What is Inclusive Education for?

Today, we all know that there is no equity in education around the planet; Not all people receive a quality education that increases the chances of a future job and general well-being in all aspects of life.

It may seem overly ambitious, but achieving quality education for everyone is one of the Sustainable Development Goals in the 2030 Agenda. This equals an education system that focuses on students, either individually or in groups, who may be left behind or vulnerable in the academic environment, decreasing their chances of developing different abilities and potentials.

What is inclusive education for?

In this article we are going to tell you what inclusive education is and what it is for., on what objectives it focuses and in what ways it can be applied in the classroom. Either because you are a teacher or because you are moved by issues related to discrimination against the most disadvantaged, this article will help you understand this type of education and learn about realities that you may feel away

UNESCO data

According to a UNESCO report from the end of 2022, more than 259 million boys and girls are out of school around the planet. While girls have more difficulty accessing education and are more likely to stop attend class, children have a greater risk of repeating the course, of not progressing or leaving their studies to half. It is important to consider that 84% of children who do not go to school live in countries with protracted humanitarian crises. On the other hand, six out of ten children do not acquire, after years of schooling, basic skills in reading, writing and calculation, which can perpetuate poverty and marginalization.

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What does inclusive education look for?

Inclusive education has been presented as a comprehensive and renewed education model that seeks to identify and cover the educational needs of all children, youth and adults, taking special consideration for cases in which there may be a risk of social exclusion or marginalization. Part of the belief in education as a fundamental human right included in the Convention on the rights of the child of 1989.

UNESCO made an explicit call in 2020 to all academic and educational institutions to understand inclusive education as an aspiration for everyone, without any exception. For this reason, he proposed placing the most vulnerable people at the forefront of action plans and assistance, being exposed to greater difficulties and barriers to prosper educational and vitally. The exclusion mechanisms tend to be the same in most cases: gender, country of origin, purchasing power, language, migration...

Basically, it is about paying attention to all students equally without making any kind of distinction; nor by race, social conditions, culture and religion, among other things. It differs from the traditional approach to education since inclusive education does not seek, like its predecessor, the diagnosis of students to establish them as part of a category. It's based on analyze characteristics of each student to determine the supports that would be key for them.

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What objectives does inclusive education have?

Having been proposed as a comprehensive methodology with the intention of changing the organization of educational systems, inclusive education has specific objectives:

• Achieve the social and school inclusion of students, rejecting marginalization or the denial of equal opportunities for all people.
• Consider the educational and school system as something unique. Specific and special programs should not be generated for students with specific needs. The entire class should be adapted, not a specific student.
• Ensure attention to all students according to their specific characteristics.
• Promote equal opportunities. Foster solidarity and participation between students and their families, generating healthy social support networks that promote social inclusion for all parties involved.
• Establish coordination between all the people participating in the educational process: parents, teachers, students...
• Promote social inclusion in all areas, not only in school, but also in social and labor, among others.

What obstacles can be found on the way?

It is clear that Establishing inclusive education in all areas of our societies will not be easy and will entail different challenges and obstacles.. Among them, you can find:

1. False beliefs or exclusionary convictions

For inclusive education to work, the dissolution of all discrimination of whatever kind it may be must be ensured. The maintenance of these ideas is the main cause of the segregation of people at risk of exclusion and is what makes their integration the most difficult.

2. Study plans

In most cases, school curricula are too rigid or are exclusively focused on the contents of what is taught, not so much on the ways in which it is must teach. It is important to begin to consider the need to generate different types of learning that suit the needs and abilities of all students without the need to differentiate between them.

3. Teachers without specific training

Due to the precariousness that can affect all areas of society, a large part of the teaching staff may not have all the Knowledge to know how to bring an inclusive quality education to the classroom that takes into consideration all students equally. For this reason, it is vital to ensure concrete training for teachers on issues of social inclusion.

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3. deficit financing

Without adequate funding, it is difficult to establish changes at all educational levels in academic centers.

4. Legislation

Each country is governed by different legal and governmental principles, so trying to achieve the same general educational system throughout the planet can be very difficult. As a reflection that could lead to an interesting debate, should education be differentiated from laws?

How is inclusive education worked from the classroom?

Some guidelines to follow to bring inclusive education to the classroom may be the following:

1. Establish close ties with students

Without abandoning the role of teachers, teachers must use the time they consider to get to know their students considering the differences and particularities of each one of them and them and thus be able to establish an education that can include everyone. Basic and general ways of doing this include questions, games, and classroom observations.

2. Use methodologies and activities that promote critical thinking

In inclusive education, it is essential to foster in students the ability to value their own ideas and be aware of the world that surrounds them, including diversity and difference within the collective imagination and thus achieving their standardization. These types of activities are also interesting to encourage the participation of all students, being able to increase the possibilities of linking between them and thus generating secure networks for all.

3. Consider the opinions of students

In relation to the previous point, inclusive education must also react to the opinions or criticisms that students may make of the methodological or educational content. There must be space for discussion and communication and consider everyone's ideas equally.

4. Apply the Theory of Multiple Intelligences

Although this is enough for another whole article, Gardner's Theory of Multiple Intelligences defends that intelligence is multimodal. There are different types of intelligence and each of the types should be considered equally to promote the development of different aspects transversely and throughout childhood.

A review to finish

Finally, we are going to do a brief review of everything discussed throughout this article as a summary and as a final conclusion.

• Inclusive education supposes a comprehensive academic and school model that should promote social integration and in the teaching of all male and female students equally, regardless of their vital and social conditions.
• Unlike the previous educational model, inclusive education does not seek to categorize and change students individually, but to adapt entire classes and entire classrooms to contexts that may be different and susceptible of exclusion.
• It is very important to generate positive and healthy social networks among students and also with teaching teams and families. Inclusive education assumes a collaborative and coordinated model at all educational levels and including all factors and participants.
• Although it entails challenges and difficulties and may be too utopian a proposal, inclusive education must be incorporated gradually in the classroom to, little by little, reach all levels and ensure the social inclusion of all students and female students