysis of the area that we had done, based on a consideration of various documents, statistics, and interviews with a selection of interested members, including school principals, local administration staff, community group representatives, and politicians.

Following this process of contextual analysis, the teams in each school engaged in a planning process for the research they intended to carry out. In doing so, we helped them develop a clearer approach and plan the procedures they would follow. Subsequently, each team in each school decided to collect evidence about those students who were identified as “losing out” in one way or another, with the aim of developing a more accurate understanding of their experiences in school. The groups also shared their findings with colleagues from other collaborating schools. Thus, the intention was to deepen the understanding of practices, beliefs, conjectures, and organizational processes, both individually and collectively among the schools in the network.

Having been carried out over a period of five years of intense governmental activity to improve educational outcomes – or at least to raise performance levels in annual reports – during which multiple political initiatives and interventions were developed to overcome standards, it is not easy to discern the concrete effects of the project nor to attribute them more to the work of the project teams than to the pressures imposed on schools in general during this period. Nevertheless, the evidence collected showed that even members of the school’s teaching staff were able to identify changes themselves and track them, linking them to the project. It can also be stated that these schools fully contributed to the overall improvement of exam results recorded by the specific local administration during this period. In fact, the percentage of students who obtained five or more grades between A* (honors) and C (very good) in the GCSE 1, the state exam to obtain the secondary school diploma taken by almost all 16-year-olds, rose from 54.6% in 2005 to 76.5% in 2010, an increase of 22% (during the same period the national average was from 56.3% to 75.3%, which is 19%). Looking at a more inclusive measure of student performance, during the same period the percentage of students who obtained five or more grades between A* and G2 increased to almost double the national average, from 90% to 96.1% (compared to 89% to 92.7% at the state level).

Our consideration of what this particular network has achieved points to a number of factors that seem to be particularly important for the development of more equitable schools. Fundamentally, the factors that concern us are located in classrooms, where, above all else, equity refers to attitudes. In other words, the attitudes of teachers – and classmates – can both promote and inhibit a fair, welcoming, and inclusive working environment. In a school committed to the principle of social justice, all students should expect to be welcomed into their classes – not only explicitly, that is, embracing cultural, social, and intellectual differences – but also implicitly, so that no one feels marginalized due to reactions (or lack thereof) to their behaviors and actions. By all students being welcomed, they can expect positive interactions as a normal part of their classroom experiences. As a result, they will feel included, valued, and recognized. 

Then there is the issue of practice. If teachers favor a certain style, this will tend to suit those students who are comfortable with that style more. Indeed, strong orthodoxies in teaching disadvantage students who are less confident or less engaged with that approach. Equity therefore requires practitioners, professionals who understand the importance of teaching the same thing in different ways to different students, and of teaching different things in different ways to the same students. 

The schools in the network could point to examples of good practice in all these areas before joining the project. But the question they wanted to resolve through their participation was how to ensure that all students could feel welcomed within these ways of working. In most schools, there was also evidence of changes in classrooms, so that specific groups who felt excluded were now more actively engaged in learning, and this had been achieved through deliberate attention to the attitudes shown, the language used, and the interactions programmed in classes, all of which were reflected in the range of teaching approaches used. 

Of course, these are the aspects of equity that are least difficult to implement. This premise is not intended to deny their value, but rather we accept that although adjustments in classroom practices can have a significant impact on the experiences of specific students, they do not have the capacity to alter those factors that led those same students to be “missing out” in the first place. Often such factors are more inflexible, and therefore more difficult for a single school to influence.

1. Translator’s note: The General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) is the equivalent of the ESO certificate in Spain.
2. Translator’s note: GCSE results are graded on a scale of 8 grades: A*, A, B, C, D, E, F, and G, with A* being the highest honor (a score of 90% of the total score for the subject), and G being the lowest score (20% of the total). Students who do not reach the minimum grade (G) will not be graded, which will be indicated by the letter U, and therefore will not obtain the certificate.

2.2. Factors between schools

The approach outlined so far is based on the idea that professionals in a school gather various types of information and commit to the data obtained to stimulate actions towards creating more equitable mechanisms. Our research has provided us with a compelling argument for the potential of this approach (Ainscow et al., 2012). It has also shed light on the difficulties of putting such an approach into practice in current political contexts. This leads us to analyze the limitations of strategies within schools, and consequently, to the conclusion that these must be complemented by activities between schools. 

Recently, we have conducted a series of studies that have generated considerable evidence that school-to-school collaboration can strengthen improvement processes by increasing the variety of knowledge and experiences available. (see: Ainscow, 2010; Ainscow and Howes, 2007; Ainscow, Muijs and West, 2006; Ainscow, Nicolaidou and West, 2003; Ainscow and West, 2006; Ainscow, West and Nicolaidou, 2005; Muijs, West and Ainscow, 2010; Muijs, Ainscow, Chapman and West, 2011). Furthermore, these studies indicate that collaboration between schools has enormous potential to promote system-level improvements, especially in challenging urban contexts. More specifically, they show that this collaboration between educational centers can be an effective means of immediate problem-solving, such as staff cutbacks; it can have a positive impact during periods of crisis, such as the closure of a school; and that, in the long term, schools working together contribute to increasing expectations and achievements in schools that have a history of underperformance. There is also evidence that collaboration can help reduce the polarization of schools based on their position in the “league tables,” to the specific benefit of those students who appear marginalized at the edges of the system and whose performance and attitudes are a cause for growing concern. 

In most cases, these studies have been conducted in situations where schools have received short-term financial incentives linked to the demonstration of collaborative planning and development activities. However, they convinced us that this approach can be a powerful catalyst for change, even if it is not an easy option, particularly within political contexts where competition and choice continue to be the main political drivers. The most compelling evidence of the power of collaboration between schools working together comes from our recent participation in the “Manchester Grand Challenge,” a three-year project involving over 1,100 schools in ten local authorities, with a government investment of £50 million (approximately €60 million) (see Ainscow, 2012, for a detailed explanation of this initiative). The decision to invest a budget of such magnitude reflected a concern about educational standards in the city and its surroundings, particularly for children and young people from disadvantaged backgrounds. The approach adopted was influenced by a previous initiative carried out in London (Brighouse, 2007).

Reflecting much of the thinking developed in this work, the overall approach of the Manchester Grand Challenge emerged from a detailed analysis of the social context, using both statistical data and local information provided by stakeholders. The analysis focused attention on areas of interest and, in turn, allowed for the identification of a range of human resources that could be mobilized to support improvement efforts. Recognizing the potential of these resources, it was decided that networking and collaboration should be the key strategies for strengthening the overall improvement capacity of the system. More specifically, this referred to a series of interconnected activities to ensure that “knowledge circulates everywhere” (Ainscow, 2012).

Thus, for example, in an attempt to involve all schools in networking and collaboration processes, School Families were created, using a data system that groups schools into “families” of 12 to 20 centers based on students’ prior attainment and the socioeconomic background of their households. The strength of this approach is that it connects schools serving similar populations, while at the same time fostering collaboration between schools that are not in direct competition with each other because they do not serve the same neighborhoods. School Families, led by school principals, proved successful in strengthening collaborative processes within a metropolitan area, although the impact was varied.

With regard to schools working in highly disadvantaged contexts, the evidence obtained from the Challenge suggests that school-to-school collaborations are the most decisive means of promoting improvements. Most notably, the “Keys to Success” program led to impressive progress in the attainment of around 200 schools facing very difficult circumstances. There is also evidence that the progress made by these schools helped to drive progress across the entire system. A common feature of almost all interventions was that progress was achieved through carefully selected pairings (or sometimes trios) of schools that transcended “social boundaries” of various kinds, including those that separate schools belonging to different local authorities. In this way, experience and knowledge that was previously confined to specific contexts became more widely accessible.

Another effective strategy for facilitating the movement of experiences was provided by the creation of various types of “hub schools.” Thus, for example, some of the centers provided support to other schools regarding how to support students learning English as an additional language. Similarly, so-called “teaching schools” that offer professional development programs focused on providing improvements in classroom practice. Other “hub schools” offered support related to specific areas of specialization and to respond to potentially vulnerable groups, such as those categorized as having special educational needs. In this latter context, a significant strategy consisted of special education schools acquiring new roles by supporting the development and improvement of practices in mainstream schools.

Significantly, we find that such collaborative arrangements can have a positive impact on the learning of students across all participating schools. The importance of this finding is that the effort made to strengthen schools with a more or less low performance can, at the same time, foster wider improvements across the system. It also offers a compelling argument for why relatively strong schools should support other schools. In other words, the evidence shows us that “by helping others, you help yourself”.

While increasing collaboration of this kind is vital as a strategy for developing more effective ways of working, the experience of Greater Manchester showed that it is not enough. The essential additional ingredient is a commitment to data that can bring an element of common challenge to such collaborative processes. We found that data were particularly important when matching schools, as the degree of effectiveness of collaboration is much higher when matched schools are carefully chosen and know what they are trying to achieve. Data are also important for schools to move beyond cordial relationships that have no impact on outcomes. Consequently, schools need to base their relationships on evidence of each other’s strengths and weaknesses, so that they can challenge each other to improve.

To facilitate this kind of contextual analysis, strategies and frameworks were designed to help schools support each other in carrying out their evaluations. In the primary sector, this involved colleagues from other schools acting as critical friends in internally led evaluation processes; while in secondary schools, subject departments took part in “deep dives”, where qualified specialists from another school made visits to observe and analyse practices, and facilitate improvement activities focused on some aspect. The power of these approaches lies in the way they provide opportunities for teachers to have strategic conversations with colleagues from another school.

The powerful impact of the collaborative strategies developed during the “Greater Manchester Challenge” points to ways in which the processes used within individual schools can be deepened and thus strengthened. This requires an emphasis on mutual critique, within schools and between schools, based on a commitment to shared data, and, in turn, requires a strong collective commitment from secondary school professionals and a desire to share responsibility for driving system reform. The study of new patterns of school leadership that emerged in response to structural changes that occurred in the English education system, offers some promise in this regard (Chapman et al. 2008).

2.3. Factors beyond the school

An OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) report, “No More Failures: Ten Steps to Equity in Education” (2007), argues that educational equity has two dimensions. First, it is a matter of social justice, which involves ensuring that social and personal circumstances—for example, gender, socioeconomic status, or ethnic background—should not be an obstacle to achieving educational potential. Second, it is about inclusion, which is about ensuring a minimum basic standard of education for all. The report states that the two dimensions are closely intertwined, as “addressing school failure helps to overcome the effects of social disadvantage that is often a cause of school failure” (p. 11).

The report continues to argue that fair and inclusive education is desirable due to the imperative set by human rights for individuals to be able to develop their capacities and participate fully in society. It also reminds us of the long-term social and financial costs of school failure, as those without the skills to participate socially and economically generate greater costs in health, supplementary benefits, childcare, and security. Furthermore, increasing migration poses new challenges for social cohesion in more and more countries.

 Despite the efforts made in response to these arguments, a worrying gap continues to exist in many parts of the world between the achievements of students from wealthy families and those from poor families (Kerr and West, 2010; UNESCO, 2010; Wilkinson and Pickett, 2000). The extent of this gap varies significantly between countries. For example, Moushed, Chijioke, and Barber (2010) argue:

“In a world-order system like the Finnish one, socioeconomic status is much less predictive of a student’s achievement. Under the same conditions, a low-income student in the United States has far less chance of succeeding in school than a low-income student in Finland. Given the enormous economic impact of educational achievement, this is one of the best indicators of equal opportunity in a society…” (p. 8-9).

On a more optimistic note, the most recent international comparisons regarding literacy indicate that the best-performing school systems manage to provide high-quality education to all their students. For example:

“Canada, Finland, Japan, Korea and the partner economies Hong Kong-China and Shanghai-China outperform the OECD average, and students tend to perform well regardless of their own circumstances or the school they attend. Not only do they have a large number of students with very high levels of reading proficiency, but there are also relatively few students with low levels of proficiency” (OECD, 2010, p. 15).

This means that countries can develop education systems that are both equitable and excellent. The question is: what steps need to be taken to advance policy and practice?

Within the international research community, there is evidence of a division of opinion on how to respond to this question. On the one hand, there are those who argue that what is required is a school-focused approach, which allows for better implementation of the base knowledge created over many years of research on school improvement and effectiveness (Hopkins et al., 2005; Sammons, 2007).

Dichos investigadores señalan ejemplos donde este acercamiento ha tenido un impacto en el logro de las escuelas que dan servicio a comunidades desfavorecidas (por ej. Chenoweth, 2007; Stringfield, 1995). Por otra parte, están aquellos que argumentan que dichos acercamientos centrados en la escuela no pueden resolver desigualdades fundamentales en una sociedad que impide a los jóvenes liberarse de las restricciones impuestas por las circunstancias de su hogar (Dyson y Raffo, 2007). Dichos argumentos advierten del peligro de separar el intento de mejora escolar del impacto que pueden tener factores sociales y políticos más amplios. Los investigadores que refieren este peligro abogan por reformas más holísticas que conecten escuelas, comunidades e instituciones políticas y económicas externas (Anyon, 1997; Crowther et al., 2003; Levin, 2005; Lipman, 2004). Estos autores concluyen que es insuficiente centrarse únicamente en la mejora individual de las escuelas, sino que dichos esfuerzos deben formar parte de un plan global mayor para una amplia reforma del sistema que debe incluir a todas las partes interesadas a niveles nacional, regional, institucional y comunitario. 

Una posibilidad obvia es la combinación de ambas perspectivas por medio de estrategias que traten de unir los intentos por cambiar las condiciones internas de las escuelas con esfuerzos por mejorar las áreas locales. Este enfoque es una de las características de la tan aclamada Zona de los Niños de Harlem (Whitehurst y Croft, 2010), un sistema de educación basado en el vecindario y servicios sociales para los niños de familias de ingresos bajos en ese barrio de Nueva York. El programa combina componentes educativos como Programas para la primera infancia con clases para padres y escuelas públicas experimentales (también conocidas como “escuelas chárter”) con componentes de salud (incluyendo programas de nutrición); y con servicios al vecindario (asesoramiento individual para las familias; centros comunitarios; y un centro que enseña habilidades relacionadas con empleos a adolescentes y adultos). Dobbie y Fryer (2009) describen la Zona de los Niños como “posiblemente el experimento social más ambicioso de nuestro tiempo para aliviar la pobreza” (p. 1). Habiendo llevado a cabo un análisis en profundidad de los datos estadísticos con relación al impacto de la iniciativa, concluyen: 

“… las escuelas de alta calidad o las escuelas de alta calidad, unidas a inversiones en la comunidad, posibilitan la consecución de los logros. Las inversiones comunitarias solas no pueden explicar los resultados.”(p. 25)

Nuestras recomendaciones se basan en este enfoque combinado, aunque somos conscientes de que las presiones generadas por las políticas nacionales pueden llevar a dilemas estratégicos a la hora de ponerlo en práctica, especialmente cuando las escuelas se sienten obligadas a demostrar rápidas mejoras en los test y en las calificaciones de los exámenes. 

Our analyses of the ways in which external factors limit the possibilities for developing equitable schools offer clear examples of the complexity of the process, and therefore justify the argument that an analysis of the broader context in which schools operate is needed (Ainscow et al, 2012). The authors’ considerable experience in conducting analyses of this type in various school districts has shown that transforming educational services offered according to neighborhoods and local services depends on identifying local priorities and ways to develop convincing responses to them. This requires embarking on forms of contextual analysis whose questions delve beneath the surface of achievement indicators, in order to understand how local dynamics shape concrete outcomes, and to identify the key underlying factors at play and determine which can be altered and by whom. 

This implies a change in the conception of local transformation, moving from a superficial response, which will be no more than a mere patch related to manipulating official figures, to a deeper response that, by addressing problematic issues in their context, aims to achieve sustainable, long-term improvements. Thus, the purpose is to produce a rich and feasible understanding of local issues. To achieve this, the analysis can be delimited in three different ways, none of which are mutually exclusive: 

• Based on unit of action– for example, a contextual analysis could focus on issues within an administratively defined area, such as a regional or local authority, where structures already exist that can be used to carry out actions. 
• According to geographical and social boundaries– the analysis could focus on issues in an area clearly delimited by physical borders, such as, for example, main roads, or imaginary borders, such as a residential neighborhood with which residents fully identify – or a combination of both. 
• According to issues– the analysis could focus on the study of a specific issue, such as school absenteeism or belonging to adolescent gangs. In these cases, while maintaining a local focus, the analysis could extend beyond a specific neighborhood or administrative area. We have seen that sometimes a contextual analysis can highlight issues that shape local circumstances but which local actors are not in a position to change – for example, the global recession leading to the decline of local industry. However, analyses should be able to identify how local processes and dynamics are being shaped by these factors; what can be done locally, and which unit(s) of action can be used to develop an appropriate response. 

To understand the complex dynamics at play in an area, and to explore the resulting data, it is necessary to allow people who live and work in that place to talk about their interpretation of local issues. We have seen that a flexible research framework can help provide the necessary freedom for this, while also ensuring that the data generated can be usefully compared, and used to create shared interpretations and strategies (Ainscow et al., 2012).

3. Rethinking Relationships

When reflecting on how to more generally use the strategies we have outlined in this article, it is essential to recognize that they do not offer a list of techniques that can simply be taken and transferred to other contexts. Rather, they offer a general approach to improvement driven by a set of values and processes of using contextual analysis to create strategies that suit specific circumstances. What is also distinctive about this approach is that it is primarily directed from within schools to make more effective use of existing expertise and creativity. 

We argue that reducing the existing gap in outcomes between children from more and less advantaged backgrounds will only happen when what happens to children outside and inside schools changes. This means changing the way families and communities work, and enriching what they offer to children. In this regard, we have seen hopeful experiences of the progress that can be achieved by merging, through a coherent strategy, the work of schools with the efforts of other local agents – employers, community groups, universities, and public services – (Ainscow, 2012; Cummings, Dyson and Todd, 2011). This does not necessarily mean that schools work harder, but it implies collaborations beyond the school, which allow collaborators to multiply the impact of their individual efforts. 

The repercussions of this approach affect all parties involved in the education system, especially teachers, particularly those in positions of authority, who must be aware of having a greater responsibility towards all children and young people, not just those attending their school. They must also develop internal organizational patterns that enable them to have the flexibility to cooperate with other schools and with other interested agents beyond the school gates (Chapman et al., 2008). Likewise, those who administer area school systems must adjust their priorities and ways of working in line with the improvement efforts directed from within schools. 

There is a key role for governments in all of this. English experience over the last twenty years has shown that attempts at centralized ordering and control stifle as much as they stimulate local development. (Ainscow and West, 2006; Gray, 2012; Whitty, 2010). Consequently, central government needs to act as a promoter, fostering development, disseminating good practices, and ensuring that local leaders are accountable for results. All these practices depend on a continuous flow of knowledge exchange and therefore demand a cultural change. A new approach to national policy is essential for this purpose: an approach that responds to local factors and, in turn, provides an understanding that unites all aspects of equity to bring coherence and foster collaboration among the various reform efforts (Ainscow, 2005).

4. Conclusion

The arguments we have developed in this article aim to question prevailing school improvements to return to their historical purpose: ensuring a solid, quality education for every child. We have suggested that to achieve this, it is necessary to complement improvements within schools with efforts that link schools to each other and to their broader communities. For this to happen, we propose five organizational conditions that need to be realized: 

• Condition 1:Schools must collaborate in a way that creates a system-wide approach. If, as we have argued, equity issues can arise between schools, this demands an approach to promoting equity that crosses school boundaries. In other words, all schools in a given area must assume some level of responsibility for all the children who live there. Therefore, the criteria that favor institutional benefit, so characteristic of current school systems, need to be replaced by an approach that recognizes the reciprocity of schools. 

• Condition 2:Local leadership focused on equity is needed to coordinate collaborative action. Although it is still debated whether local authorities remain the ideal vehicle for local coordination and policy design, it is clear that some form of local leadership is necessary, and that such leadership must prioritize equity issues in the area over the benefit of any particular institution. In this regard, we have observed a number of contexts in which the most authoritative staff within a group of schools have worked together to provide such leadership. 

• Condition 3:Development within schools must be linked to broader community efforts to address the inequalities suffered by children. Local coordination is not simply about managing schools to have some kind of productive relationship with each other, but also about linking the work of educational centers with that of other agents, organizations, and community groups involved in the social and economic well-being of the area. If they work separately, schools cannot help to resolve the deficiencies, and the corresponding disadvantages, that some of their students experience. However, in principle, there is no reason why they cannot go beyond their doors and develop a more holistic approach to problems in collaboration with other stakeholders. 

• Condition 4:National policy needs to be formulated in a way that facilitates and supports local action. None of the improvements we are suggesting will be possible without a national policy framework that encourages schools to orient themselves towards broader equity issues. In our own country, the perverse consequences of successive government educational policies are all too evident – the excessive emphasis placed on numerical measures of performance; the conflation of crude indicators of school quality with actual student performance; the fostering of the conception of schools as self-interested institutions, competing against each other rather than working for the interests of all children; the weakening of local leaders by local authorities and the repeated attempts to resolve deeply entrenched social and educational problems through improvements, reforms, and the history of British educational policy over the last two decades does not end here. The flourishing forms of school collaboration that have been described owe much to the political emphasis on schools working together, as well as to a discreet but crucial break from the “isolated school” model to provide a good education. 

• Condition 5: Movements towards supporting equity in education must be matched by efforts to develop a more just society. It goes without saying that even the most powerful approaches to promoting equality, based on areas, are likely to have little more than palliative effects in a context where dominant socioeconomic forces generate inequality and lead to marginalization. Therefore, in a certain and important sense, in the absence of more fundamental social reforms, efforts to develop greater equality and integration of services are inevitably destined to fail. Even so, however powerful the forces that produce inequality and marginalization, they are not entirely invincible. Policy in our country, and elsewhere, can and indeed does have a very significant impact on levels of poverty, social segregation and integration, as well as on the gap between rich and poor. Even without radical political change, there is evidence that different governments have made decisions that have aggravated or alleviated the impact of both underlying socioeconomic processes and global influences. 

Our conclusion, therefore, is that just as there is a complex ecology of equity within and outside educational institutions, there should also be multidimensional strategies to address equity issues. Specifically, school improvement processes need to be integrated into locally driven efforts to make education systems more equitable and to link the work of schools with area-based strategies to address greater inequalities and, ultimately, with national policies aimed at creating a more just society.

5. Bibliography

• Ainscow, M. (2005). Developing inclusive education systems: what are the levers for change? Journal of Educational Change, 6, 109-124. 
• Ainscow, M. (2010). Achieving excellence and equity: reflections on the development of practices in one local district over 10 years. School Effectiveness and School Improvement, 21 (1), 75-91. 
• Ainscow, M. (2012). Moving knowledge around: strategies for fostering equity within educational systems. Journal of Educational Change, 13 (3), 289-310.
• Ainscow, M.; Booth, T. y Dyson, A. (2006) Inclusion and the standards agenda: negotiating policy pressures in England, International Journal of Inclusive Education, 10 (4-5), 295-308. 
• Ainscow, M.; Booth, T. and Dyson, A. with Farrell P.; Frankham, J.; Gallannaugh, F.; Howes, A. and Smith, R. (2006). Improving schools, developing inclusion. London: Routledge. 
• Ainscow, M.; Dyson, A., Goldrick, S. and West, M. (2012) Developing equitable education systems. London: Routledge. 
• Ainscow, M. and Howes, A. (2007). Working together to improve urban secondary schools: a study of practice in one city. School Leadership and Management 27, 285–300.
• Ainscow, M.; Muijs, D. and West, M. (2006). Collaboration as a strategy for improving schools in challenging circumstances. Improving Schools 9 (3), 192-202.
• Ainscow, M.; Nicolaidou, M. and West, M. (2003). Supporting schools in difficulties: The role of school-to-school cooperation. NFER Topic 30, 1-4.
• Ainscow, M. and West, M. (eds) (2006). Improving urban schools: leadership and collaboration. Open University Press. 
• Ainscow, M.; West, M. and Nicolaidou, M. (2005). Putting our heads together: a study of headteacher collaboration as a strategy for school improvement. In Clarke, C. (Ed.). Improving schools in difficult circumstances. London: Continuum. 
• Anyon, J. (1997). Ghetto schooling: A political economy of urban educational reform. New York: Teachers College. 
• Brighouse, T. (2007). The London Challenge – a personal view. In T. Brighouse and L. Fullick (eds.). Education in a global city. London: Institute of Education Bedford Way Papers.
• Chapman, C.; Ainscow, M.; Bragg, J.; Gallannaugh, F.; Mongon, D.; Muijs, D. and West, M. (2008). New models of leadership: Reflections on ECM policy, leadership and practice. Nottingham: NCSL.
• Chenoweth, K, (2007). It’s being done: Academic success in unexpected schools. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Education Press. 
• Crowther, D.; Cummings, C.; Dyson, A. and Millward, A. (2003). Schools and Area Regeneration. Bristol, The Policy Press. 
• Cummings, C.; Dyson, A. and Todd, L. (2011). Beyond the school gate: can full service and extended schools overcome disadvantage? London: Routledge.
• Dobbie, W. and Fryer, R.G. (2009). Are high-quality schools enough to close the achievement gap? Evidence from a bold social experiment in Harlem. Cambridge: Harvard University. 
• Dyson, A., Howes, A. and Roberts, B. (2004). What do we really know about inclusive schools? A systematic review of the research evidence, in: D. Mitchell (Ed.). Special educational needs and inclusive education: major themes in education. London, Routledge Falmer. 
• Dyson, A. and Raffo, C. (2007). Education and disadvantage: the role of community-orientated schools. Oxford Review of Education 33 (3), 297-314.
• Gray, J. (2010). Probing the limits of systemic reform: the English case. En A. Hargreaves, A. Lieberman, M. Fullan y D. Hopkins (eds.), Second international handbook of educational change. Dordrecht: Springer. 
• Hopkins, D.; Reynolds, D. y Gray, J. (2005). School improvement lessons from research. London: DfES. 
• Kerr, K. y West, M. (Eds.) (2010). Insight 2: Social inequality: can schools narrow the gap?Macclesfield: British Education Research Association.
• Levin, B. (2005).Thinking about improvements in schools in challenging circumstances.Paper presented at the American Educational Research Association, Montreal, April.
• Lipman, P. (2004).High stakes education: inequality, globalisation and urban school reform. New York: Routledge.
• Miles, S. and Ainscow, M. (2011). Responding to diversity in schools. London: Routledge. 
• Mourshed, M.; Chijioke, C. and Barber, M. (2010). How the world’s most improved school systems keep getting better. McKinsey & Company. 
• Muijs, D.; Ainscow, M.; Chapman, C. and West, M. (2011). Collaboration and networking in education. London: Springer. Muijs, D.; West, M. and Ainscow, M. (2010). Why network? Theoretical perspectives on networking. School Effectiveness and School Improvement, 21 (1), 5-26. 
• OECD (2007). No more failures: ten steps to equity in education. Paris: OECD.
• OECD (2010), PISA 2009 Results: Overcoming Social Background – Equity in Learning Opportunities and Outcomes (Volume II). Paris: OECD. 
• Sammons, P. (2007). School effectiveness and equity: making connections. Reading: CfBT. 
• Stringfield, S. (1995). Attempting to improve students’ learning through innovative programs – the case for schools evolving into high reliability organizations. School Effectiveness and School Improvement, 6 (1), 67-96.
• UNESCO (2010). EFA global monitoring report: Reaching the marginalized. Paris: UNESCO/Oxford University Press. 
• West, M. and Ainscow, M. (2010) Improving schools in Hong Kong: a description of the improvement model and some reflections on its impact on schools, teachers and school principals. In S. Huber (Ed.), School leadership – International Perspectives. London: Springer. 
• Whitehurst, G. J. and Croft. M. (2010). The Harlem Children’s Zone, promise neighborhoods, and the broader, bolder approach to education. Washington: The Brookings Institution. 
• Whitty, G. (2010). Marketization and postmarketization in education. In A. Hargreaves, A. Lieberman, M. Fullan and D. Hopkins (eds.). Second international handbook of educational change. Dordrecht: Springer. 
• Wilkinson, R. and Pickett, K. (2000). The spirit level. London: Allen Lane.

La entrada Promoting equity in education se publicó primero en Educación inclusiva. Quererla es crearla.

Received: September 27, 2018. Final acceptance: February 1, 2019

ABSTRACT: The objective of the study presented was to review the guides offered in the field of educational research to support schools in developing more inclusive practices. Therefore, the text includes a content analysis carried out on a compendium of thirteen guides (mostly published in English) that address the following aspects: the purpose for which they were created, the perspective of inclusion from which they originate, the target audience, the stage in which they have greater functionality, the strategies for action they propose, the basic structure on which they are based, the dimensions and indicators on which they stimulate reflection, and the tools and instruments they propose for evaluation. This qualitative approach has made it possible to investigate the steps that these documents recommend for educational centers to undertake the so-called journey towards inclusion. The conclusions point to the need to use and disseminate the content of these types of resources in Spanish-speaking contexts, generating spaces for reflection and debate that contribute to the advancement of this non-negotiable pedagogical asset.

KEYWORDS: guides; inclusive education; school improvement; documentary analysis.

ABSTRACT: The aim of this study was to review the guides available in the educational research literature that support the development of more inclusive practices. The paper, therefore, reports on the analyses of a compendium of thirteen guides (mainly published in English) that address the following aspects: the purposes for which they were created, the perspective of inclusion they take as their starting point, the target readership, the stage at which they are most functional, the action strategies proposed, the basic structure on which they are founded, the dimensions and indicators used to stimulate reflection and the evaluation tools and instruments put forward. The approach is of a qualitative nature and enables us to enquire into the steps these papers recommend education centers should take in their journeys towards inclusion. The conclusions point to the need to make use of and to make known these types of resources in the Spanish speaking world by generating spaces for reflection and debate that will help to advance in this field.

KEY WORDS: guides; inclusive education; school improvement; documentary analysis.

1. Transforming Reality: The Challenge of Inclusion

Preparing youth for an inclusive and sustainable world is one of the priority objectives of the contemporary educational agenda (OECD, 2018). However, how to make societies, and therefore schools, more inclusive is not a question with an easy answer. In terms of inclusion, if the aim is to transform reality, small steps must be taken, the path must be guided, and levers for change must be provided to allow this pending revolution (inclusive revolution) to take place with guarantees of success. Thus, we agree with other colleagues who position inclusive education as an aspiration and perspective from which to analyze the challenges posed by equity in education (Ainscow, 2015; Echeita, 2017; Messiou, 2017). 

Today, we face the challenge of reaching all processes and systems of practices (Puig-Roviraet al., 2012), so that they configure and determine a new school grammar that firmly sustains the commitment to the values and principles of inclusive education (Booth and Ainscow, 2015). 

It is necessary to understand that inclusion is not just another trend in educational research, but an obligation for organizations, administrators, and policymakers, who must listen to the demands of citizens and reverse the perverse effects of an education system that does not fully guarantee the needs of all its students. It can be stated that not only in Spain, but also in other countries inside and outside of Europe, what we have come to call “inclusive despotism” is growing. This term was coined to describe the perpetuation of “everything for inclusion, but without inclusion,” an approach that confirms the discourse of theory on one hand, and the reality of practice on the other, which is very different. For his part, Slee (2013) raises the dilemma of how to make inclusive education happen when exclusion is a political predisposition. Nevertheless, it is true that in recent years there have been glimpses of progress and initiatives undertaken with the aim of transforming schools and classrooms into more inclusive learning environments. 

We are aware, as is Escudero (2012), that many aspects are beyond the reach of institutions, but many others are school decisions. Similarly, Murillo and Hernández (2011) reflect that, while an institution can be the main body for the reproduction and legitimation of social inequalities, it can also be the main driver for social change. Consequently, inclusion, understood as a lever for social change, is one of the main precursor forces of global educational reform, as well as a central objective of international policy and the greatest challenge facing schools today. In this regard, the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development of the United Nations commits its member countries to ensuring inclusive and quality education, along with promoting lifelong learning opportunities for all (unesco, 2015a). At this crossroads, where transforming reality is the true challenge of inclusion, the question arises as to how schools can effectively respond to diversity and move in a more inclusive direction (Azorín, 2016; Florian and Beaton, 2017; López-Vélez, 2018; Loreto, López and Assaél, 2015; Messiou and Ainscow, 2015; Miles and Ainscow, 2011; Simón, Echeita and Sandoval, 2018). 

The concept of inclusion has been widely addressed, among others, by Ainscow et al. (2006), who understand it as a process that seeks to identify and remove barriers; that incorporates the presence, participation, and achievement of all students without exception; and emphasizes those who are at risk of exclusion, marginalization, or underachievement. Both nationally and internationally, there is agreement that inclusive education is a right for all students, but there is also consensus on the obstacles that hinder education systems and communities from making this right effective. Inevitably, building education systems that guarantee quality education with equity is equivalent to saying that the former reaches all children, youth, and adults throughout life (Life Long Learning), without being conditioned by reasons of health, origin, place of residence, ethnicity, economic capacity, gender, sexual orientation, or any other circumstance. 

As we have been explaining, inclusive education is a relevant and widely debated issue in the school landscape both within and beyond our borders. However, it is important to clarify that inclusion will not arise naturally from the existing social order (Göransson and Nilhom, 2014; Marchesi and Martín, 2014), but as a result of conscious, reflective, and voluntary actions. 

In this regard, it is necessary to shed light on the management teams and teachers in educational centers regarding the shared meaning and significance they have about inclusion, and the actions they could take to move policies and practices in a more inclusive direction. Since our practical experience indicates that inclusion is understood and assumed differently by teachers, researchers, families, and students.

2. Guides to embark onthe journeytowards inclusion

Many authors in the field of educational research have used the metaphor of a journey to refer to the path that schools must take when initiating change processes and moving towards more inclusive spaces, which requires questioning both the values and policies of current societies (Messiou, 2012; Nguyen, 2015), and the capacity of schools to respond to diversity (Azorín and Ainscow, 2018; Echeita, 2006). In line with the above, different evidence from school theory and practice is beginning to provide lessons learned on the journey towards inclusion in Spanish schools (Azorín, 2018b; Simón, Sandoval, and Echeita, 2017). However, it is worth remembering that: 

It is not desirable to have a certificate suggesting that the school has reached a final destination in terms of inclusion. Schools are always changing; students and staff come and go; new forms of exclusion emerge; new resources are mobilized. Inclusion is an endless process, “an unending story.” The only sense in which it would be desirable to proclaim a school as “inclusive” is when it is firmly committed to the sustainability of a school improvement process guided by inclusive values (Booth and Ainscow, 2015: 31). 

In relation to the analysis of guides, with the field of inclusion as the primary focus of inquiry, there are previous studies that have delved into aspects such as self-assessment and the improvement of attention to diversity in educational centers (Guirao and Arnaiz, 2014); evaluation and support for monitoring the process towards inclusion (Muntaner, 2016); as well as the review of instruments on attention to diversity for quality inclusive education (Azorín, Arnaiz, and Maquilón, 2017). In this regard, the global impact and influence of the “Index for Inclusion (Booth and Ainscow, 2011), a tool made up of indicators, guidelines, and reflection questions that aim to support teaching teams in putting into practice the principles and values that should underpin education for all. In relation to this instrument, the following has been stated: 

It is a useful instrument for guiding self-reflection, participation, and dialogue among the different members of the educational community. The ultimate purpose of this guide is to build educational spaces that promote participation and increase their capacity to respond to the diversity of students, guaranteeing equity and quality (Booth, Simón, Sandoval, Echeita, and Muñoz, 2015: 5). 

Similarly, as explored in the empirical part of this work, numerous resources inspired by the Index have appeared in the specialized literature as support documents for the promotion of a more inclusive school and society. In summary, the process towards inclusive education taking place in Early Childhood, Primary, and Secondary Education centers requires instruments, support materials, and guides that allow for orienting the path, provide guidelines for self-reflection and analysis of reality, and consequently, favor the implementation of inclusive change and improvement proposals. 

This article addresses, per se, a topic of professional interest for the advancement of inclusion in schools. Unlike what has already been researched by other colleagues previously, a selection of guides (including within this concept materials, documents, resources, and tools) whose purpose is to support schools in taking action regarding inclusion. We consider that this compendium of resources can help educational centers know how to take the first steps and in which dimensions to focus their attention to get started, assuming as a conditionsine qua nonthat inclusion (and attention to diversity) is not just a challenge, but also an inalienable right and a pedagogical asset. 

3. Objectives

The general purpose of the research that has led to this work wasto review the guides offered by the literature to guide and accompany educational centers in the development of more inclusive practices. Therefore, a series of national and international guides will be presented that facilitate evaluation processes in centers, aimed at educational improvement. To this end, we will focus on describing those that revolve around the specific area of attention to diversity, omitting other instruments that deal with very specific aspects aimed at the inclusion of traditionally vulnerable groups. 

Specifically, it was proposed to undertake the study of the selected guides according to the following parameters: objectivefor which it is created,perspectiveof inclusion from which it starts,collectiveto which it is directed,stagein which it has greater functionality,strategiesthat it proposes for action,basic structureupon which it is based,dimensions and indicatorsthat it formulates andtools and instrumentsthat it presents for the implementation of an inclusive school philosophy in educational institutions. 

4. Method

A qualitative research study has been developedwhich describes the content of a series of guides designed to support schools on their path towards inclusion. Therefore, it can be stated that all of them aim to help educational institutions develop more inclusive practices. The method applied was documentary content analysis (Barbosa, Barbosa and Rodríguez, 2013; Fernández, 2002; López, 2002; Peña and Pirela, 2007; Rojas, 2011). This study selected the most current guides (last 10 years) that introduce significant perspectives in this field of knowledge and reflect the reality in which we live. Precisely, one of the aspects that sometimes generates contradiction in this regard is how ephemeral these types of tools can be over time, since policies, values, and knowledgetools of great renown for their impact and value in the school context, such as theIndex for Inclusion(an immaterial work that inspires all others), most of these resources require updates or profound changes to respond to the needs posed by the current socio-educational context.

Consequently, Table 1 chronologically lists the 13 guides/tools that were analyzed to understand the steps these documents recommend for undertaking inclusion-related processes. This was done by starting with guides that have been devised for the improvement of inclusive education in schools and that can, therefore, act as catalysts for inclusion.

Table 1. Guides selected for content analysis

The documentary sources themselves were the guides, tools, and resources selected for the description of their content. In the pre-selection phase, the following criteria were taken into account: 1) recency: texts published in the last decade; 2) thematic: content linked to attention to diversity and inclusive education; 3) national and international panorama: vision of inclusion within and beyond our borders; 4) guides preferably oriented towards supporting inclusion in schools (not specifically designed for self-assessment of practices, but for accompanying educational centers on the path towards inclusion); 5) character not so much empirical as reflective, advocating for the idea of inclusion not just as a matter of numbers or statistics, but as an element close to the qualitative, relational, and contextual reality presented by educational centers, a perspective that we understand is inherently linked to the inclusive movement, and 6) texts intended to help centers situate themselves at their starting point for the development of strategies and action plans that promote more inclusive educational and social processes. 

The analysis of the different documents was carried out through a registration form that allowed for standardized information extraction and collection (Table 2). 

Once the research objectives were formulated and the review criteria defined, a bibliographic search was carried out, considering the steps proposed by Guirao-Goris, Olmedo, and Ferrer (2008): 1) consultation of databases and documentary sources, 2) establishment of the search strategy, 3) specification of document selection criteria, and 4) information organization. For the bibliographic search, the following databases were used: Web of Science, Dialnet, dice, Scopus, as well as the Google Scholar tool, which proved useful for locating texts in both English and Spanish. The descriptors or keywords used were: “inclusive education guides,” “tools for inclusion,” and their Spanish translations: “guías de educación inclusiva” and “herramientas para la inclusión.” Likewise, the selection of documentary sources published in the last decade was narrowed down, agreeing to maintain the period from 2010 to the present as a filter. In parallel, special attention was paid to guides published by organizations committed to inclusion, such as UNESCO.

5. Results

Despite the heterogeneity of countries where the documents we will present below have been published and promoted, the terminological approach of all the guides reviewed is very similar, especially since most of them were produced in English-speaking countries. In all of them, the constant emerges that inclusive education is a combination of philosophy and pedagogical practices that allow every student to feel respected and safe so that they can learn and develop their full potential, based on a system of values and beliefs shared by the school community.

Todos estos materiales constituyen oportunidades para “ponerse en acción”, aunque es posible que algunas escuelas no sientan que están preparadas o quieran llevar a cabo una revisión completa de sus prácticas, pero sí pueden utilizar estas herramientas para estimular la reflexión, la discusión y el aprendizaje sobre la inclusión. 

A continuación, se expondrán los aspectos más importantes de cada documento, haciendo explícitas las dimensiones, factores o indicadores que contemplan cada una de estas guías cuando se refieren a la educación inclusiva y en la forma de utilización de cada una de ellas. 

1. Inclusion and Diversity in Education. Guidelines for Inclusion and Diversity in Schools [Inclusión y diversidad en la educación. Pautas para la inclusión y la diversidad en las escuelas] (British Council, 2010) 

Esta guía se dirige a toda la comunidad escolar, especialmente a los equipos directivos y docentes tanto de escuelas de Primaria como de Secundaria. Propone un modelo de escuela culturalmente inclusiva, basado en investigaciones internacionales, que incorpora buenas prácticas desarrolladas en el marco del proyecto indie¹. Contiene tres dimensiones: marco legal that guarantees equal opportunities; national policies on attention to diversity, and school context, which in turn comprises the following factors: culturally inclusive leadership, high expectations for all, celebration of diversity, promotion of innovation and change, development of an inclusive curriculum, family engagement and empowerment of student voice. 

The school improvement process is based on self-evaluation and self-improvement and must involve all groups that have a stake or interest in the school. This is developed in three phases:audit, self-evaluation procedures to identify strengths and areas for improvement, which involves agreeing on objectives (establishing measurable criteria), as well as planning actions;process monitoring, schools will have regular meetings to assess the development of action plans, share learning, and review any aspects that are not on the right track or are using inappropriate resources; andprogress evaluation, through the evidence found from observations, interviews, and the use of questionnaires. 

2. Creating an Inclusive school. Indicators of Success. A Reflection Tool for Administrators, Educators and Other School Staff [Creando una escuela inclusiva. Indicadores de éxito. Una herramienta de reflexión para administradores, educadores y otro personal escolar] (New Brunkwick Association for Community Living, 2011) 

La guía persigue motivar a las comunidades escolares de Educación Infantil, Primaria y Secundaria para promover prácticas inclusivas. Se trata de una herramienta de reflexión y acción que permite a los educadores y administradores conocer las claves de éxito en la creación y mantenimiento de centros inclusivos. Entre los indicadores “de éxito” que propone destacan los siguientes: respeto de las diversas experiencias, perspectivas y conocimientos de los estudiantes, así como del sentido de pertenencia; experiencias de aprendizaje inclusivas (programa de educación flexible, fortalezas y capacidades, entornos de aprendizaje comunes y participación plena, estudiantes fuera del entorno de aprendizaje común, plan de estudios, instrucción, evaluación en curso); available supports for students to participate fully; behavior(with an impact on school bullying issues);management and leadershipproactive school (effective use of environmental resources);innovation and creative environmentin the educational process; andcollaborative approachfor the search for solutions and projection towards a committed school community. 

The steps it formulates are the following:clarifies the objective; articulates the principles and values; determines who will participate and identifies facilitators; designs the process; develops a work plan; implements the proposal,andevaluates the results. Among the instruments it provides are questionnaires for teachers, families, and educational administrators that encourage reflection and analysis of the school’s profile. 

3. Inclusive Practice in Secondary Schools. Ideas for School Leaders [Práctica inclusiva en escuelas de Secundaria. Ideas para líderes escolares] (New Zealand Ministry of Education, 2014) 

The aim of this guide is to offer a common framework of ideas for discussion in secondary schools with education inspectors, principals, and counselors. The guide is organized into four dimensions that in turn constitute evaluation rubrics: building an inclusive school culture, this involves a debate about individual and collective beliefs about inclusion; developing processes and systems, data and aspects linked to the development process of each student and transition periods must be collected. This is usually done through a web platform, a task that can be carried out by the department or group of educational agents; supporting diverse learners, since it is necessary to ensure presence, participation, and learning (in this sense, more importance should be given to how one learns than to what one learns, i.e., to processes rather than results); improve collaboration and camaraderie, to sustain this entire system and improve it, collaboration with families, as well as with other organizations and members of the community, is very important. The voice of families and their role in decision-making are fundamental. 

The research cycle it proposes for school improvement through the metaphor of a “journey” includes three steps: gather the human team that will be part of the discussions; collect information, and to make a plan to change and transform inclusive practices in the school.

4. Coaching to Support Inclusion: A Principal’s Guide [Coaching para apoyar la inclusión: una guía para el director] (The Alberta Teachers’ Association, 2015)

This guide aims to explore the use of coaching as a professional development strategy to support the implementation of inclusive practices in both Primary and Secondary schools. Principals become trainers who work with teachers to meet the needs of all students within an inclusive school environment. This resource is created to guide and support inclusion by leadership teams who must work collaboratively with school staff to make this happen. In this regard, establishing a collaborative culture with defined roles is extremely important. The guide presents a set of strategies to improve collaboration: create a culture of expectations; increase information sharing, and foster the transfer of ideas and concerns. 

In turn, this guide details the dimensions associated with the exercise of inclusive leadership in which it is proposed to:foster effective relationships, represent visionary leadership, lead a learning community, provide instructional leadership, develop and facilitate leadership, manage school resourcesandunderstand and respond to the broader social context.Finally, it establishes three clearly differentiated phases:mobilization, which consists of preparation activities, awareness-raising, commitment building, and program planning;plan implementation, andinstitutionalization, at this stage, coaching becomes part of the school’s culture.

5. Embracing Diversity: Toolkit for Creating Inclusive, Learning-friendly Environments [Abrazando la diversidad: Conjunto de herramientas para crear entornos inclusivos y amigables para el aprendizaje] (UNESCOX, 2015b)

This guide was born after the World Education Conference in Dakar, which aimed to ensure access to quality education for vulnerable groups of students by 2015. It was written in 2000 and has been revised several times until its version was available in 2015.online. It aims to raise awareness among future and current teachers and educational administrators of any formal or non-formal educational stage about the importance of inclusive education and provides them with practical tools to analyze their situation. 

It should be noted that one of the most relevant concepts coined in this guide is the term “inclusive, learning-friendly environment”. This concept emphasizes the importance of students and teachers learning together as a learning community, placing students at the center of their learning. The sections covered by this guide are the following: building an inclusive and friendly learning environment (including the benefits for teachers, students, families, and communities) and identifying areas that may need further improvement, providing ideas on how to plan changes and how to evaluate progress; working with families and communities describe how to help families and other community members and organizations participate in the development and maintenance of an inclusive learning environment;that all children go to school and learnpromotes reflection on the barriers that prevent this from happening, as well as examples of students who cannot learn or participate;create an inclusive learning environment, emphasizing students’ self-esteem and the necessary union of learning at home and at school;management of inclusive learning classrooms, where aspects related to the planning of teaching and learning, the use of available resources, the management of group work, cooperative learning, and forms of evaluation consistent with this way of learning are addressed; andcreation of a healthy and protective environment, in terms of child protection policies, violence prevention, school nutrition programs, and health services and facilities. 

6. How good is our school?

The guide is aimed at the entire educational community of Secondary Education centers. It proposes a change in which all stakeholders involved in the center can intervene, as well as groups of people related to the field of education, such as university staff or experts. 

The school improvement framework consists of a set of 15 quality indicators designed to help answer three questions related to important aspects of the school’s work and life. The quality indicators are divided into three categories: leadership and management, which answers the question: how good is our leadership and improvement approach?; learning environment, how good is the quality of the care and education we offer?, and éxitos y logros, ¿cuán buenos somos para garantizar los mejores resultados posibles para todos nuestros estudiantes? 

Este material expone un modelo de autoevaluación que permite revisar las políticas y las prácticas. Asimismo, profundiza en procesos básicos para la gestión del cambio desde una triple panorámica mirando: hacia adentro (autoevaluación); hacia fuera, aprendiendo de lo que sucede en otros lugares; y hacia delante, exploring what the future may hold for today’s students. This model emphasizes the need to triangulate information through direct observation, quantitative data collection, and the incorporation of all voices within the educational community. 

7. Tool to Upgrade Teacher Education Practices for Inclusive Education [Herramienta para mejorar las prácticas de formación docente para la educación inclusiva] (Council of Europe, 2015) 

This is a resource aimed at undergraduate students, practicing teachers, and teacher trainers who intend to improve school practices, especially in secondary schools. This tool consists of two parts. The first part describes the updating procedure as a sequence of activities. It guides teachers through a six-stage problem-solving cycle:problem identification; needs assessment, goals, and objectives; educational strategies; implementation; evaluation,and comments. The second part describes the framework for inclusive practices based on the European Agency’s postulates on the profile of inclusive teachers. This framework identifies four relevant practices for developing skills associated with inclusive education aimed at being a competent professional in inclusive education; valuing student diversity; supporting all students, and using collaborative work strategies. 

Teachers can use this tool to better understand their position in their own professional development and the skills they may need to progress towards inclusive practice through a problem-solving cycle. In this regard, they point out that the cycle is not linear or sequential, but rather encompasses dynamic and interactive processes. Furthermore, the guide in question offers rubrics with different skill levels on teaching competencies for both student teachers, practicing teachers, and school principals/inspectors. 

8. Equality: Making it Happen. A guide for help schools to make sure everyone is safe, included and learning [Igualdad: hacer que suceda. Una guía para ayudar a las escuelas a asegurarse de que todos estén seguros, incluidos y aprendiendo] (Centre for Studies on Inclusive Education, 2015)

This is a practical, easy-to-use guide tohelp Primary and Secondary schools promote equality and ensure that all students feel safe, visible, and ultimately, learn to live together equally. 

The indicators on which the guide focuses are the following:disability(including learning difficulties), gender and gender identity, sexual orientation, culture/ethnicity, religion or beliefs, pregnancy and motherhood and socioeconomic background. Alongside these aspects, it also delves into learning environment, leadership, behaviour, wellbeing, achievement, learning about equality, diversity and human rights, British equality legislation, LGBTQ+ in education, disability equality in education, ethnic equality in educationandincreased achievement for all students. The materials include questionnaires for students, families, and teachers to monitor equality in the school.

Through practical examples of experiences in UK schools, the guide briefly covers topics related to inclusion. It presents specific case studies and explains how certain problems have been resolved or how barriers have been removed through dialogue processes and the use of, among other tools, the Index for Inclusion. The guide proposes reflective processes and support and consultation materials based on testimonies from practice. It contains a series of sections that address different content on equality in a simple way and includes examples of good practices and additional sources of information.

9. The IB guide to inclusive education: a resource for whole school development [La guía de educación inclusiva del ib: un recurso para el desarrollo de toda la escuela] (International Baccalaureate Organization, 2015)

by the Primary and Secondary Education association of international schoolsInternational Baccalaureate Organization(known as IB). The guide is aimed at principals, consultants, and support staff. First, it recognizes the important contextual nature of inclusion and admits that schools may be at different stages of development. Its main objective isto help schools structure and develop inclusive education practices.

The guide focuses its attention on community participation, inclusive policy, and the development of school policy for inclusion. The latter differs from the former in the use of a cycle of research, action, and reflection that sustains the development and review of the inclusion policy within the school itself. According to this resource, the creation of effective and inclusive schools depends on the creation of common understandings throughout the school community. Schools must consider how to include all members of the community through the following actions:creating optimal learning environments; the use of technology; the development of collaborative processes; inclusive approaches to learning; assessment, andvariability in teaching(differentiation and universal design for learning).

The proposal for carrying out improvement processes consists of a series of statements that reflect the ideals of inclusion with self-assessment questions. They are open-ended questions with no right or wrong answers. There are also no time recommendations, and schools should understand that the development of inclusive education is a long-term process. Likewise, it is emphasized that if a school decides to use the inclusive self-review process, it must be integrated into the school’s overall development initiatives and strategies. The review cycle must be supported by the IB’s research cycle, where research, action, and reflection involve the entire school community from a constructivist approach leading to open and democratic processes.

10. Diversity, equality and inclusion charter and guidelines for early childhood care and education [Carta de diversidad, igualdad e inclusión y pautas para el cuidado y la educación de la primera infancia] (Department of Children and Youth Affairs, 2016)

This guide is aimed at Early Childhood Education professionals and is revealing for its stance, which argues that inclusion and quality go hand in hand. It is pointed out that it is fundamental to support children in building positive identities, developing a sense of belonging, and realizing their potential. Furthermore, it is the only guide among all those presented here that discusses the concept of “funds of knowledge” and “multiple identities,” which seeks to respect the unique identity of children at birth and their role in the construction and reconstruction of personal meaning within their cultural contexts.

It reflects on different diversities such as cultural diversity, second language acquisition, gender, religious beliefs, and the communities of migrant families. On each of these topics, the visions that schools should have to respect diversity are presented, and a series of questions are provided to help educators reflect on these issues. It consists of two parts: the first mentions the Irish National Statute of (early childhood) inclusion, which aims to promote the values of diversity, equality, and inclusion. The second part contains guidelines for early childhood care and education, referring to knowledge and identity funds, an educational approach against bias, modification of the physical environment, support for families, and analysis of policy implementation and school leadership.

The proposed way to develop improvement in schools is divided into seven steps:decide who will develop; evaluate the current policy; generate a draft policyconsulting all stakeholders;share the draftwith staff, volunteers, and families; ratify the policy; implement the policy, and review the policy. 

11. Reaching Out All Learners. A Resource Pack for Supporting Inclusive Education [Alcanzando a todos los estudiantes. Un paquete de recursos para apoyar la educación inclusiva] (IBE and UNESCO, 2016)

This is a guide for trainers, educational administrators, teachers, and school management teams, for both Primary and Secondary education. To date, all the guides promoted by UNESCO that have been analyzed share similar theoretical assumptions. In this case, inclusion is considered a process related to the identification and elimination of barriers. Inclusion has three dimensions: presencia, participación y logro de todos los estudiantes. La inclusión implica un particular énfasis en aquellos grupos de aprendices que pueden estar en riesgo de marginación, exclusión y bajo logro. La forma en la que invita a reflexionar es a través de textos de distinta naturaleza: resúmenes, proyectos de investigación educativos, estudios de casos de escuelas, preguntas de discusión y actividades. 

La herramienta se organiza en tres secciones/subguías interconectadas, como se denomina en la publicación: una orientada a la política; otra a los centros educativos, y otra a las aulas. In each of them, school experiences from around the world, discussion topics, and activities are offered. 

In summary, it offers a framework of four dimensions (concepts, policy, structure, and practice) with indicators based on international educational research. 

Finally, it includes a scale composed of the aforementioned dimensions that allows schools to be evaluated generically. 

12. Guide for Ensuring Inclusion and Equity in Education (UNESCO, 2017) 

This guide is useful for teachers and management teams in Primary and Secondary education. Its content warns that inclusion is not only achieved by facilitating access to education, but also by providing quality learning spaces and pedagogies that allow students to thrive, understand their individual realities and differences as an opportunity to democratize and enrich learning. 

Furthermore, it presents concrete examples and offers a review framework with indicators to assess the progress level of each of them in four dimensions:concept; stated policies; structures and systems, and practices. Each dimension, in turn, has four defining characteristics that can serve as a self-assessment tool for systems, obtained from the previous publication by IBE and UNESCO (2016). 

This tool emphasizes the need for teachers to constantly renew and continue learning in order to develop inclusive education, and to this end, it establishes four core values that develop this teaching competence: valuing student diversity, seeing students’ differences as a resource and an asset for education; supporting all students, having high expectations for all students’ achievement; working with others, considering collaboration and teamwork as essential approaches, and continuous personal professional development, understanding teaching as a learning activity in which teaching staff must accept responsibility for their own ongoing training and updating. 

13. Themis Inclusion Tool [Herramienta de Inclusión Themis] (Azorín and Ainscow, 2018) 

This guide is aimed at management and teaching staff working in Primary and Secondary Education centres. Its structure is formed by three dimensions: contexts, resources and processes (inspired by Stufflebeam’s CIPP Model). The use of this tool promotes reflection on the contexts in which educational centers are immersed; the resources they have to attend to the diversity of students; and the processes (inclusive or not) that are carried out in this regard in schools.

The indicators it delves into are the following: socioeconomic situation; cultural diversity; educational policy; leadership; values; prevention of discrimination; teacher-student relationship; teacher collaboration; links between family and school; community participation; collaboration networks; formative, human, material, technological, physical, and community resources, celebration of diversity; teaching planning; educational process; varietymethodological; heterogeneity and flexibility of class groups; organization of spaces and times; supports; evaluation, and transition between educational stages. 

In this case, the steps it suggests for reviewing school practice are clearly influenced by the phases developed in the Index for Inclusion itself: initiate a reflection process in discussion groups that allows for thinking about the meaning and significance of inclusion shared by stakeholders and resolving possible contradictions; complete the questionnaire individually to compare this information with the data collected in the previous group phase; analyze the results and identify strengths and weaknesses, and select the lines of change indicating those priorities on which it is intended to advance for the implementation of improvement projects aimed at developing more inclusive practices. An example of its applicability in educational centers can be found in Azorín (2018a). 

6. Final Considerations 

As a closing remark, it should be noted that most of the guides reviewed emphasize the importance of learning from members of the educational community in a process of mutual learning and of a reflective nature in each educational context. In this direction, the work of Azorín and Ainscow (2018) advocates for the development of review instruments taking into account the particular contexts and the ideas of all people involved in the journey to inclusion. Therefore, schools and their educational communities are the protagonists of the changes that are not only planned in concrete classroom practices but also in their culture (values) and policies. However, we must be aware of the weight of representation that each agent has in these documents (in many of them, families and students are not mentioned). Likewise, we cannot be oblivious to conflicts and tensions of various kinds (personal, social, or professional) that may arise as a consequence of proposing changes in educational centers. Sometimes this involves, among other things, caring for professionals, ensuring they feel valued and participate in decisions that affect them. 

The analysis developed in this work provides evidence on the current state of the investigated topic, as well as information that may be useful in training and work processes in school contexts. After the review carried out, it can be affirmed that the different guides studied favor processes of support, advice, and accompaniment in action itself, which we have assumed as the path or journey towards inclusion. Undoubtedly, these types of resources help guide the direction of educational centers that seek to incorporate changes inside and outside the classrooms to move towards the development of more inclusive practices. Although it is easy to understand that when a school (especially its teaching staff, its families, and its students) does not share—each at their own level—certain inclusive values, we are facing a reality in which educational practices that welcome, respect, and value diversity will hardly be able to flourish. During the review of these guides, some points have been raised by those most vulnerable; the recognition of diversity and the responsibility to act to make rights effective (by removing existing barriers); as well as collaboration and cooperation to face challenges, which entails mutual trust and respect. We highlight the importance of recognition as a central value for the development of more inclusive education, bringing to mind Honnet’s (2010) thought to assume that the recognition of the other has been configured as a central dimension (and paradigm) of social justice. 

Undoubtedly, all these documents have been designed to open up reflection processes in schools, starting with a self-assessment or identification of needs through discussion techniques, visualization of ideal practices, questionnaires, and/or rubrics. Next, a second part is addressed, which seeks to resolve some factors susceptible to improvement. This is done in different ways, through real cases, examples of situations, testimonials, and research evidence. In this regard, it is noteworthy that the improvement proposals are intended for all students and not just for traditionally vulnerable groups. 

As in the review by Guirao and Arnaiz (2014), almost all the guides discussed originate from the Anglo-Saxon world, with the differences this entails, indicating the need to strengthen this line of research in our country, creating practical support for school communities to walk the inclusive path together. In parallel, emphasis must be placed on the need to use and disseminate the content of these types of resources in Spanish-speaking contexts, generating spaces for reflection and debate that contribute to the advancement of this non-negotiable pedagogical asset.

From reading these instruments, it can be concluded that the term inclusion has moved beyond the condition of access to education traditionally outlined in our legal frameworks, and seeks to provide quality learning spaces and pedagogies that allow students to thrive, understanding their individual realities and differences as an opportunity to democratize and enrich learning. In this regard, the UNESCO guide (2017) invites us to see differences not as problems to be solved, but as opportunities to democratize and enrich learning, a stance with which we fully agree.

In short, it could well be said that an education system can never be of quality if it maintains exclusionary mechanisms within itself. And given that, in fact, the levels of segregation, marginalization, and school failure (three core and interdependent dimensions of exclusion) remain high in education systems, it is not surprising that the goal of inclusive education has become, internationally as well, the way to refer to the path that all countries must undertake.

7. Bibliographical references

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• PuigRovira, J. M., Doménech, I., Gijón, M., Martín, X., Rubio, L. and Trilla, J. (2012). Moral culture and education. Barcelona: Graó. 
• Rojas, I. R. (2011). Elements for the design of research techniques: a proposal for definitions and procedures in scientific research. Tiempo de Educar, 12 (24), 227-297. 
• Simón, C., Echeita, G. and Sandoval, M. (2018). Incorporating students’ voices in the “Lesson Study” as a teacher-training and improvement strategy for inclusion. Culture and Education, 30 (1), 205-225.
• Simón, C., Sandoval, M. and Echeita, G. (2017). The inclusion journey: Lessons learned from the spanish schools. Copenhagen: European Conference on Educational Research. 
• Slee, R. (2013). How do we make inclusive education happen when exclusion is a political predisposition? International Journal of Inclusive Education, 17 (8), 895-907. 
• The Alberta Teachers’ Association (2015). Coaching to support inclusion: a principal’s guide. Edmonton: The Alberta Teachers’ Association. 
• UNESCO (2015a). Education 2030. Incheon Declaration and Framework for Action. Towards inclusive and equitable quality education and lifelong learning for all. Paris: UNESCO. 
• UNESCO (2015b). Embracing Diversity: Toolkit for Creating Inclusive, Learning-Friendly Environments. Paris: UNESCO. 
• UNESCO (2017) Guide to ensure inclusion and equity in education. Paris: UNESCO.

La entrada Support for advancing towards more inclusive education in schools: analysis of guides for action se publicó primero en Educación inclusiva. Quererla es crearla.

Received: 01.15.2017. Accepted: 02.15.2017. ISSN: 0210-2773 DOI: https://doi.org/10.17811/rifie.46.2017.17-24

ABSTRACT. This article analyzes the global meaning of the right to inclusive education, which is formally established internationally. Following some basic questions about this issue and their respective answers, the analysis is structured around the meaning, dimensions, and dilemmas faced today by the educational agents responsible for implementing it, particularly in Spain, although many of them are similar in other parts of the world. The flagrant contradiction between what is stated in the regulations and what actually happens in many educational centers, “between what is said and what is done,” generates enormous tensions and emotional distress that negatively affect many vulnerable students and their families.

KEYWORDS: inclusive education, right, dilemmas, contradictions.

ABSTRACT. This paper discusses the overall meaning which has the inclusive education that internationally is formally established. The analysis of the dimensions regarding inclusive education, besides the dilemmas faced by educational stakeholders responsible for implementing, its organised trough some basic questions and their answer. This analysis is relevant for the Spanish context but also in other countries around de world. The big gap among theory and practices, create enormous tensions and emotional tears that affect very negatively to many vulnerable students and their families.

KEYWORDS: inclusive education, rigths, dilemmas, contradictions.

1. Introduction

Estamos de lleno en el proceso de analizar y debatir en el Congreso de los Diputados y fuera de él, una nueva ley de educación en nuestro país. En este texto presento lo fundamental de la comparecencia que he podido realizar ante la Subcomisión del parlamento que está organizando los trabajos preparatorios para dicho proyecto de ley.

Mi aportación a ese debate se ha centrado en la tarea de señalar la importancia de que la nueva ley de educación responda al compromiso inequívoca y al desafío de tratar de garantizar la equidad educativa, condición necesaria para conseguir, con y por ello, que la educación escolar sea más inclusiva.

Comparto con otros colegas, dentro y fuera de nuestro país (Ainscow, 2016; Echeita, Martín, Simón and Sandoval, 2016, talking about “inclusive education” is nothing more thana perspective from which to analyze the challenges of equity in school education and, therefore, an aspiration embedded in that general principle. In any case, what is clear is that this aspiration for greater equity will not be achieved without countries fulfilling themandate they have received for their education systems to beinclusive.

And I speak of “mandate” not in rhetorical terms, but because that is the commitment formally acquired and undertaken by Spain before several international bodies. The first is before UNESCO, to which we must recognize its role in pointing out the horizon towards which the educational policies of the “Member States” should be oriented. In this regard, I will highlight two unavoidable recent references: what was agreed at the 48th Session of the International Conference on Education promoted by UNESCO/IBE (2008), with the eloquent title: “Inclusive education: the way forward”. The second (UNESCO et al., 2016), the so-called The Incheon Declaration and its Framework for Action for the realization of Sustainable Development Goal 4, by the year 2030, which again has a title relevant to our topic: “Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all”.

As I will try to explain, inclusive education is not an aspiration that refers exclusively to a specific student population, particularly that of children (and also young people and adults) with disabilities or with learning difficulties of any kind. It is a goal that seeks to help transform educational systems so that ALL students, without restrictions, limitations, or euphemisms regarding that ‘ALL’, have comparable quality opportunities for the full development of their personality, the ultimate aim of all educational systems. However, it is evident, at the same time, that students with specific educational support needs (following the categorization established in the LOMCE), are at greater risk of segregation, marginalization, or school failure, and therefore, it is only fair to pay special attention to ensuring their rights are not relegated.

Within this framework, the “States parties” have also received the mandate from the Committee responsible within the United Nations system for monitoring the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UN, 2006), ratified by Spain in 2008, to ensure the full fulfillment of the “right to inclusive education” (Art. 24 of the Convention). To facilitate the task of sharing a common frame of reference for what is understood as inclusive education, the Committee responsible for monitoring this Convention has developed a General Comment (No. 4) (UN, 2016), which explains and details the meaning and scope of this right for signatory countries, with the added value of being an authoritative and legitimate interpretation.

This commitment, acquired by signing the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, is a very relevant fact, because it could well be said that it changes the status of this concern; from being understood as a well-intentioned and applicable principle, let’s say, “as far as reasonably possible”, it is now a right, with all its legal and social force (Campoy, 2007; Lema, 2009), and for which the judicial system can and should be invoked, something that organizations such as the Gerard Foundation(1) or Solcom(2) are already doing.

This rights-based perspective confers a very relevant nuance on the analyses that concern us, which should not be overlooked, because if proposals contrary to the meaning of this right to inclusive education were to be made in the law, they could well be considered as direct or indirect acts of discrimination (Lema, 2009).

Finally, and within the framework of the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals, promoted again by the United Nations (2016) with the hope that “countries and citizens of the world will embark on a new path to improve the lives of people everywhere”, it should be highlighted that, as has already been pointed out, Goal 4 once again emphasizes the strategic importance of working towards: “Ensure inclusive, equitable and quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all”.

Given these freely adopted commitments, it seems clear that we need to question the meaning, scope, and implications of the approach we must take to schooling for it to be “inclusive,” and which the new education law being prepared cannot ignore.

From now on, I will structure this text around some basic questions, the answers to which I believe can help clarify why, and about whom we are talking when we discuss inclusive education, and to better understand the arguments that lead us towards it, as well as its nature and some of the enormous challenges its implementation poses to us all. I anticipate that the most substantive and important aspect of all these questions/answers about inclusive education is that we are dealing with a political matter concerning the kind of society we want to live in (Echeita, 2013; Slee, 2012).

And in relation to that social project, a dimension that is undoubtedly very relevant has to do with Alain Touraine’s (2005) question, “Can we live together?” which we must complement with equally uncomfortable questions: How do we want to do it? In a way that guarantees equity and respect for human diversity within a shared framework of rights and duties? Or by looking indifferently away from the unjust inequalities so often associated with factors such as gender, social origin, ability, sexual orientation, or the place where one lives? Depending on how clear and forceful (or ambiguous) the answer given by society to these questions is, so will be the clear and forceful (or ambiguous) mandate received by “the school” (in a broad sense of the term), and other educational agents, to ensure their educational action is consistent with the indicated social horizon.

I don’t think anyone will be surprised if I say that the mandate received by “the school” until very recently was not that of those who wanted an inclusive society, but rather that of those who have wanted and benefited from a stratified, segregated, and unequal society. However, in light of some recent political events (elections in the U.S., Holland, France…), everything suggests that we are not just talking about the “past,” but also about a very disturbing present.

2. Why do we talk about inclusive education?

The adjective inclusive added to the noun education (Jarque, 2016) tells us that we must work to ensure that the schooling we currently have – heir to ways of thinking and valuing student diversity in terms of exclusionary and hierarchical categories; boys and girls, good and bad students, capable and disabled, white and Roma, native and migrant, “normal and strange”… (Ballard, 2012; Echeita, Simón, López and Urbina, 2014) – is NOT capable of responding equitably with regard to three major tasks:

• First, to welcome ALL students, regardless of their educational needs—because, unless stated otherwise, we all have equal dignity and the right to be and share the common spaces where citizenship is built—.
• Second, to make EVERYONE feel recognized, active participants, and people loved and valued by their peers and their teachers. It happens that when schools today welcome many of those who have been outside for a long time (for example, a good portion of children with disabilities), they do not offer all of them equal opportunities to, in effect, be loved and valued for who they are (not for their proximity or distance from a certain pattern of normality); so that they can build a positive identity and not one that is “deficient” or of lesser value, and so that they feel part of a group and have meaningful friendships and social relationships, thereby warding off the risk of marginalization or, worse still, mistreatment by their peers (Calderón, 2014; Fernández Enguita, Gaete, and Terrén, 2008).
• And third, we talk about inclusive education because the education we see developing daily in educational centers (from early childhood to university) does NOT have enough varied and diversified strategies, organizational forms, and ways of teaching and evaluating (Echeita, Simón, and Sandoval, 2014) to allow ALL students to learn at the highest possible level and performance, and in a personalized way (Coll, 2016), thus moving away from the scourge of high rates of “school and educational failure” that today affects, in some contexts, more than a quarter of the student population (Escudero and Martínez, 2012).

The enormous challenge that inclusive education poses, then, is to equitably articulate for ALL students the three dimensions referred to: accessing or being present in common/mainstream spaces where everyone should be educated; participating, coexisting, and having well-being in accordance with the dignity of every human being; and finally, learning and progressing in the acquisition of basic competencies necessary to achieve a quality adult life, leaving no one behind for personal or social, individual or group reasons.

In short, we need to emphasize the adjective “inclusive” because, without downplaying the progress that has been made, we still have a very exclusionary school system in the form of segregation, marginalization, and/or school failure for many students throughout their educational process.

It could well be said that this adjective is just one more – let’s say “the second to last” for now – of those we have been adding to “education” in itself, as our social ambitions have grown stronger and new social challenges have emerged. Another adjective our education needs, for example, is to contribute to the environmental sustainability of our planet (Echeita and Navarro, 2014; Ecologistas en Acción/MRPs, 2015).

3. Who are we talking about when we talk about inclusive education?

Almost from the beginning, I have anticipated the answer to this question: we are talking about ALL students, without exclusions, restrictions, or euphemisms. That is, we do not talk about ALL to refer to the majority or almost all, but rather it is an absolute ALL: but do you also mean those students who have broad and extensive support needs for their personal and social development? Also, for example, students with intellectual or developmental disabilities? Yes, them too. Or are they perhaps people whom we should not consider with equal dignity and rights as the rest? (Urien, 2017). Is it written in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights that they are not? No, and that is what, as I pointed out at the beginning, has been ratified by theConvention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities(UN, 2006). It is crucial to remember that we are talking about ALL students being necessary to prevent, first and foremost, the risk of continuing with educational policies, like many of the current ones, whose equity actions are based on categorizing vulnerable students, focusing only on them and on the schools where compensatory actions and resources are mostly allocated. Incidentally, this is a very common way of thinking in other policies that seek to reduce exclusion. For example, in the labor field (Castell, 2004).

However, it is evident that we are facing a more than difficult process of educational (and social) transformation that will take time and require great effort. It should not surprise us, then, that those who have most acutely and harshly experienced processes of segregation, marginalization, and poor/little learning are the first to demand inclusive policies and practices for themselves. This is undoubtedly the case for persons with disabilities (Campoy, 2013), who have made the banner of (educational, social, labor) inclusion their emblem and leitmotif(3).

These analyses should serve to highlight the need not to identify the international movement and the challenges towards a more inclusive education as solely belonging to that specific group or set of students that, under current legislation in Spain, we recognize as students withspecial educational needs.

Doing so would be as inadequate, unjust, and unproductive as leaving them in the background again because we are talking about ALL students, or because there are other equally vulnerable students who are more numerous (for example, students living in impoverished social contexts), or because their reality is more concerning given the social repercussions associated with their failure/dropout from school (delinquency, drug abuse, marginality…).

4. What are the main challenges for the development of the right to inclusive education?

Adopting a rights-based perspective in inclusive education necessarily means working to achieve the conditions that make its enjoyment possible. Otherwise, what is effectively done is to deny the effective exercise of these rights. These school conditions are not, and cannot be, the ones that have existed in the “school grammar” of our education system (Echeita, Simón, Sandoval, 2016; Simón, et al., 2016). Therefore, the main challenge, in my opinion, that must be undertaken within the framework of the new law is to create the conditions for educational centers to be capable ofinitiating and sustaining systemic processes of educational improvement and innovation.to move inclusive education from the realm of wishes to the reality of classrooms.

For educational centers, this collective endeavor has two non-negotiable tasks behind it:

• Firstly, to recognize the multiple barriers (a set of factors that limit or can limit the presence, learning, and participation of students) that currently exist in educational cultures, policies, and practices (derived from old ways of thinking and acting, Echeita, Simón, López, and Urbina, 2014). Centers should be called upon to deeply review their educational projects and institutional programs through the lens of this analysis.
  
• The second task is to transform these barriers into facilitators, on these same levels, of an educational action capable of personalizing teaching, adapting to student diversity, and responding equitably to their educational needs and aspirations. This requires knowledge not only about what to do (Coll, 2016), strictly speaking, but also about how to implement the necessary changes, that is, about how to initiate and sustain (in the long term) the required educational changes, a body of knowledge that is articulated around research on the effectiveness of school improvement (Murillo, Krichesky, 2012; Murillo, Krichesky, 2015).

The important thing is that today we have the knowledge, experience, and capacity to carry out these two tasks and, in fact, the specialized literature is full of rigorous knowledge to guide us in this process. Two examples will suffice;Booth, and Ainscow, (2015) and UNESCO/BIE (2016). These are insights that converge on a key idea: it is possible to do so. There are educational administrations, schools, and teachers who have been able to get started and begin to travel the path that lies between their ambitions and their reality. They are not perfect, nor are they eternally so or in all circumstances, but neither are they anecdotal.

But we also know that knowing is not enough. Indeed, the truth is that we have knowledge, but what is not clear is whether we have sufficient political will (at the different levels; national, regional, and local where it is distributed) to mobilize the available knowledge and to confront the multiple turbulences and resistances that this process will generate in established educational systems.

The systemic nature of this process alerts us to the need to generate many conditions and policies that must align coherently for progress to be made towards the stated goal; conditions and policies regarding funding, infrastructure (not least, in relation to the accessibility of physical and virtual spaces); regarding curriculum review (less overloaded with content and more mindful that what is considered essential contributes to the development of all intelligences/competencies that should be taught and not just some); regarding the organization of teaching – in tasks as sensitive as the transition processes between stages or the criteria for promotion and certification, if the latter were essential, which not everyone defends (4) – etc.

I am not in a position to analyze them all, but I can emphasize some essential ones:

• Establish a shared vision, strongly rooted in a clear set of inclusive educational values and principles (Booth, 2006; Booth and Ainscow, 2015; Escudero, 2006; Extebarría, 2005):
  • The intrinsic dignity of every human being above the differences that shape our diversity.
  • The justice that guards against discrimination and unequal treatment.
  • The beneficent action: “to seek the good of those for whom I feel responsible and the care, in particular, of the most vulnerable.”
  • The responsibility, to undertake the changes or improvements that reduce injustices and promote desired values.
• To extend a strong capacity among all members of the educational community to reflect on the “systems of practices” in which shared values should be rooted and which, therefore, sustain the “moral cultures” that could well be called inclusive (Puig Rovira et al., 2012).
• To develop solid school leadership in which three basic dimensions converge:
  • a pedagogical leadership, a distributed leadership and a leadership for social justice (Bolívar, López, and Murillo, 2013). Leadership that, ultimately, allows for the creation and maintenance of the internal conditions that support inclusive cultures (Murillo, Krichesky, Castro, and Hernández, 2010).
• Building strong and consistent cultures, policies, and collaborative practicess a varios niveles; dentro del centro escolar y entre centros escolares; entre el profesorado y entre el alumnado, y entre unos y otros con las familias y el contexto local (Ainscow y West, 2008).
• Formar desde el inicio a todo el profesorado con una firme convicción de que “la capacidad de aprender de todos sus estudiantes puede cambiar y ser cambiada a mejor como resultado de lo que él/ella puede hacer en el presente” (Hart et al., 2004).
  • Es la concepción “transformadora” de la enseñanza y el aprendizaje, opuesta a la visión determinista que se traduce en una concepción sobre la capacidad de aprendizaje condicionada genéticamente y que se refleja en el C.I. de cada estudiante.
• Garantizar que todo el profesorado (tanto el que esté llamado a enseñar en educación infantil, como en educación primaria y en educación secundaria), egrese de su formación inicial, con las competencias necesarias para sentirse y desempeñarse como profesor o profesora de todo el alumnado, algo que no parece que estemos consiguiendo a pesar de las reformas recientes en sus planes de formación (Echeita, 2012; Izusquiza, Echeita, y Simón, 2015).
• Una formación inicial y permanente que debe servir para afianzar las competencias emocionales propias de un profesorado empático that knows and wants to listen to its students, who trusts in their ability to get involved in their learning process and in their ability to tell us plainly what makes them feel bad and not learn (Vaello, 2009; Susinos and Ceballos, 2012).
• Learning to implement an institutional development that is well thought out and planned that, therefore, can be sustainable over time and capable of withstanding the innumerable turbulences of a process constantly threatened and, in any case, subject to the changing circumstances of its own “ecosystem”: the socioeconomic crisis, the lack of resources and support, demoralization. (Ainscow, Dyson, West and Goldrick, 2013).

These conditions, in particular, are not a “miracle” that some schools receive and others do not, or “personal qualities” that some teachers have by chance. All of them are capacities that can be learned and accessible to most teachers through continuous training, advice, and institutional support. I have no doubt that if the new law does not prioritize these actions of permanent training, psychopedagogical advice, and support for schools in their improvement and innovation processes, we will once again face the frustration of seeing some good intentions unfulfilled. A frustration that, moreover, is quite common on all five continents (Artiles, Kokleski, and Waitoller, 2015).

Certainly, implementing these types ofsupport policies for improvementis costly and quite difficult when, at the same time, it is very easy to turn thevictimsof its absence —that is, the “bad students” that Marchesi (2004) spoke of— into culprits for their misbehavior, marginalization, or school failure.

5. Collaboration and support to generate hope.

I believe that throughout this text, I have not stopped pointing out at opportune moments that this great challenge of moving towards aeducación más inclusiva, es un proceso complejo, éticamente controvertido, difícil y cuajado de dilemas. Soy idealista respecto a la meta que perseguimos, pero vivo con los pies en la tierra y conozco bien las turbulencias y dificultades que este proceso acarrea.

Por ello, comparto plenamente con otros autores que el principal ingrediente en estas circunstancias, para no sucumbir al desaliento que estas dificultades acarrean, es emocional. No es otro que construir colectivamente un fuerte sentido de esperanza. Pero entendida esta no como un sentimiento melifluo de que “las cosas, tarde o temprano, irán bien”, sino como la capacidad de “no entrar en pánico ante tales dificultades” (Fullan, 2001). Y esa emoción se construye sobre la base de una fuerte cultura colaborativa al interior de los centros escolares, entre los centros escolares y de estos con su comunidad local. Esta es una de las condiciones que anteriormente he señalado y sobre la que creo necesario decir algo más.

Esa cultura colaborativa se construye con políticas y prácticas de muy distinto tipo. Ya es un tópico (pero no tanto una realidad generalizada), hablar de la importancia del trabajo cooperativo entre el alumnado. Una colaboración y apoyo entre el alumnado que se debe construir con conocimiento y paciencia, que admite muchos formats (cooperative groups, peer tutoring, interactive groups, student mediators, …) and which does not tolerate improvisations or sudden impulses from one-off actions that are not sustained over time (Pujolas, Lago and Naranjo, 2013; Topping, Buchs, Duran and Van Keer, 2017).

Less common, but no less important, are the strategies of collaboration and mutual support among teachers when, however, we know well the role that, for example, strategies known as lesson study (“lessons study”) can play in designing and implementing inclusive educational practices (Messiou, et al., 2016).

Finally, and without intending to be exhaustive in this regard, it is obvious that families are a thread and a central knot in weaving this collaborative culture. A great deal of emotional intelligence and clear models of relationships with families are needed for them to become the main ally of teaching teams when initiating and sustaining inclusive educational projects (Simón, Giné and Echeita, 2016).

Reinforce this collaborative culture within schools and networking between schools and between them and their educational and local community (Parrilla, Núñez and Sierra, 2013), is called to be a critical strategy in this process. What is also clear to me is that this collaborative culture clashes with the growing trends to stimulate competitiveness between schools (as between Autonomous Communities or countries) through the ill-suited role that national and international performance evaluations are playing. I believe it is possible to combine accountability with policies of collaboration and networking that facilitate the improvement of equity. The work developed by Professor Mel Ainscow, through the “Great Manchester” project is an inspiring policy from which much can be learned (Ainscow, 2016).

6. Dilemmas and setbacks in inclusive education

From what has been said so far, one might deduce a, to some extent, positive assessment of the development of inclusive education in our country. Above all, we have seen that inclusive education has gone from being a principle to a right, and this change in status will ultimately be a determining factor for the better.

There is no doubt that, on the other hand, many schools throughout the country have been adopting more inclusive policies and practices, showing through their daily work that, as I said before, it is possible to do it.

And there is no doubt that, for example, in terms of presence in mainstream schools of the most vulnerable students, more than significant progress has been made: almost no child is left unschooled today and has learning opportunities from age 3 to 16/18; there are no longer segregated schools for girls, nor for Roma boys and girls or those who come from other countries, and among those students considered to have special educational needs, whose usual destination was to be schooled in segregated centers (Special Education Classrooms or Schools, CEE), today the rates ofschool inclusionstand, on average, around 70/80%, although it is true that with significant variability between Autonomous Communities (MECD, 2015).

If we consider that, in Germany, for example, or in the Netherlands, these same students are still mostly schooled in Special Schools, it would be unfair not to recognize these facts as positive. It is true that situations of bullying among peers continue to resist diminishing, but also that “the values of a sense of belonging to the educational center among Spanish students are the highest of all countries participating in PISA” (5).

Someone might say, then, that we have reasons to smile. But I believe that we also have many reasons for concern and, above all, some families, in particular—guarantors of their children’s rights—have nothing to celebrate and much to demand and lament (Doménech, 2017).

Someone said of love that “if it doesn’t grow, it shrinks”. Perhaps the same can be said of the commitment to more inclusive education. And at this moment, my impression is that decrece. Decrece porque no crecen (más bien están ausentes o son muy débiles), las políticas de las administraciones dirigidas a promover, financiar, acompañar y sostener los amplios y sistémicos procesos de mejora escolar e innovación educativa de los que precisa, sí o sí, el desarrollo de una educación inclusiva.

Sin estos, solo cabe esperar que los centros que se incorporen a este compromiso lo hagan con proyectos educativos inclusivos incompletos, débiles y, a la larga, fallidos. Centros que, como ya ocurre en la actualidad, se comprometen con “la inclusión” de algunos, pero no con la de otros alumnos o alumnas por ser “especiales” o porque sus necesidades educativas requieren de complejos apoyos; centros que “incluyen” en educación infantil y primaria, pero que luego “invitan”, sic, a buena parte de ese mismo alumnado a marchar cuando llega la temida secundaria (Doménech, 2017). O centros de secundaria donde esos alumnos y alumnas más vulnerables, están viviendo auténticas situaciones de marginación y, en el mejor de los casos, aprendiendo poco.

Y como la capacidad de respuesta inclusiva de los centros no mejora, lo que aumenta es la proliferación de normas, medidas, dispositivos y centros especiales, más o menos segregadores y excluyentes; para “atender a la diversidad”, como eufemísticamente se denominan. Y si llegado el caso, alguno de estos “dispositivos” funciona bien y ofrecen una respuesta educativa digna y aceptable, o en su caso una “segunda oportunidad” (AA. VV, 2017) para entrar al mundo adulto y laboral con menos riesgo, entonces hacen, a la larga, un flaco favor a la mejora de la equidad en los centros ordinarios, pues estos dejan de sentir la presión para el cambio y, además, pueden justificar que no es necesario ese esfuerzo porque objetivamente es en esos dispositivos/grupos/aulas/centros “especiales” o de “second chance” (E2O) where these students learn and are emotionally better, which is, in many cases, true, at least during that time of schooling.

Within this panorama, many families of these students suffer and face a moral dilemma that emotionally burns them, particularly in the cases of students we consider withspecial educational needs. A case in point:

We will be invisible. (Published on February 15, 2017 in El Margen)Areswill leave mainstream school at the end of the term, if we manage to get a place at the Special Education Center we want.

We believe in inclusion, but inclusion doesn’t believe in us. We have rights-guaranteeing laws with exclusionary budgets that automatically turn the laws into exclusionary ones. We have goodwill, desire, enthusiasm, but often everything else is missing. And everything else, often, is too much.

We believe in inclusion, but not at any cost. We believe in inclusion if everyone (society, school, laws, budgets, people …) rows in the same direction: that of including those who are already here, even if they are different.

We are leaving mainstream education with conviction, though sadly. Sadly because the system, for children with the difficulties Ares has, includes you with one hand, while showing you the exit door with the other.

Ares will disappear from his environment. The one that belongs to him. He will stop learning some things and teaching many more to those around him. The system will achieve greater uniformity. And make us invisible. (In El Margen. Blog: https://enelmargenn.wordpress.com/2017/02/15/sere-mos-invisibles/)

As Ares’ family rightly reflects, they, like others, had rejoiced at the news that their children had the right to quality inclusive education. They have likely attended a conference, congress, or seminar on the topic, where someone, perhaps like me, explained and broke down what that right means, making them feel that their child’s future could be hopeful. But the truth is that it is not for many (although it has been for others).

And now many of them don’t know what to do, and some of us don’t know what to tell them. Should they remain in mainstream schools where a quality educational response tailored to their children’s specific needs is not being provided? Should they withdraw to a special education center where they might, at least, be calmer and better “attended” provisionally? Should they fight for their rights or resign themselves to the situation, knowing, in any case, that “legal battles are costly in time and money” and that time passes without waiting for the resolution of these dilemmas? Should they think about their “childhood today” or their “future as adult citizens,” in a society that wishes it were inclusive?

I understand that some of these families may reproach us academics for not deeply engaging with their children’s present, while, on the other hand, we make their concerns and aspirations the content of our future proposals through our research and publications.

But we also know that change processes take a long time, and while they arrive with some solidity (if they arrive!), the poor conditions for the schooling of some students (whose personal characteristics are particularly challenging in relation to the “existing school grammar”) would generate continuous distress for them, their teachers, and their classmates, whose rights also cannot be forgotten. One understands that even those responsible for educational policies committed to this goal may be fearful of more inclusive proposals.

Something similar happens to some guidance counselors who work particularly in the early intervention, preschool, and primary education stages; they know they are participants in a process of discrimination (the one that obliges them by mandate of established norms to prepare reports and schooling assessments through which some students are referred to Special Education Centers), something that is contrary to what is established in the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and also to their convictions and their professional code of ethics. Obviously, others live without worries, settled in their old guidance models and practices, and this tension doesn’t even faze them.

I am not very clear on what to do and I also feel stunned by these dilemmas. But I am clear that all of us, not just as educators but as citizens, should be informed of the contradiction of having established with all the rigor of the law a right of great significance for society (the right to inclusive education) and then knowing that not only is it not being met, but we could be at clear risk of going backward and turning it into charity or “a discard”:

“2. m. Thing that, due to being used or for any other reason, is not useful to the person for whom it was made.” (RAE Dictionary).

Have we gone too far in trying to bring the dream of inclusive education closer to our classrooms, particularly in secondary education centers? Should we recalibrate this goal? That is, inclusive education. Should it only be a limited aspiration for some of the many vulnerable students, for some time, in some schools that are voluntarily willing to do so, and obviously, in some rich countries?

Shall we tell the families who are fighting a vital battle for their children’s right to inclusive education that their fight is “utopian” and that they should resign themselves to the situation of oppression and disadvantage they have had to live through?

Inclusive education; smiles and tears.

7. Notes

1. Gerard Foundation: http://www.fundaciogerard.org/
2. Solcom; https://asociacionsolcom.org/
3. See the case, for example, of the associative movement of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, initially (1964) grouped around the acronym FEAPS (National Federation of Associations for Subnormals) and currently (since 2016), under the slogan Plena Inclusión: http://www.plenainclusion.org/.
4. See Julio Carabaña’s opinion on the matter: http://eldiariodelaeducacion.com/blog/2017/05/16/julio-carabana-defiende-la-eliminacion-del-titulo-de-eso/.
5. https://www.oecd.org/pisa/PISA2015-Students-Well-being-Country-note-Spain-Spanish.pdf.

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La entrada Inclusive education. Smiles and tears se publicó primero en Educación inclusiva. Quererla es crearla.

SUMMARY.The extraordinary measures for attention to diversity in Compulsory Secondary Education (ESO) are the subject of the research presented in this article. With different names depending on the autonomous community, we focus on one of these measures, the Educational Intervention Program (PIE), whose recipients are students at personal or social risk. From a qualitative methodological perspective, we analyze a case to delve into the experiences of students with behavioral difficulties who are part of a PIE. Information was collected through interviews and observation, and document analysis was a complementary technique to ensure triangulation of recording sources.

The results highlight the complex context of tensions experienced by students with behavioral difficulties in a specific program. The conclusions call for dialogue with students, educational interventions in the classroom, acceptance of personal biographies, and the right to have their needs met alongside their peers, in order to eliminate the barriers and obstacles these students face daily throughout their school careers. Significantly contextualized educational responses are required to promote the inclusion of all students.

Keywords: secondary education, exclusion, behavioral difficulties, extraordinary measures, inclusive education.

Processes that hinder inclusion in Compulsory Secondary Education. Many shadows and still few lights

ABSTRACT. The extraordinary measures of attention to diversity in Compulsory Secondary Education (ESO) are the subject of the research presented in this article. With a different denomination according to the autonomous community, we focus on one of these measures, the Educational Intervention Program (PIE), whose beneficiaries are students at personal or social risk. From a qualitative methodological perspective we analyze a case to deepen the experiences of students with behavioral difficulties that are part of a PIE. Information was collected through interviews and observation, and document analysis was a complementary technique to ensure the triangulation of registry sources.

The results highlight the complex context of tensions that students with behavioral difficulties go through in a specific program. The conclusions call for dialogue with students, for educational interventions in the classroom, for the acceptance of personal biographies and the right to meet their needs with peers, to eliminate the barriers that these students live daily during their school career. Significant contextualized educational responses are required to encourage the inclusion of all students.

Keywords: secondary education, exclusion, behavioral difficulties, extraordinary measures, inclusive education.

Introduction

In this study, we focus on adolescents with behavioral difficulties (BD) in compulsory secondary education (ESO). This is a stage where conflicts and problems increase, while different educational responses proliferate to supposedly address the needs of these students. Our aim is to delve into how they feel when placed in specific intervention programs and to analyze the barriers that prevent or hinder their participation and progress.

We refer to behavioral difficulties when traits such as high emotional intensity, impulsivity, negative persistence, initial resistance, and hyperactivity are present (Saumell, Alsina, and Arroyo, 2011). Students with BD, according to Leeuw, Boer, Bijstra, and Minnaert (2017), experience difficulties in effectively regulating their social interactions and exhibit behavior and/or emotional functioning that can interfere with their development and the lives of others. These difficulties can negatively impact opportunities for positive social participation, as pointed out by Avramidis (2010). However, students’ behavior can vary not only based on personal characteristics but also on contextual factors that emerge at any point during their schooling (Sandoval and Simón, 2007).

Considering these factors is essential within the framework of inclusive education because, as Danforth and Smith (2005) remind us, disruptive behaviors in the classroom must change the foundations on which schools are based. Attitudes must also be modified, as the initial frustration experienced by these students is often due to them being considered “bad” and “disruptive.”

Consequently, the background, conditions, and contextual factors, in addition to creating needs (González, 2005), can place students in zones of social and educational vulnerability if teachers and the school culture itself focus merely on their failures and not on how to meet their needs. In other words, depending on the context, students with behavioral difficulties are likely to be at risk of exclusion during compulsory education.

Given that “educational exclusion and school failure are not natural phenomena” (Rodríguez, Álvarez and Moreno, 2009, p.176), numerous studies have already shown that behind students’ failure in compulsory secondary education lie school pathways laden with problems that begin in primary education, and in compulsory secondary education, they manifest as a progressive detachment from studies. This detachment, in the case at hand, is largely a consequence of the rigid structure that characterizes this educational stage in multiple dimensions (curricular, teacher training, organizational, etc.), and it also has “political implications, as it allows us to question the institutional processes that contribute to the development of a trajectory of school disaffection […]” (García, Casal, Merino and Sánchez, 2013, p.71).

In the same vein, Mena, Fernández-Enguita and Riviére (2010) previously stated, when discussing the gradual disengagement or detachment of students from the institution.

In our country, faced with high rates of school failure (Roca, 2010; Aramendi, Vega and Santiago, 2011), educational administrations develop a variety of specific programs to respond to the diversity of students who experience exclusion, without questioning the triggering processes of educational segregation for those students who, for some reason, are considered diverse, different, or special (Moliner, Sales, Ferrández, Moliner and Roig, 2012).

Fulcher (1989) already considered at the time the possibility of new forms of segregation occurring in normalized environments, through divisive practices. Practices that can become remedial options that generate parallel schooling pathways for a segment of students, in some cases causing what Young (2000) calls “internal exclusion”, originating “zones of discrimination”. For Escudero, González, and Martínez (2009), these are students who are not entirely left out, but neither are they effectively included in a quality curriculum and teaching that helps them achieve the necessary learning.

The measures planned for these students, and specifically for those with behavioral difficulties, although they explicitly aim for them to obtain a secondary education diploma, ultimately end the compulsory secondary education stage without success. And although these measures or proposals can be considered “second chances” for some students – in the words of Escudero and Martínez (2011) – the truth is that many others are condemned to failure and the abandonment of their basic education.

Method

The work presented here focuses on a qualitative research method, the case study, to address two objectives: (1) To understand the educational experience of students with behavioral difficulties in a specific group; (2) To investigate the perceptions and expectations of teachers regarding these students in different classroom situations.

Within this framework, three instruments have been considered for gathering information: interviews, non-participant observation, and document analysis. While interviews and observation are the primary sources of data, documents provide contextual and contrasting information, allowing for triangulation.

Interviews were conducted with students and teachers. The students were provided with their transcriptions, and the director was informed of the results after an initial analysis of the collected information.

Classes of Natural Sciences, Spanish Language and Literature, and Physical Education were observed. This decision was conditioned by scheduling compatibility issues. An open format of field notes was used, collecting information from both students and teachers. Furthermore, the school’s Coexistence Plan and curricula were analyzed. These documentary evidences served as a useful support for observation and for the analysis of the collected information.

The school and the participants

The institute is located in a tourist area of Mallorca and has 1100 students and 117 teachers. The specific group classroom is not physically located where all the classrooms are, but in an annex between the courtyard and the sports facilities. The sample consists of 5 teachers and 12 students. Of these, 4 dropped out after repeated long-term expulsions, and one, after three months, joined a 2nd year of Compulsory Secondary Education (ESO) group at the family’s request. Finally, the educational intervention program (PIE) was configured with seven students repeating 2nd year of ESO, who had to turn 16 during the school year, plus one who was repeating 1st year of ESO.

Profile of teaching staff and students

The Spanish Language and Literature teacher (PLLC) holds a degree in English Philology with 10 years of teaching experience. This is her first year at the center.

The Natural Sciences teacher (PCN) is also one of the school counselors. The fact that he taught this subject was a measure adopted by the administration, as the majority of the class hours for students in this program had to be covered by teachers from the Guidance Department. He holds a degree in Psychology and has 7 years of teaching experience. This is his second year working in this program and his first year at this center.

The two Physical Education teachers have degrees in the Science of Physical Activity and Sport, both also newly appointed. Physical Education Teacher 1 (PET1) is officially the teacher for the students in the Inclusive Education Program (IEP); he has two years of teaching experience and this is his first time participating in this type of program. Physical Education Teacher 2 (PET2) is the head teacher of a 2nd year Compulsory Secondary Education class; she has 4 years of teaching experience, 2 of which were in the program. Due to the lack of motivation of the IEP students towards the subject, she proposed that they work together with all the students.

Regarding the students, it should be noted that there is only one adolescent, hereinafter referred to as student 1.

• S1: of English nationality, recently turned 16. At the institute, she was part of the Linguistic and Cultural Welcome Program (PALIC). She repeated 1st year of Compulsory Secondary Education and it is noteworthy that she is participating in the IEP program for the second time.
• A2: there is no significant data from his Primary Education, but in secondary school he repeats 1st and 2nd year; when he has to repeat the second year course for the second time, he becomes part of the PIE.
• A3: he is of English origin. He repeated 6th grade. When starting secondary school, he repeats 1st year and, later, joined the PIE program.
• A4: born in England, he completed all his primary schooling in Spain. He has repeated 6th grade of Primary Education and 1st year of ESO; he moves to the PIE after having completed the second year.
• A5: during his schooling he repeated 2nd grade of primary and secondary school. His mother passed away a few years ago and it is his slightly older sister (20 years old) who takes care of the minors.
• A6: he is a student diagnosed with ADHD. In primary school he repeated 2nd grade and in high school it is his second year in 1st year of secondary school; however, he has become part of the PIE program, even though he is younger than the rest of the students.
• A7: he repeated 3rd grade in primary school and when he joined high school he repeated 1st grade.
• A8 is a student who has problems with narcotic substances. He left the program during the third quarter due to a long expulsion.

Results

We are faced with a group of students whose exclusion has been progressively forged. Now, under the umbrella of extraordinary measures to help them acquire the basic knowledge of compulsory secondary education—with the aim of obtaining a diploma in secondary education—they are on the margins; that almost invisible line that increasingly separates them from their peers and from normalized learning experiences. They are no longer just isolated (special group); it is also the proposals made by the teaching staff and the interaction that occurs between them and the students that do not yield any learning benefits.

The classroom environment is deteriorated. A deterioration that is justified by the students’ attitudes and behaviors: talking during explanations, refusing to do pencil and paper tasks, arriving late, aggression towards classmates, insults, eating in class, getting out of their seats, fidgeting, disrespect, etc., which are the cause of ‘non-learning’, as if teaching (the teaching staff) had nothing to do with this process.

The ‘bad’ behavior is experienced by teachers with resignation (‘we got this group’); the label of ‘bad students’ is persistent, almost definitive for some, and has the effect of a self-fulfilling prophecy: teachers attend class with the prejudice that they will have very unfavorable behavior (they are already marked) and students respond with the expected behaviors. Consequently, an environment is created that is not conducive to teaching and learning, something that happens daily in the classroom.

A daily routine that is already exclusionary from the start, not only because it is part of an exceptional measure, but also because of the implications it has on the schooling process of these students. They do not participate in the recreational or extracurricular activities that their peers do; they do not participate, among other aspects, because the location of their classroom is completely separate and differentiated from the other classrooms, isolated. The students are aware of why they are in that space and their statements are forceful:

The class is separate from the institute and we never do what other second-year compulsory secondary education students do. I prefer a normal second-year compulsory secondary education class because you are with more people; I am the only girl in this group (A1).

The class is the worst […]. There is only echo, you say a word and there is echo. The music from the sports center that can be heard all the time. It is impossible to have class, then they want you to concentrate and work, you can’t… (A4).

The class […] is like a cage, there is echo and when they have Physical Education they look at us all the time as if we were abnormal (A5).

The most negative thing about this year has been spending the whole course there in that class (A7).

One of the teachers expresses about this:

The worst thing I’ve found is that they are completely separated spatially, totally separated, and that the classroom conditions are quite terrible in terms of sound, cold, and heat […]. They also haven’t been allowed to go on outings, they haven’t been allowed to participate in things that others have done. […] Completely separated from their peers because… hey, they also need to interact, right? (PLLC).

For their part, students report their “lack of presence and participation” in the school’s activities; they are disregarded, creating a distinction between students in general and those on the margins, outside:

I’ve seen how all the second-year students go on field trips except us, they don’t let us go on field trips or anything and I don’t know why. We don’t do the ecology project that the whole school does (A1).

We haven’t gone on any field trips, separated from all the second-year groups. They held Physical Education tests in the courtyard for all the second-year students and none for us, the talk about drugs came super late and they almost forgot about us. And this makes me feel bad and I get angry with the tutor… (A2).

Oh! And we don’t go on field trips, but I think that’s normal, yes, because we’d mess it up, I guess. It’s just that they don’t trust us; if they gave us a chance, we agreed among ourselves that we have to behave well and everything would turn out fine. They haven’t given us the chance, and we’ve asked for it a thousand times (A4).

We said, ‘We promise we won’t do anything,’ and they say, ‘No, no, I don’t trust you.’ It’s unfair because others can go on field trips and we can’t, and then they tell us we’re not special, that we’re normal like everyone else. Well, if we’re normal, they should let us go on field trips (A5).

This process of internal segregation has a great impact on self-perception and on what they think regarding how others perceive them. What these three students express is evidence of this statement:

They always think badly of us: you don’t know how to study, you never do anything, you’re not going to do anything with your life (A1).

And the others at the institute see us as fools, let’s face it. Fools and that we’re going to end up badly under a bridge or something. And the teachers see us badly too. That’s what I think (A2).

People, teachers and students treat you like a fool. They treat you differently… there are teachers who treat you with care because, maybe, they think you’ll get angry later and make a scene… (A4).

The perception that they are “dumb” and are perceived as such, is reaffirmed by this last student when referring to the textbooks:

They also take us for fools because the books are new, they are the kind you can write in, and that’s for slow learners. We have different books, they explain it easier, much more for dummies (A4).

They are perceived and treated as ‘problem students’ (troublemakers), more than enough reason to place them elsewhere, in a specific program. For the teaching staff, this extraordinary measure is the best option to avoid harming the rest of the students in the regular classroom:

They have a very negative attitude. They complain that they are really all together and that they are the ones set aside, but I am sure that in a normal group they would have had the same attitude and two or three would have followed them and they would have done practically the same thing (PLLC).

The teachers who teach the different subjects in this group, besides not coordinating (as they state), do not consider any other type of intervention either in the classroom or in the center to mobilize their learning and improve their performance, nor their interaction with other students. Although they do see ‘collateral damage’ in this measure: “I think that by creating a sort of ghetto, the attitude worsens. It’s like retroactive, meaning, someone who behaves moderately well joins the little group of those who misbehave and ends up misbehaving” (PEF1). What is concerning: behavior.

The evidence shows that the students are not accepted; they have lived and are living a trajectory of misunderstandings, something that seeps into that feeling of “not belonging.” One student summarizes the situation like this: “We are something separate. A separate class, like I don’t know… outcasts, I haven’t felt good” (A7).

Evidence that likewise reveals the different treatment they receive: they are not given opportunities, they are ignored, they are distrusted, among many other aspects, and their well-being is affected, as is their self-esteem. However, it is important to refer to the positive reaction these students have when they are presented with opportunities to participate with their peers. This is the case in Physical Education sessions, where the group shares activities with one of the 2nd year of ESO classes. They showed more interest and motivation, in the words of the teacher:

The students’ attitude changes a lot. Their class was super apathetic, they didn’t want to do anything, and when they got together they felt more motivated. […] There are aspects to improve, everything related to habits is difficult for them, but then they also surprise you because they come to tell you “I had a great time dancing” and at first they said “I’m not doing silly things.” Now they tell you they loved dancing rock. They are kids who have deficiencies, but they can improve, together they can improve (PEF2).

The process of experiencing and sharing experiences was not without problems, although it was worth it, according to the same teacher. She alludes to a very disruptive student when making the following reflection: “When we brought the group together with the other one, A6 started to collaborate. We can change one bad one along with the others, but what if they are all bad?” And she is satisfied with the joint work with the other teacher in her area: “I worked very well with him because I saw other exercises, I copied them and did them in my classes because I thought that if it works with these students, imagine with the others” (PEF2).

Students’ school histories reveal that their learning difficulties begin to become visible in primary education, culminating in repeating a grade. They recall situations from their time in that stage like these that follow:

I was always in my own world, well, since fifth grade or so. It’s just that I’ve always had trouble concentrating. They made me sit at the front, and I would leave the class in some subjects (A4). 

When I was bored, it was because if they started explaining something and I didn’t understand it, the teachers didn’t want to explain it to me, because you asked them many times, so I stopped asking, and when I didn’t understand something, I would end up drawing or sleeping. They didn’t explain it to me because I found it very difficult to understand (A5).

One of the most common characteristics among these students during compulsory secondary education is a lack of motivation. The context does not help them, and even less so the teaching methodologies that are primarily aimed at a non-existent “standard” student. They arrive in secondary school with learning difficulties and do not connect with the linear class structure: explanation, copying from the board, textbook exercises, and homework. Disruptive behaviors emerge, followed by a punitive response (expulsion) that distances them from daily classroom activities, and when they return, they don’t ‘re-engage’; the cycle of demotivation begins again. Isn’t this chain a process of exclusion? The words of this student referring to secondary school teachers reflect this in some way:

There hasn’t been any who was like some from primary school, good ones. And there are worse ones. They’ve been ruder, like they don’t care, they only teach 5 or 6 and ignore the rest. Of course, they ignored me as if I didn’t want to do anything because I don’t know, I knew how to do something, but I had doubts about most of it (A7).

Discussion and conclusions

What has been described so far shows an unfavorable scenario for the students who participated in the study. The feeling of rejection is unanimous; these are stories of exclusion and lack of recognition. These are students who usually feel discredited due to the labels attributed to them; one of them is blunt when he says: “The Spanish teacher tells us: you are useless! And I don’t know why she says it […] although I think it’s true and she’s the only one who tells us the truth.” Stories characterized by the lack of trust from teachers in their abilities, both in the past and at the time of the fieldwork. The students do not want to be there, in a separate group, and neither do the teachers; it has simply ‘fallen to them’.

We are dealing with stigmatized students; they have been assigned a series of characteristics that have led them to be part of an extraordinary program, thus legitimizing the exclusionary treatment they have received with unwanted effects on their learning, performance, and life path. Considering that some studies affirm that there is a direct correlation between behavioral difficulties and the fact that these students feel incapable of facing the academic rigor demanded in secondary education (Garner, 2005; Garner and Davies, 2007).

To teach, one must immerse oneself in the “culture of trust,” as López Melero (2004, p. 21) states, which must be built with the value of difference at its core. This requires profound transformations of schools to make education for all possible. Education should provide, regardless of any personal, social, or emotional difference, the resources that children and adolescents need (Florian, Young, and Rouse, 2010) without offering educational proposals parallel to the mainstream ones. In this regard, the crucial aspect is to focus analyses and changes on microsystems (schools) rather than on individuals. As Vilaró (2007) indicates, the key lies in promoting dialogue, in convincing the adolescent to speak with the adult and convincing the adult to listen to the student, so they can explain themselves and get to know each other a little better. That is, establishing a positive relationship between students and teachers based on respect and communication (Meyers, 2009).

The study conducted by Álvarez, Álvarez, Castro, Castro, and Fueyo (2008) on secondary education teachers’ attitudes towards inclusion emphasizes that teachers’ opinions varied depending on the student group. It highlights that students with behavioral difficulties are the least accepted. In this sense, we should delve into the lack of dialogue between teachers and students and the lack of recognition by the former towards the latter. Because, as Vilaró (2007) explains:

Behind many incidents, insults, and aggressions towards adults, there is surely a prior history of misunderstandings, belittling, poor upbringing, more misunderstandings, even more belittling (…) that they don’t have “manners” doesn’t mean they are never right. Many adolescents who confront teachers do so from the insignificance they have been made to feel (p.198).

To promote learning, students must feel that learning is worthwhile. This converges with feelings of self-worth and relationships of belonging, friendship, and participation in the class group and the school (Echeita et al., 2014). According to the same authors:

The opposite, that is, everything that, as a result of the way teaching and learning are organized, contributes to the development, in certain students, of feelings and situations of repeated failure, isolation, marginalization, worthlessness, or exclusion, must be considered as first-order barriers to learning (p.32).

Another issue to highlight is the transition from one educational stage to another. According to Martínez (2011, p.168), “the transition from primary to secondary school is when the most vulnerable students run the greatest risks of being excluded from the mainstream education system.” Indeed, in our study, we have confirmed this; students with behavioral difficulties, who already have a history of failures (having repeated in both stages), are directed, almost inevitably, towards non-regular educational alternatives, and the PIE is one of them when we started the study. Here, teacher attitudes and their expectations come into play:

The teacher believes that nothing more can be done, and the student thinks it’s not worth changing. This spiral of negative expectations contributes to reinforcing maladaptive behavior. Sometimes, the teacher also doesn’t know how to solve the problem by any method other than punishment. It is necessary to talk and make agreements to try to modify this dynamic (Marchesi, 2004, p.149).

Following up on low expectations: they damage any interaction process. Evidence has clearly shown this; students perceive that they are not valued by their teachers, to which they respond with behaviors they don’t know how to manage, leading to a progressive deterioration of the relationship. The circle closes in on itself. Let’s recall the words of one of the students previously mentioned: “They always think badly of us: you don’t know how to study, you never do anything, you’re not going to do anything in your life” (A1).

In this vein, other research has shown that these students perceive the relationship with their teachers as the factor that most influences their behavior in accordance with classroom norms (Turner, 2000). Despite the evidence, we look the other way, students are the bearers of difficulties, of defects, which justifies segregation into a special group; a path that will definitively lead them to very unequal destinations, in the words of Slee (2012).

We want to emphasize students’ identities, their personal biographies. As has been reflected, secondary education fails for a segment of students (and if it fails for those with certain difficulties, it fails for everyone), and it does so because it does not recognize students’ needs, nor are they given opportunities to learn that spark their interest and motivation (Birbili, 2005). On the contrary, what prevails are the low expectations that teachers have of these students (“repeaters”, “the bad ones”, “disruptive ones”,…), to whom, successively, barriers are placed to their participation and progress, ending compulsory schooling in a specific group without graduating.

Following the line of barriers, we believe that students’ failure cannot be understood in individual terms (what they don’t do, what they don’t know, their behavior…), global, systemic explanations are necessary:

School failure can be read in relation to the difficulties of educational institutions in finding or seeking support in the community; in relation to the very configuration of secondary education studies; in relation to the lack of knowledge of personal histories and not taking them into account in school requirements and dynamics; in relation to the family-institution distance; in relation to intercultural and religious components; in relation also to social origin, which determines possibilities and equal opportunities; in relation to personal fractures, and to the construction of complex identities; in relation to the distance from the childhood and youth cultures present in the social scene; in relation to gender, etc. (Hernández and Tort, 2009, p.6).

Hence the importance of analyzing school trajectories; by doing so, we aim to influence grade repetition, as it is a significant fact given that most of the participating students have already repeated in primary school and, subsequently, in secondary school. This confirms that failure is being forged at an early age; it is not “a specific event or a final outcome,” as Mena et al. (2010, p. 121) state, but rather “a slow process that accompanies the student throughout their school life or a significant part of it” (p. 121). Rué et al. (2006) confirm this idea in their research, asserting that disengagement intensifies in secondary education but begins in the preceding stage. The overall teaching culture is not capable of compensating for initial school deficiencies, nor for sociocultural ones; and they emphasize that school organizational factors, teachers’ expectations and representations of their students, the institutional climate, and the types of support provided to students, among other factors, play a significant role in the degree of school success (Rué et al, 2006).

Regarding students’ attitudes, often described as challenging, negative, and disruptive, research by Fernández-Enguita, Mena, and Riviére (2010) found that these attitudes (which they term anti-school) “except perhaps for very specific groups culturally distant from the mainstream, do not originate in the family, but in the school, where the institution’s neglect combines with the self-perpetuating dynamics of the peer group in adolescence; this situation favors the conversion of episodic behaviors into systematic strategies of rejection” (p. 186). The same authors are conclusive regarding grade repetition, an aspect that characterizes the group of students who participated in the study; it is, in all probability, an indicator of the school’s inability to respond to student diversity: “repetition can be considered an excellent predictor and almost certainly a cause of dropout” (p. 188). 

Returning to the stigmatization students feel when in a separate group, the one for “fools” (as they indicate), leads us to reflect on what lies behind a diversification measure like PIE: institutional incompetence in a broad sense (both at the center and classroom level). This issue also contrasts with the research by Fernández Enguita et al. (2010), who point out the weaknesses of these extraordinary measures, such as:

the relative stigma that accompanies these same courses, (…) and the majority conviction among students that with these groups and diversification measures, more is lost than gained, whether due to institutional expectations or bad company. In general, the student does not perceive diversification as additional help, much less as a special effort by the school, but rather as a disqualification of their person. And although teachers demand more diversification measures, everything indicates that they think about differentiating the objectives pursued with students, including, of course, those of compulsory education, not about diversifying the means and resources to achieve the same objectives (p.199).

In summary, the failure affecting different groups of students, especially in compulsory secondary education, is a complex problem:

Not only because it deprives people of the right to a foundation of intellectual, personal, and social tools to build a dignified present and future, but also because it represents a threat to the very roots of community life, authentic democracy, economic and social progress, and, of course, the credibility and legitimacy of the education system itself (Escudero and Martínez, 2012, p.177).

And a complex problem requires a systemic, holistic view, so that the right to learn is for everyone. From this perspective, actions that segregate students with difficulties are nothing more than a mere “patch” that increases the barriers these students encounter in their life path, and particularly in school.

The challenge is inclusive education. An education that, as Escudero (2012) points out, involves improving school results:

They are not born spontaneously; they must be socially, institutionally, and personally constructed. Improvements and advances in school learning cannot occur without profound changes in the school curriculum, in teaching and learning processes, in the teaching profession, in school governance, and in the administration and management of the system (p.117).

Or in other words, progressing towards inclusion requires, on the one hand, political will and social consensus based on values of equity and justice; and, on the other hand, teacher training, changes in curriculum design and development, provision and redistribution of human and material resources, as well as courageous decisions about the organization of schools – within a framework characterized by flexibility and autonomy that promotes community participation – and about teaching and learning processes, with a special focus on the latter (Durán and Giné, 2011). 

Equity, as Domínguez, López, and Vázquez (2016) affirm, remains one of the most fragile links in the education system. The shift towards inclusive approaches clashes with the ingrained reductionist view that extraordinary measures are most beneficial for students with difficulties. Drawing on approaches that address diversity by homogenizing educational actions represents an inconsistency in the discourse of the schools themselves, but even worse, if possible, is suppressing individual plurality, leaving students who do not meet the standard on the margins.

Paraphrasing Pujolàs (2010), practices that seemingly separate students based on their needs with the intention of better serving them, sideline the key idea defended in inclusive education: “to pursue comprehensive training not only for them, but for everyone, it is precisely required that they have the opportunity to educate themselves together, in the same classroom, so that they can interact continuously with each other” (p. 39). For all students, social interaction is fundamental, while the isolation of some in specific classrooms and programs only increases their initial difficulties, exclusion within the school, and marginalization outside of it. Creating conditions for satisfactory interactions should be a priority in the daily work of teachers (Avramidis, 2010).

There is still much work to be done. Extraordinary measures are nothing more than “palliative,” say Sandoval, Simón, and Echeita (2012, p. 121), and the more efforts and resources are put into them, the less urgent preventive measures become. Consequently, inequality may increase in the coming years, establishing new scenarios of segregation based on discredited approaches and models of teaching and learning.

There are still numerous shadows that weigh down educational inclusion, and few lights if we focus on the issues of justice and rights on which inclusive education pivots—emphasizes Slee (2012). These issues also have to do with the barriers that many students still face; the lack of equity or the pursuit of it is the compass that guides us to safeguard such a precious value, making the evidence of exclusion visible.

References

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La entrada Processes that hinder inclusion in compulsory secondary education. Many shadows and still few lights se publicó primero en Educación inclusiva. Quererla es crearla.

SUMMARY. Achieving quality education refers to education that must be inclusive and equitable, emphasizing the value of differences to improve teaching and learning experiences. However, many still suffer exclusion processes at school; those diagnosed with dyslexia form a group harmed by unwelcoming school practices and cultures. This study aims to analyze the barriers that hinder their learning and the consequences they produce. From a biographical-narrative methodological approach, the voices of families, through interviews, reveal that multiple obstacles, beyond problematizing their children’s progress, harm their self-concept and self-esteem. The results show the main barriers to be those related to the lack of efficient school-family communication, classroom methodologies that, by their nature, magnify reading and writing difficulties, impacting learning, and the emotional impact caused by the absence of responses to the needs of students with dyslexia. Making these barriers visible is a commitment to the right to quality education for and with everyone in compulsory education.

Keywords: Inclusive education; Barriers; Dyslexia; Family; Equality of rights.

ABSTRACT. Achieving quality education refers us to education that must be inclusive and equitable, emphasizing the value of differences in order to improve teaching and learning experiences. But, there are still many who suffer processes of exclusion in school; those who have dyslexia make up a group damaged by poorly welcoming practices and center cultures. The present study is oriented to analyze the barriers that hinder their learning and the sequels that produce. From a biographical- narrative methodological approach, the voices of families, through the interview, reveal that there are multiple obstacles that, beyond problematizing the progress of their sons and daughters, harm their self-concept and self-esteem. The results show as main barriers those related to the lack of efficient school-family communication, classroom methodologies that by their nature magnify the difficulties in reading and writing impacting on learning, and the emotional impact produced by the absence of responses to the needs of students with dyslexia. Making these barriers visible is a commitment to the right to quality education for and with all in compulsory education.

Keywords: Inclusive education; Barriers; Dyslexia; Family; Equal rights.

Introduction

Moving towards inclusion is not an easy task; on the contrary, given its complexity, it is imperative to get moving. This means shaking off inertia, prejudices, and attitudes; reflecting on the curriculum, methodologies, assessment, and materials; and analyzing the school’s project, the why and the for what, among many other factors that permeate the ‘exclusion-inclusion’ duality. It is unavoidable to scrutinize how school contexts limit learning opportunities by denying the optimal development of the unique characteristics of human diversity. In the 21st century, it is inexcusable to delve into ‘how’ the right to quality education is exercised unequally; a powerful barrier that affects the most vulnerable groups. The alternative to exclusion and discrimination is, without a doubt, an education that includes, that values diversity as an asset, and reduces the categorization to which the education system is so accustomed.

The concept of ‘barriers to learning and participation’ by Booth and Ainscow (2015, p. 9), the essence of their educational approaches for several decades, remains a central axis for understanding the disadvantages and inequalities that are formed within the education system, often by limiting participation and learning possibilities, thus achieving the depersonalization of teaching to which Echeita and Domínguez (2011) allude: ‘everyone doing the same thing, at the same time, with the same resources, or appealing to identical forms of motivation’ (p. 29).

Slee (2012) warns that inclusive education “is not a technical problem to be solved through a set of compensatory measures, be they curricular adaptations, the physical adaptation of the school, or the way the […] test is administered. These approaches do not question the architecture of exclusion” (p. 161). Or, in other words: “the role of the school in maintaining or reducing inequalities depends on what the school does, it is not an exclusively structural situation” (Murillo and Hernández-Castilla, 2014, p. 17). By sharing these positions, we consider it relevant to continue delving into the analysis of barriers that, in various ways, make learning impossible or difficult for children and young people, creating inequalities. On this basis, the study has been proposed, as a responsibility, according to López (2012), in the search for “a new educational project that allows us to learn to live together as an opportunity for freedom and equity” (p. 131).

Recognizing these barriers is a way of making visible the fragility of the group of students with a diagnosis of dyslexia in an education system that does not welcome and does not value diversity, affecting their performance and emotional state. An education system that “can never be of quality if it maintains exclusionary mechanisms within itself” (Azorín and Sandoval, 2019, p. 24).

1. Literature review

The objective of this study is to delve into the analysis of the barriers that students with dyslexia face in the school environment from the perspective of families; barriers that hinder their children’s learning and lead to unsatisfactory school and family trajectories. The literature review allows us to contrast scientific evidence with the experiences lived by families, deepening the understanding of these barriers.

1.1. An approach to dyslexia

The International Dyslexia Association (IDA, 2002) defines it as a specific learning difficulty of neurological origin, characterized by difficulties in the accuracy and fluency of written word recognition and by spelling, decoding, and spelling problems. Its prevalence in schools has been estimated at 5%-15% of students (Soriano-Ferrer and Piedra, 2014), and it is for this reason that this heterogeneous group increasingly presents a relevant presence in our classrooms.

According to the DSM-5 (American Psychiatric Association, 2014), the differential diagnosis of dyslexia is included within neurodevelopmental disorders, as a learning disorder with difficulties in reading and written expression. Current research focuses on the development of phonological representations (Cuetos, Soriano, and Rello, 2019) and how these components relate to learning to read and write and, consequently, to dyslexia (Cuetos, Suárez-Coalla, Molina, and Llenderrozas, 2015). Students diagnosed with dyslexia may experience difficulties with reading comprehension and spelling (Defior, Serrano, and Gutiérrez-Palma, 2015), leading to moments of low self-esteem and emotional-behavioral problems (Zuppardo, Serrano, and Pirrone, 2017).

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Therefore, adequate detection of these difficulties is necessary to avoid school failure and prevent the suffering of the child and family (Cuetos et al., 2015), as research shows that early intervention is much more effective around 4 – 4.5 years of age, due to the brain’s plasticity that characterizes the early years of life (Cuetos et al., 2015; Hatcher, Hulme, and Snowling, 2004; Papanicolaou et al., 2003).

1.2. Dyslexia and education

Given the prevalence and needs of students with dyslexia in classrooms, it is essential for teachers to deepen their understanding of reading acquisition. A relevant study in this regard is by Echegaray and Soriano (2016), conducted in the Valencian Community with practicing and pre-service teachers. They conclude that teachers, both experienced and inexperienced, are unaware of the emotional and/or social problems of students with dyslexia, neurofunctional and neuroanatomical alterations, and laterality issues. Furthermore, pre-service teachers hold the belief that dyslexia can be cured. Some of their findings align with the study by Binks et al. (2012) on teachers’ knowledge of reading, concluding that they lack solid knowledge about the different aspects of language (phonetics, morphology, syntax, and phonology), which form the basis of reading instruction. This particularly impacts students with dyslexia.

Other empirical research has demonstrated the effectiveness of multisensory teaching in developing reading skills. Jeyasekaran (2015) examined the effectiveness of using all sensory channels with children with dyslexia in India. Their findings indicate a statistically significant difference before and after the intervention, with a 12% improvement in reading.

In the same direction as the previous one is the research by Soliman and Al-Madani (2017). The main objective is to examine, in a safe emotional climate, the effects of multisensory instruction on the reading, fluency, and comprehension of 4th-grade Arab children with dyslexia. The results reveal that there were statistically significant differences in the post-tests of fluency (which include reading accuracy and speed) and reading comprehension between the control and experimental groups; in the latter, the successful intervention is evidenced through activities that engage the different senses.

ICTs are an adaptable, customizable, and motivating element for students, and they favor multisensory methodology. For Gasparini and Culén (2012), their use in classrooms encourages students with dyslexia to read and minimizes the stigma produced by their difficulties; this is the most relevant conclusion they draw when conducting a case study comparing memory and comprehension when working with tablets or on paper; the results show better reading test scores when using technological tools.

Anestis (2015) designed two non-standardized tests, one in digital format and the other on paper, including basic mathematical operations. Students with dyslexia obtained 18% more correct answers on the test taken with a computer; on the other hand, the control group did not show significant differences in their performance; furthermore, it concludes that the use of ICTs in the evaluation process can contribute to better concentration.

1.3. Family and emotional state

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Robledo and García (2014) conducted a comparative study to evaluate the family climate in three groups of children: with dyslexia, ADHD, and normal school performance (RN). The results reveal that in the first two groups there is more tension. It is deduced from this that families with a child with dyslexia or ADHD have a persistent concern regarding their children’s needs, dedicating the most time available to the child, outside of school hours, to completing academic tasks and attending specific therapies to alleviate the consequences of an inadequate or insufficient school process. They also conclude that parents and children belonging to RN groups are much more optimistic compared to the other two. The groups of students with dyslexia and ADHD perceive low expectations from their families and teachers, which leads them to have an unfavorable opinion of their own academic performance.

Alexander-Passe (2007) investigates the stress levels of children with dyslexia at school. The results suggest differences between groups, with and without dyslexia. The latter experience high stress, which occurs in interactions with teachers, regarding exams and academic performance; consequently, emotions (fear, shyness, and loneliness) and physiological manifestations (nausea, tremors, or rapid heartbeats) are generated that harm their self-concept. The study also shows that they consider the impression they make on their peers and do not enjoy high self-esteem.

Bryan, Burstein, and Bryan (2001), through the analysis of a set of research, explain the reality that families experience regarding their children’s homework with dyslexia. These tasks are usually structured in a way that requires the skills in which they have the greatest difficulties, such as comprehension, writing, decoding…, leading to lower performance. In this sense, the help of a family member becomes a basic element; help that, due to the frustration it entails, ends up generating discomfort and discord around school tasks, demotivation of the children, and doubts from parents about their self-efficacy to help them.

In the same vein, Zuppardo, Serrano, and Pirrone (2017), in their study with a sample of 25 students diagnosed with dyslexia and dysorthography and 10 without reading and writing difficulties, define an emotional-behavioral profile of children with dyslexia who show low self-esteem and behavioral psychological distress (anxiety) caused mainly by traditional teaching proposals at school.

2. Method

The position we adopt in this study is part of the wide range of possibilities offered by the qualitative research approach. The biographical-narrative method is what allows us to delve into, as Van Manen (2003) points out, the significant experiences of daily life, those of families whose children have been diagnosed with dyslexia. This approach allows us to analyze the relationships between specific situations and their contexts (Álvarez and San Fabián, 2012) and, subsequently, to transform oral word (voices) into written word, capturing the meanings of these unique experiences. In the end, we build a narrative composed of micro-narratives in accordance with the requirements of educational research and its ethical components; a particular construction that arises from the contrast between the researchers and between them and the literature review.

It is worth noting that the researchers share a common interest, stemming from our experiences: in schools, in secondary education centers, at university, with families, and with other researchers on the topics of both dyslexia and inclusive education. Our areas of work intersect over time and converge in a dialogue that is enriched by our own experiential contributions.

The basic tool for information gathering is the semi-structured interview as a means to “gather narrative experiential material that at some point can serve as a resource for developing richer and deeper knowledge about a human phenomenon” (Van Manen, 2003, p. 84). Following the same author’s recommendations, we decided it should be semi-structured to avoid being led “by interviews that go everywhere and nowhere at the same time” (p. 84), with the aim of answering a key question: what is the experience of families regarding the school trajectories of their sons and daughters with a dyslexia diagnosis?

Procedure

The participants were parents (mothers or fathers) with sons and daughters with dyslexia who have had or have a connection with the association Dyslexia and Family (DISFAM). From an initial list of 10 families who, for certain circumstances, were deemed more accessible, contact was made by phone with 6 who agreed to participate. In the first phone contact, the following issues were explained: introduction of the speaker, the purpose of the call, and the aim of the study. Once voluntary collaboration was accepted, a date, time, and place were established to conduct the interview, considering the specific needs of the participants.

Before starting, the interviewees were presented with the informed consent document. It was read aloud and signed in duplicate. During the interviews, a respectful interaction was maintained at all times, creating a climate of empathy and trust, in addition to firmly adhering to the ethical criteria that must guide any research in education. All interviews were recorded on audio and transcribed in their entirety.

The questions asked in the interview, which emerge from the information extracted from the literature review, revolve around three phases as specified in the following table.

From the selection and reduction of the information provided by the participants, the categories of analysis emerge. The steps involved in this procedure require a process of focusing on thematic units that are notable and in line with the research objective. The coding of these units is the first phase we carry out to select the information through repeated readings of the interviews. Progressively, we group the information into categories (reduction phase) around which the analysis of the results will pivot. To do this, we create a double-entry matrix, in which we place literal information from the participants, already coded, in each category. The four global categories resulting from this process are: the diagnosis, the teachers’ attitudes, the classroom methodology, the emotional state of the families and their children.

The participants in the study have been:

• Family 1: composed of a mother and father with two children aged seven and ten. Currently, the eldest daughter is studying primary school at a public school; it is suspected that she may have high abilities in addition to dyslexia.
• Family 2: whose family unit consists of four members, father and mother with a thirteen-year-old daughter who is in her second year of ESO at a secondary school. She completed primary education at a public school, the same one where her seven-year-old brother, diagnosed with dyslexia and ADHD, is currently in his second year of primary school.
• Family 3: large family consisting of father and mother with four children with dyslexia, aged twenty-eight, twenty, seventeen, and twelve. The 12-year-old daughter is enrolled in a private school that follows the English education system.
• Family 4: consisting of father and mother, currently separated. The eldest daughter, 17 years old, is in a secondary school studying for her baccalaureate, and the youngest, 12 years old, is not placed at a specific level, as he attends an active school; previously, he attended a cooperative school, the same one as his sister.
• Family 5: composed of a father and mother with three children aged 27, 13, and 11. Currently, the eldest is studying away from home, the second daughter is in secondary school, and the third son is in the sixth year of primary school and has a diagnosis of dyslexia.
• Family 6: a family where the father and mother are separated. They have three children, two aged 9 and one aged 20 with dyslexia and dyscalculia. He has attended three public schools and is currently finishing basic vocational training.

3. Results

We organize the results around three dimensions: misunderstandings, classroom practices, and emotional effects. The first two relate to barriers, while the last one addresses the impacts these barriers have within the family sphere (parents and children). Each of these sections brings together evidence from the participants’ experiences; their voices give meaning to this structure.

To identify the families, we follow the order of presentation previously established, identifying the parent (M: mother or P: father) who participated in the interview: F1M, F2M, F3M, F4M, F5P, and F6P.

3.1. Family-school misunderstandings

One of the first disagreements to which families refer relates to the repeated denial by teachers to accept the diagnosis of dyslexia, which generally comes from professionals outside the schools. This denial, in some cases, translates into expressing good intentions for change in the classroom without real effects.

The school responds that they will do everything we have told them… “Don’t worry, we know what to do.” But in reality, nothing has been done. […] The tutor refused from the beginning to accept our daughter’s difficulty and expressed “she’s not keeping up, she’s not like her friends.” He accepted that he was not going to do anything about her dyslexia. (F2M)

Don’t worry, we are used to dyslexias, we are trained, they told us, the same old story… (F3M)

The teacher says he is open, but that is not what he should tell us, but rather that he is open to our son; it is he who should say how he sees it and what things he believes we as parents can contribute. (F5P)

• The tutor says that our daughter has no difficulties, denying the diagnosis itself. (F1M)

Comments such as the following reinforce the previous idea; the lack of knowledge that tutors in schools have about dyslexia and how it affects learning is emphasized, reflected in expressions from teachers lacking sensitivity. This is how they express it.

The child needs more encouragement… (F4M)

We asked the teacher why he had failed Catalan and he gave us a very old-fashioned answer: he’ll have to pull himself together. (F5P)

Your son should study more and try harder, he has to put his nose to the grindstone and he’ll get it; this is what they told us, but the resources were the same for him as for the rest of his class […]. (F6P)

The negative attitude shown by a parent to coordinate with an external professional who works with their child outside of school hours is significant.

It would have been good for them if she had explained how to help our son, but the teachers have the power to say yes or no, they set the guidelines, and they haven’t wanted to coordinate with this professional’s proposal. (F5P)

An adverse attitude is also reflected in the communication processes between teachers. Parents have to assume the role of ‘bridge’, between teachers from different grades or the same level.

It’s complicated, I mean the coordination. The following year you have to explain everything again when there’s a change of teacher, and it feels like you’re selling your own bike. (F1M)

The coordination between them doesn’t work, it’s an effort that the family has to make, this isn’t natural. (F5P)

A mother recounts an episode experienced with a teacher, with a threatening attitude and lack of communication with her classmates; it has to do with failing a subject for two consecutive terms.

It’s just that your son doesn’t know English. I looked at her and said: haven’t you looked at his papers, where he comes from, what he has… and she said: ‘we pass all the information here…’ She hadn’t read anything at all. And the second semester had passed and she said the same thing. I thought: we’re leaving here. (F3M)

Finally, it is worth highlighting a disagreement caused by the teachers’ statements regarding learning possibilities. In the words of the families, these statements are harmful, progressively destroy self-esteem, as if the overall behavior of denying difficulties that characterizes school experiences were not enough.

A teacher told my daughter that she had disappointed her a lot because of something she hadn’t done well. (F1M)

At school they told them, ‘You won’t be able to, why are you going to do it? there’s no point in even trying… you won’t be able to.’ (F3M)

3.2. Classroom Practices: Tell Me What You Do and I’ll Tell You How You Teach

ICT used as a resource can facilitate learning for students with dyslexia. However, some teachers believe that its use creates inequality compared to their peers, as expressed by the following family.

I said: “Can they bring a recorder?” NO… and a computer? NO, because they are learning to write. NO, everything was NO because this is making differences and because there are other students with dyslexia here and they don’t use these kinds of things. It wasn’t just that they wouldn’t let us have a computer, it was that they wouldn’t let us bring one from home. (F4M)

This restriction makes no sense considering that technological tools are useful and a necessary resource for doing homework and for studying at home; resources that, moreover, are part of their daily lives.

She reads, records it, and then listens to it. She finds her own ways to get there… (F2M)

The ‘repeating a grade’ measure is commonplace in schools. It’s a solution whose consequences fall on the student, without questioning the teachers’ responsibility in this measure. All families express disagreement with this response because if teachers have not worked throughout the course considering the students’ needs, there is no point in repeating.

I insisted a lot that my daughter in primary school should not repeat a grade, and with a lot of fighting, I managed to get her approved until second grade… ‘as long as you are not doing everything she really needs, she will keep passing’; they needed my signature to repeat. (F2M)

The methodology used in the primary or secondary schools where the students from the interviewed families have attended or are currently attending is mostly traditional, based on the textbook.

Yes, they used books. In schools there wasn’t really a system without books or with projects or anything, it was a totally traditional system. (F3M)

One of the mothers (F1) explains that the methodology used varies depending on the subject. While there are subjects that work on projects, in language subjects, the textbook is used as the backbone of the class.

Families demand adaptations to traditional experiences that are the same for everyone. Adaptations that, after all, do not mean extra effort for the teaching staff.

The girl was a total failure, but why was she a total failure? Because no adaptations were made. (F2M)

They have the right to an adaptation, and I demand that this adaptation be made, why? Because they have the right, period. They are my children and I want their rights to be fulfilled, there’s no other way… (F3M)

In some cases, children are removed from the classroom to receive support, even though the families do not agree.

He leaves the classroom. But he loses content, information… (F2M)

Families are the first to express that their children need a different way of learning, as they observe that the one offered by the school is not the most suitable for them.

Repeating content, as I learned, doesn’t work for him. Everything acoustic and visual works for him. (F6P)

Homework is another battle horse. These tasks cause, as indicated, that their children must dedicate many hours to fulfill this obligation, leaving no time for other activities.

Homework is an exaggerated thing in primary school, the girl used to eat and sit down to do it, and it was eleven at night and she was still going… I had to take her out of swimming and dancing because she didn’t have time.

She spends two hours on a small piece when the others are… the time difference is very evident. The others do in 10 minutes what she takes an hour to do.

Families are very critical of homework because it generates a lot of tension at home due to the excessive time that children, and parents themselves, often have to dedicate to it.

For me, doing homework right now with my son takes up the whole afternoon to do one sheet. (F2M)

My daughter gets nervous and frustrated when she’s doing her homework. (F3M)

There were shouts, there was tension at home. I didn’t understand why one day my daughter could write a word correctly and the next day she couldn’t. And how is it that yesterday she knew how to write her name and today she doesn’t? We had fights at home! because I scolded her a lot. Of course, this was before she was diagnosed with dyslexia. (F2M)

The type of homework for weekends or holidays is also discussed, very traditional and mechanical activities, which require a high time commitment.

Weekend homework is prehistoric… you have to read that book, but the book has so much content that she can’t, and I sit next to her and she reads, and I ask her about the characters in the book, which part she liked the most… The same thing every week, we’ve been doing it for 2 years. (F2M)

3.3. Emotional effect on families

The results reveal the state of mind of parents and children. They reflect anguish over what they have experienced and continue to experience with the barriers they encounter at school, which are affecting their children’s emotional state.

The school does not understand the harm it causes, because if they were aware, they would not do it. (F4M)

It is not right that they are kicked around like this. (F3M)

When the diagnosis is confirmed, it is a delicate moment for families. They narrate their experience of unease and sadness.

It leaves the family very weak. (F1M)

The diagnosis of my daughter affected me more than that of my son; I couldn’t stop crying because I didn’t want her to suffer. With my son, I took it differently. (F2M)

We all had a really bad time, honestly, terrible, seeing, moreover, your children’s decline, with the pressure at those ages… (F3M)

After the ruling, families expect a change from teachers, and yet they continue with their usual practices. This causes desperation and tension, which sometimes leads to family-school confrontation.

They told us we were bad parents, they make you feel like bad parents, and they tell you that the girl is suffering a lot, that the girl’s problem is that she’s not catching up because she sees that all her friends are already reading and she was just starting. (F2M)

The fight between the school and me began. I understand that they thought I was annoying, that I was overprotecting my son, that the child is spoiled… What happens is that at some point, with so much confrontation and so much exhaustion, and everything… you can’t take it anymore. (F4M)

The truth is that at the end of this course I’ve thrown in the towel, I can’t take it anymore, I prefer to dedicate myself more to my son than to try to make a change at school. […] we have made the decision to maintain a certain marginality, we have an adequate formal relationship, we have taken the position of non-confrontation, to finish primary school well. (F5P)

The barriers during their children’s schooling period rekindle their concern for the present and their academic future. They are clear that their future will depend heavily on the teachers they encounter in their paths, and this uncertainty causes greater anguish for families.

You can’t be worried about the teacher your child will have each year; every school year is a thought of, ‘And who will it be next year?’ Because if it’s this one or that one, we’re lost. (F4M)

Families face their children’s experiences at school with great concern, where they must confront continuous obstacles that undermine their mood and health.

We started to see that he was really down and with the beginnings of depression… he said nothing was wrong, but he kept his backpack on behind him and entered school dragging his feet with such reluctance, such sadness, such a feeling… that it hurt me to leave him there. (F3M)

My son didn’t want to go to school. Where have you ever seen a child not want to go to school with his classmates, to learn… it’s very hard. My son, a child who stopped dancing, always hid, always hid under the tables […], he would go to school and they would tell me that the child behaved terribly, every day they took him out into the hallway. And I would say: “you don’t understand anything.” (F4M)

4. Discussion and conclusions

Teachers in our education system show a lack of knowledge about dyslexia, as already highlighted in the research by Echegaray and Soriano (2016). This lack of knowledge has been reflected in this study through the generalized idea of repetition as a solution to difficulties without questioning classroom practices. The existence of dyslexia is sometimes denied, treating it as mere difficulties that any child may experience during their school journey. Repeating a grade is not the solution; the remedy lies in a profound transformation of the education system, which should be obligated to welcome all children regardless of their particular differences.

The lack of information and training among teachers hinders adequate attention to the needs of this group of students to achieve successful learning in daily classroom action (Bueno, 2017). According to Blanco (2009), the difficulties these students face will accompany them throughout their lives, and repeating a curriculum will not change the way they process information. They need specific learning tools and alternative ways to access information, such as ICT, as these enable personalization to students’ needs.

This lack of knowledge is doubly affected by the attitude of teachers who wrongly focus their attention on students’ difficulties, often making them invisible and, consequently, frustrating their efforts to learn. An attitude that is reinforced by the practices they develop in their classrooms, aimed at an ideal student, with a traditional methodology that only benefits some students, leaving the rest out. The group of students with dyslexia is disadvantaged by cultures, policies, and practices that focus “merely on their failures and not on how to meet their needs” (Forteza and Moreno, 2017, p. 42).

It is essential to approach teaching with an open attitude to change, to the inquiry of new ways of doing things in school, trusting in the learning possibilities of each and every student, and even more so, for those who may be more vulnerable to exclusion processes, due to their initial difficulties which are not adequately addressed in schools. Conversely, an attitude that weakens is a powerful barrier because it limits the learning of students with dyslexia, and also of all students; an attitude that generates rejection towards school, as we have already seen, and affects the self-esteem and self-concept of children with dyslexia from primary education onwards, leading them to internalize that they are ‘stupid’, ‘lazy’, ‘incapable of learning and studying’.

An outdated system that focuses almost exclusively on the textbook hinders students with dyslexia from accessing learning opportunities (Asensio, 2016). The diversity of students in the classroom requires methodologies that integrate the use of various sensory channels for learning (Jeyasekaran, 2015; Soliman and Al-Madani, 2017), and the use of varied resources, such as ICT, which facilitate the teaching and learning process (Anestis, 2015).

Homework, for its part, engenders dissatisfaction in families because it restricts their leisure and free time needs. Because it is based on reading and writing tasks, precisely where the difficulties lie. Because it creates dependence on adults, and a climate of tension and frustration within the family that only aggravates the situation (Bryan, Burstein, and Bryan, 2001).

Finally, we want to emphasize that diagnosis acts as a barrier when unfavorable attitudes of teachers, clinging to traditional methodologies, increase low expectations of success for students, focusing on expecting their failure. Diagnosis that, often, comes late and poorly as specific difficulties go unnoticed for years (Armenteros, 2017); thus, difficulties are magnified and children develop negative feelings about themselves. On the other hand, to the economic burden of carrying out a diagnosis, as families manifest, is added the increase involved in resorting to external instances (tutors) to minimize the consequences of what is not done in school, or to help their children with emotional therapies (Alexander-Passe, 2007; Robledo and Barcía, 2014).

To conclude, as a final reflection, we offer a series of thoughts revolving around four axes: learning, attitudes, barriers, and pain, related to the analytical categories established in this study.

On learning

We infer from all that has been said that the families’ unease largely corresponds to the depersonalization of teaching referred to in the introduction. The homogeneity of methodologies and resources, intended for all children to learn the same thing at the same time and place, translates into ‘therapeutic interventions’ (outside of school) in the hope that students with dyslexia will adapt to a preconceived design of normality.

We believe that one of the causes of depersonalization is that teachers do not know, or only superficially know, how learning originates, let alone how to facilitate it for children and young people with dyslexia. We recall a phrase by Claxton formulated over 30 years ago: “if teachers do not know what learning consists of and how it occurs, they are just as likely to foster it as to hinder it” (1987, p. 214). Drawing on the contributions of the literature previously cited, Binks et al.’s (2012) assertion that teachers do not deeply understand how language is formed, which will disproportionately affect students with dyslexia, stands out.

What Pozo (1999) expressed several decades ago is relevant: “Tango is a dance for two. If teachers move on one side and learners on the other, it will be difficult for learning to be effective” (p. 336). Thus, a consequence of this ‘not knowing’ is the lack of recognition of students’ personal biographies, leading to learning experiences that may be valuable for some, but not for all. Satisfactory school trajectories invoke the acceptance that the quality of learning depends on the teacher’s competence, also admitting that learning is an emotional act. Teaching and learning are, therefore, inseparable verbs; the progress and success of the learner depend on the interaction established by the teacher with them, on their competence as educators, and on the confidence in the learning potential that all students possess.

Based on the results, it is evident, in line with the reviewed literature, that the lack of or inadequate responses to the needs of students with dyslexia in school exerts a negative force on emotions, impacting motivation, self-esteem, and performance (Zuppardo, Serrano, and Pirrone, 2017; Robledo and García, 2014; Alexander-Passe, 2007). For the psychological well-being of all students, it is highly relevant to emphasize the necessary creation of safe, welcoming, and participatory learning environments, where each and every one can develop their talents to the fullest.

About teachers and their attitudes

We reiterate, in accordance with the study’s results and with Ainscow, Booth, and Dyson (2006), that the biggest barrier to their children’s progress is the teachers. They are the ones who end up being barrier builders, by denying them the right to an inclusive and equitable education. Echoing the words of Pujolàs (2015, pp. 20-21):

Inclusion means welcoming and valuing. For this reason, a school that welcomes everyone must also be a school that values everyone. Feeling welcomed and valued, loved, esteemed, in a school, is a prerequisite, essential […]. If we want our students to feel valued, we must value them, we must find the positive things they possess […].

This discourse refers us to the attitudes that must accompany quality teaching and learning processes. Valuing children and their families implies forms of communication that interact with high expectations, deploying strategies and methodologies that draw on the capacity that everyone has to learn. In this sense, what a father expresses highlights what remains to be done: “I remember a PT (acronym for Therapeutic Pedagogy) asked us if our son had been born on a Sunday, because he was very lazy. The first diagnosis many families heard.” Families who vociferously demand a different perspective from teachers towards their children.

Pennac (2008) uses the metaphor of the “burden” to refer to the accumulation of constraints, frustrations, fears… that act as a slab blocking the growth of students (whom he refers to as “duds”). It is significant that he speaks of teachers as a determining factor in school success or failure; he alludes to their ‘knowing how to be’ and their ‘knowing how to do’:

Our “bad” students (those said to have no future) never go to school alone. What enters the classroom is an onion: layers of sorrow, fear, unease, resentment, anger, unmet desires, furious resignations accumulated on a background of a shameful past, a threatening present, a condemned future. Look at them, here they come, bodies half-formed and their families on their backs in their backpacks. In reality, class can only begin when they put the burden down and the onion has been peeled. It’s hard to explain, but often just a look, a kind word, a confident, clear, and stable adult phrase is enough to dissolve these sorrows, ease these spirits, and place them in a strictly indicative present. (p. 60)

On the barriers to advancing inclusion

As Echeita (2017) indicates, it is non-negotiable to examine the multiple barriers that limit students’ learning and participation. Identifying and reducing them “is an important task for policies and practice at all levels, in order to ensure that no student is at a disadvantage” (Porter and Towell, 2017, p. 10).

It is a committed stance with the rights to equity and equality: to continue evidencing exclusionary practices or situations (in research articles, at conferences, in scientific meetings, in contacts with educational administrations, in the training of teachers at all educational levels…); and to work with families, in order to “empower ourselves” together in the fight against inequalities, injustices, and discrimination, based on the belief that inclusive education is the way forward.

In this sense, we can well say that we fully share the words of López (2012): “Knowing the barriers that prevent the learning and participation of some girls and boys in the classroom is precisely the ethical commitment of the discourse of the culture of diversity” (p.131). And those of Murillo and Hernández-Castilla (2014) when they express: “those of us who work in the educational world have an ethical responsibility to fight for a more just world” (p. 29).

The analysis of the barriers carried out in this study highlights the lack of communication between the school and families; fractures in this regard are an impediment to learning and participation. We emphasize in this regard that it is necessary to revive this connection, considering “the importance of building synergistic relationships between school, family, and community, as one of the key factors for advancing towards more inclusive systems and schools” (Duk and Murillo, 2016, p. 14). To this end, it is essential that the teaching and management team adopt a cooperative attitude with families, listening to their proposals and contributions and facilitating their feeling appreciated and involved in their children’s school education (Parody et al., 2019).

About the pain that school produces

“For many children, the experience of school is the daily experience of humiliation and pain.” With this quote from Slee (2012, p. 29), a statement he recalls from his special education training period, we assert that children with dyslexia suffer at school, as does their family environment.

“My heart doesn’t understand why childhood, the sweetest stage of life, has to be a bad memory because of a learning difficulty.” This father, who wrote a heartbreaking text in 20181 about his experience with severe dyslexia, is not wrong, because his son was the ‘object,’ not the subject, of a school that broke him, that annulled him, reaching the extreme of such vulnerability that they wondered if it was worth it for him to continue in it to suffer. It was the appearance of a teacher, his tutor in the fourth year of primary school, who saved him from the dark hole he was immersed in (as his father indicates, “he had hit rock bottom, and so had we”).

Hope is there, in that teacher who believes in their profession, in education, in the capacity of all children to learn… In this study, we have made visible some barriers from the perspective of families; those that day by day, along with their children, endure the mismatches of an education system that remains anchored in old ways of thinking and doing. We trust that the time will come when we can only write narratives that speak of the desire to learn motivated by teachers who wish to teach, by recognizing everyone’s strengths to successfully drive new learning. And for this to happen, “we do not need schools that carry out activities and actions that contribute to making the school fairer. We urgently need schools that are fair in their fullness and in depth” (Carneros and Murillo, 2017, p. 146).

Before concluding, we want to highlight some limitations of the study conducted. On the one hand, the absence of triangulation of information collection sources; the voice of students diagnosed with dyslexia and of practicing teachers would complete the contrast cycle to obtain a broad and interconnected view of the barriers that hinder or impede learning and participation; and, on the other hand, it would be advisable to increase the number of participants to be able to relate and compare the information with contextual aspects: age of the children, educational level, type of school (public, subsidized, private)… It is also essential to consider the exclusive focus on barriers in this work as a limitation; the scope could be broadened, according to Echeita (2013), by incorporating as an objective for future research the analysis of facilitators to achieve improvements in policies, cultures, and practices from the perspective of inclusive education, thus reinforcing the effort and development of innovations that are being carried out in many schools and classrooms that promote the presence, participation, and achievement of all students.

“Change is difficult, but possible” (Freire, 2001, p. 126).

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Brief CV of the authors

Dolors Forteza
Degree in Pedagogy and PhD in Psychopedagogy from the UIB, where she has been a professor since 1990. Co-director of the official interuniversity Master’s Degree in Inclusive Education. Member of the Research Group on Inclusive School and Diversity (GREID) and collaborator in the Research Group on Global Health and Sustainable Human Development (SG_DHS). She has participated in various research projects and is the author of articles on attention to diversity. Her participation in national and international conferences is notable. Director of the Support Office and responsible for access and admission adaptations. Her main line of research is Inclusive Education from early childhood to university. She has held various management positions, including Dean of the Faculty of Education and Vice-Rector for Teaching. ORCID ID:https://orcid.org/0000-0002– 2053-9770. Email:dolorsforteza@uib.es.

Laura Fuster Coll
Graduate in Primary Education from the University of the Balearic Islands, with a mention in Musical and Artistic Education (2017). She completed the official Master’s degree in Inclusive Education at the same university (2018). She participated in a project by the Spanish Red Cross aimed at increasing the school success of children aged 6 to 16 facing social difficulties, focusing on the personal and social factors that promote it. She has attended various courses and conferences related to school improvement and active classroom methodologies. She is a volunteer for the Dyslexia and Family Association (DISFAM). She currently works as a substitute teacher. ORCID ID:https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2135-8832. Email: laura.f.95@live.com.

Francisca Moreno-Tallón
Graduate in Musical Education (2003), Bachelor’s Degree in Psychopedagogy (2012), and PhD in Inclusive Education and Socio-educational Care throughout the Life Cycle (2012) from the University of the Balearic Islands. She has completed stays at the University of Salamanca, the University of Oviedo, and Reykjavík University in Iceland. As an associate professor, she has taught in Psychopedagogy studies and currently in the Bachelor’s Degrees in Early Childhood and Primary Education; she has also taught postgraduate courses at the UIB and continuing education courses at the Teacher Training Centers. She belongs to the Research Group on Inclusive School and Diversity (GREID). Author of various articles and conference presentations. Her research interests include: inclusive education and active methodologies. ORCID ID:https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2923-4911. Email: francisca.moreno@uib.es.

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