Análisis de los procesos de inclusión/exclusión en Educación Primaria

Résumé

The overall aim of this research was to analyze the inclusion/exclusion processes in primary education schools and to undertake improvement plans. To address this twofold aim the following specific aims were set out: 1) to carry out self-assessment of schools using the ACADI system of indicators; 2) to identify the strengths and weaknesses of responding to diversity and inclusion; 3) to prioritize the necessary changes and establish the improvement lines; 4) to plan, implement and evaluate the improvement plans in collaboration with the schools leadership teams and teachers; 5) to review instruments in the literature that measure aspects related to attention to diversity and inclusive education; 6) to design a new tool for teachers to reflect on the response to student diversity in schools, 7) to carry out an inter-judges content validation procedure with the tool created; and 8) to reflect on how schools can be more inclusive and respond effectively to diversity through getting involved in collaboration networks. The first article addressed a self-evaluation process of schools using ACADI, which is an instrument that identified strengths and weaknesses in attention to diversity and inclusion. The paper presents the procedure, which runs from the evaluation of the needs to the specification of lines for change and improvement. The second paper offers empirical evidence about the setting up of the planning, implementation and evaluation of the improvement plans and it includes the valuation of these plans by the teachers involved. The third paper reports a review of instruments in the literature. Existing tools available to the scientific community for measuring, evaluating and diagnosing the state of the attention to diversity and inclusive education are ordered. Taking advantage of a research stay at the Centre for Equity in Education, the fourth paper describes the design of a new tool carried out there. This process was supervised by my PhD director, Pilar Arnaiz (University of Murcia) and Professor Mel Ainscow (University of Manchester). The tool, known as “Themis” was conceived to promote reflection among teachers about the attention to diversity and inclusion. The article explains the process of the inter-judge’s review, in which 31 Spanish and English researchers of noted prestige in the area of inclusion participated. The fifth paper reflects on how to respond effectively to student diversity and to make schools more inclusive. It describes the visits to three schools in the city of Manchester, which enabled us to contrast aspects of interest from the perspective of attention to diversity with the situation in Spain. These included the support and collaboration networks, how they are organized and the innovative approaches and trends in England in terms of managing diversity. In the sixth paper the research goes a step further and culminates in the study of proposals about networks among schools in a same area. It goes into how schools can overcome barriers and become more inclusive by involving themselves in collaboration networks with other nearby institutions. The paper concludes by laying out the importance of building bridges that enable better inclusion using these networks of support and collaboration, while also increasing the involvement of local communities with schools.