Teaching and Special Educational Needs

Initially, special schools were considered "mixtures" where there were students of a very diverse nature that could not be attended in the ordinary school. Thus, the use of the term "special schools" fell into disuse, whose connotation was linked to a conceptualization categorical and tight with a classification and/or segregation purpose, to proceed to the use of the concept "special educational needs" (NEE).

This phenomenon understands the circumstances of the student as a dynamic and interactive learning process, to which the school must adapt the teaching to the individual characteristics of the student (abilities, limitations, learning rhythms, etc.). With this change, students with Special Educational Needs is welcomed into the ordinary classroom and integrates with the rest of the schoolchildren in order to enhance their personal and intellectual development.

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Special Educational Needs

The first contributions to the conceptualization of SENs were not made until the last decade of the sixties, although it was in 1974 when Mary Warnok published a report on the state of Special Education in Great Brittany. This fact was the trigger for the application of some first measures in the educational system at a global level, mainly:

The training and improvement of teachers

This was done in the sense of guiding this group to obtain greater competence and specific knowledge about the concept of Special Education and the implications of its application. The initiative sought to provide all teachers with a series of official qualifications lasting one year and a complementary financial incentive.

The anticipation of the special educational intervention

Specifically, in students with SEN under five years of age, increasing the total number of nursery schools for children with the most pronounced educational difficulties.

The extension of the range of action

He went to work too with students with SEN aged between sixteen and nineteen once they have completed compulsory schooling in order to offer them aid and corresponding orientations in order to consolidate a greater social and economic integration in the life adult.

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educational inclusion

The concept of "integration", which initially represented a very significant advance in terms of attention to the group of students with SEN, later began to lose its incipient essence. Thus, this phenomenon began to be linked to segregation and the withdrawal of schoolchildren. with learning difficulties or some type of physical or mental handicap compared to children without these characteristics.

Thus, the integration process was understood as a type of differential education, where the educational curriculum was applied in a singular way. The result was again and paradoxically a distancing between the two classes of students.

In contrast to the above, the term "inclusion" replaces the previous one, definitively granting the significance that was originally intended to be given to the previous nomenclature. Inclusion manages to disintegrate the individualistic and perniciously taxonomic vision to achieve the priority objective of provide quality and equal education for all students, regardless of whether it presents a deficit or limitation.

In order to unify both aspects related to the school environment and those corresponding to to the community area in a global way for each student, this methodological change is made and conceptual.

In inclusive education, each student is accepted and valued for their particularities, circumstances and abilities, and they are offers the same learning opportunities and the support necessary to enhance their development at the highest level qualitative.

This new model, therefore, is circumscribed in a more cooperative environment, to the detriment of the competitiveness more typical of the integration stage.

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Principles of attention to diversity

Attention to diversity is defined as a new way of understanding teaching, which is based on the principles of:

Quality education

In other words, the guarantee of offering equal educational opportunities to all students once assuming the existence of diversity in this group, which is inherent and natural in the human being.

The shared effort

It refers to the Collaborative and committed environment among the parties that make up the educational community.

Converging European educational space

In this context Shared goals are set and agreed within the educational system.

Under this concept, the Law on "Equality in Education" is proposed, which aims to provide students with with SEN a series of supports of various kinds that guarantee an educational learning process of quality. These aids refer to both material and personal resources granted to centers and families, to the development of specific educational programs and flexibility in each of the stages of the system educational.

The ultimate goal of this proposal is to show a greater personalization in the teaching process adapted to the particularities of each school.

Pedagogical intervention in attention to diversity

In order to achieve the objective of inclusive education and follow the principles of attention to diversity, from the field of educational psychology, the following strategies are proposed to be applied in the context classroom:

Work in pairs or small groups

This resource has the advantage of encouraging both peer interaction and the sharing of joint experiences, as well as allowing contributions of a certain student can complement those offered by another, in such a way that a greater enrichment is achieved during the course. learning.

The possible effect of “settling in the deficit” that the most limited students may present must be taken into account. in the event that the demand on the part of the teacher is not equitable for all students equally.

The work in corners

The division of the classroom into different stations or learning corners enables greater dynamism and active participation in the learning process since all students go through all the stations, whose activities to carry out have been selectively prepared by the teacher previously.

flexible groups

The fact of partitioning the class groups according to educational needs, level/speed of learning or the particularities of each student allows a better use and a greater personalization of the teaching.

A negative aspect in the application of this resource is the possible appearance of comparative attitudes toward the characteristics of other classmates belonging to a different subgroup.

the workshops

In this case, the working groups are formed based on the interests and concerns of the students. This resource has the advantage of being motivating for children, although it must be ensured that in a time or another, everyone should take all the workshops in order to ensure a more complete.

In this methodology, the teacher acts as a guide, which favors the expression of creativity, initiative and greater work autonomy.

Bibliographic references:

• Cabrizo, d. and Rubio MaJ. (2007). Attention to diversity: Theory and Practice. Madrid: Pearson Education.
• Marchesi, A.; Coll, C. and Palacios, J. (1991). Psychological development and education. Madrid: Alliance.
• Tilstone, C., Florian, L. and Rose, R. (2003). Promotion and development of inclusive educational practices. Madrid: EOS.