Supporting schools in their journey to inclusive education: review of guides and tools

Abstract

This study presents a review of the guides and tools found in the literature regarding the implementation of inclusive education to support schools in the development and improvement of their educational practices. A total of 22 guides were reviewed, with their corresponding analyses of: the purpose for which they were created, their inclusive perspective, their target social group, the stage at which they are most efficient, the action strategies they propose, the basic structure on which they are founded, the dimensions and indicators on which they stimulate reflection and the evaluation tools and instruments they propose. The conclusions highlight the need to use and show the content of this type of resources, generating spaces for reflection in school communities.

Compulsory Education Teachers’ Perceptions of Resources, Extracurricular Activities and Inclusive Pedagogical Training in Spain

“…Training in educational inclusion should not only be essential for specialist and support teachers, but also for all teachers in general. In this sense, support teachers together with classroom teachers can jointly establish a systematic, operational, and planned accompaniment within the regular classroom that leads to emerging models of co-teaching [15]. This implies significant changes in teaching and has implications for the adoption of new habits and routines and, therefore, progress towards the transformation of mentalities within educational communities.…”

“…Educational inclusion is linked to a global vision of participation, equity, and positive valuation of diversity in all spheres and dimensions of the social, pedagogical, and community spheres [12][13][14][15]. In this sense, extracurricular and complementary activities play a relevant role in the consolidation of a democratic intersubjective construction of school inclusion [16,17].…”

Educación inclusiva en tiempos de pandemia

“…La metáfora del "viaje hacia la inclusión" se refiere a la necesaria travesía que los diferentes países deben emprender para salvaguardar el derecho a la educación inclusiva (Azorín y Ainscow, 2020;Sandoval et al, 2021). En este sentido, el debate educativo en torno a esta cuestión se centra principalmente en: 1) qué es la inclusión; 2) el sentido y alcance de la educación inclusiva; y 3) el camino (los pasos que deben darse) para avanzar hacia una escuela y una sociedad inclusiva (Azorín y Palomera, 2020).…”

Differentiated instruction: ‘to be, or not to be, that is the question’

“…Given these inconsistencies, countries across the world have strengthened DI and inclusive education policies (Ainscow 2020). It is recognised that inclusion and DI will not emerge naturally, but as a result of conscious and reflective actions of schools, communities and teachers (Sandoval, Muñoz, and Márquez 2021). In this sense, it is argued that initial teacher training (Spratt and Florian 2013;Florian and Pantić 2017) and continuous professional development (Florian and Pantić 2017;Vangrieken et al 2017;Walton et al 2022) have an important role to play in how well-prepared new teachers and in-service teachers feel for the challenges of diversity in today's classrooms (European Agency for Development in Special Needs Education 2011).…”