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

Along this path, and above all since education began to be conceived as a universal right, a paradigm has emerged which defends that we should all have access to formal education regardless of our gender, ethnic origin, disability or socio-economic status. This paradigm is that of Educational Inclusion or Inclusive Education .

We will now explain in more detail, albeit in an introductory manner, what inclusive education is, where it comes from and what some of its scope and challenges are.

What is Inclusive Education? Origins, proposals

In 1990, a UNESCO conference was held in Thailand, where several countries (mainly Anglo-Saxons) met and proposed the idea of “a school for all” .

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

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

This means that inclusion is a social phenomenon that for almost three decades has been at the centre of the debate on education, which has generated and expanded an entire inclusive movement, which is not limited to improving the quality of life of people with disabilities, but has allowed to change the model of assistance and rehabilitation for a model of accessibility in the care of disability, where the problems are no longer sought in the person but in the conditions of the environment.

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

Inclusive Education or Educational Inclusion?

Both concepts refer to the same process. The difference is that the term educational inclusion refers to the theoretical approach or model , that is, the organized set of ideas that promote equal conditions in access to efficient education, while the term inclusive education makes a more specific reference to practice; for example, when a school is implementing concrete strategies to favour inclusion and accessibility.

Difference between special education and inclusive education

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

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

For its part, inclusive education does not consider that the problem is people, but education itself, which hardly recognizes the diversity of ways of functioning that coexist among human beings, so what had to be done was not a “special education” for “special people”, but a single education capable of recognizing and valuing differences and attending to them under equal conditions .

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

Finally, although inclusive education is often directly associated with the intention of incorporating persons with disabilities into the educational systems, it is more a question of recognizing the barriers to learning and the barriers to participation that are put up for reasons not only of disability, but also of gender, culture, socioeconomic, religion , etc.

From agreements to shares

So what could we do to make education inclusive? In principle we must detect the barriers in learning and participation . For example, carrying out qualitative evaluations that allow for a broad and deep understanding of the particular educational context, that is, the characteristics, needs, facilities and conflicts of a particular school.

From there, evaluate the possibilities of action being realistic and raise awareness for the educational community (teachers, families, children, administrators) so as to promote a change of paradigm and not only the politically correct discourse.

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

Some challenges of this project

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

One of the problems is that it is a proposal to which the “developed countries” aspire, and under unequal conditions the “developing countries”, which means that its impact has not been able to be generalized to all countries and socioeconomic contexts .

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

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

Bibliographic references:

  • Guzmán, G. (2017). “Articulations between education and psychopathology: reflections on psychopedagogical strategies from the bodies”. Palobra Magazine, Faculty of Social Sciences and Education, University of Cartagena, (17)1, pp. 316-325.
  • López, M.F., Arellano, A. & Gaeta, M.L. (2015). Perception of quality of life of families with children with intellectual disabilities included in regular schools. Paper presented at the IX International Scientific Conference on Research on People with Disabilities, INICO University of Salamanca.
  • Escudero, J. & Martínez, B. (2011). Inclusive education and school change. Revista Iberoamericana de Educación, 55: 85-105.
  • Parrilla, A. (2002). On the origin and meaning of inclusive education. Journal of Education. 327:11-28.