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04 SES 08 A: Different Stakeholders' Perspectives on Inclusive Education
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04. Inclusive Education
Paper What is Missing from Inclusive Education? The Voices of School Counselors from a Participatory Research 1Universty of Cadiz, Spain; 2University of Vigo, Spain Presenting Author:This study presents an advance of the results of the research project titled “What is inclusive education missing? Participatory research looking for responses to exclusion and inequity in education in Western Andalusia”, funded by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation. For two years, two research teams from the University of Cádiz and the University of Seville have worked together to develop a community diagnosis of the situation in Andalusia with the aim of building projects with their local educational communities for the advancement of schools that value diversity through their policies and practices. Methodology, Methods, Research Instruments or Sources Used This study is based on a participatory and emancipatory methodological approach (Armstrong & More, 2005) based on a community perspective. It is built on the participation of key agents of the territory in the research itself, not only as informants but also as agents that collaboratively mobilize proposals that are linked to the development of inclusive education. From this option, we speak of inclusive research that investigates not only inclusion, but also for inclusion and through inclusive processes (Nind, 2017). Following a participatory research design (Kemmis, McTaggart & Nixon, 2013), the study is organized in 5 phases, which begin with the preparation of the groups and the selection of informants (phase 1), the development of a descriptive-interpretative study of exclusion in the region (phase 2) and the development of a Map of Action Priorities against educational exclusion (phase 3). This is followed by the design of participatory projects to improve inclusion at the local level (phase 4) and, finally, the transfer and mobilization of knowledge of practices to improve exclusion (phase 5) is developed. This work is focused on phases 2 and 3, which have a descriptive-interpretative character. Phase 2 was developed through the documentary analysis of secondary sources (reports, statistics, news, etc.) that would make it possible to report on the state of the issue of exclusion in Andalusia, as well as to bring up dilemmatic issues. Phase 3 starts from the report prepared in the previous phase. Based on the identified dilemmas, infographics were prepared to disseminate the information among the informants in an accessible way; and an in-depth interview script was designed, which would allow collecting information from different agents (politicians, teachers, counselors, families, students and NGOs) with common elements and other diversified elements. Data analysis was performed through a system of emergent categories and thematic and interpretative codes, using the qualitative software MAXQDA 11 to reduce and manipulate the information. This work focuses on the contributions of 6 educational counselors from two different provinces (Cádiz and Seville) and on their contribution to the multi-agent and multi-argumentative analysis of exclusion and inclusion policies in Andalusia. Conclusions, Expected Outcomes or Findings The results obtained are provisional, given the state of the investigation. Now we need to design, with the participants, improvement projects based on the mapping of priorities. In this sense, school counselors point out the following: One of the main issues that concern them is that teachers continue to have a very restrictive view of inclusive education, which is in fact based on the categorization of students, as occurs in many other regions and countries. Moreover, although the regulations formally support an inclusive perspective, it is full of contradictions that confuse the school community: it continues to problematize the subjects and not the contexts. They identify that there are other elements that are leading to situations of exclusion, because attention is not paid to them through educational policies and they point out that, in inclusive education in Andalusia, we are forgetting about the entire population with low socioeconomic and cultural levels. They are concerned about school coexistence, grade repetition and school dropout, and how these issues can be approached from an inclusive approach, in the context of the response to diversity. The barriers include: a restrictive and problematic view of diversity (frequently resembling situations of disability), instability of teaching teams, late teacher training, and continuous regulatory changes. However, the school counselors also declare that they have proposals for the development of an inclusive education in the centers: some from a political dimension, such as the reduction of the ratio or the consolidation of support programs that are working well (i.e., "Impulses Program"), and others that can be addressed from the school, such as collaborative practices that also incorporate said programs, the strengthening of pedagogical leadership, and the creation of transit projects between educational areas. They speak to us about the need for inclusive education from a community perspective. References Bemak, F. (2000). Transforming the role of the counselor to provide leadership in education reform through collaboration. Professional School Counseling, 3(5), 323. Calvo, A., Haya, C & Susinos, T. (2012) The role of the school counselor in school improvement. A research study focusing on student voice as a factor of changes. Revista de Investigación en Educación, 10 (2), 7-20. Clark, M. A. & Crandall, J. (2009). School Counselor Inclusion: A Collaborative Model to provide Academic and Social-Emotional Support in the Classroom Setting. Journal of Counseling and Development, 87(1), 6-11. Escarbajal, A., Izquierdo, T., & Abenza Pastor, B. (2019). School absenteeism in vulnerable contexts of exclusion. Profesorado: Revista de currículum y formación del profesorado, 23(1), 1-19. Escudero Muñoz, J. M. (2005). School failure, educational exclusion: what is excluded and how?. Profesorado: Revista de currículum y formación del profesorado, 9(1), 1-24. European Anti-poverty Network (2022). XII Report: The state of poverty in Spain. Monitoring of the indicators of the EU2023 Agenda. 2015-2021. EAPN- España. Fernández-Menor, I., & Parrilla, Á. (2021). Apuntes para la lucha contra la exclusión desde la comunidad socio-educativa. Revista Prisma Social, (33), 183-201. Goodman, C. J. (2005). Counseling for inclusion: Secondary school counselor’s perceptions of their roles and responsibilities in inclusive education. University of North Florida. Kemmis, S., McTaggart, R., & Nixon, R. (2013). The action research planner: Doing critical participatory action research. Springer. National Institute of Statistics (2021). Survey of live conditions 2021. https://www.ine.es/dyngs/INEbase/es/operacion.htm?c=Estadistica_C&cid=1254736176807&menu=ultiDatos&idp=1254735976608 Nind, M. (2017). The practical wisdom of inclusive research. Qualitative research, 17(3), 278-288. Rodríguez, A. (2021) Poverty and inequality. OIA 2021 Report: State of Childhood and Adolescence in Andalusia. Junta de Andalucía. 04. Inclusive Education
Paper Presences and Absences in Students’, Teachers’, and Administrators’ Perspectives on Diversity 1Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Norway; 2University of Nebraska-Lincoln, USA; 3University of Turku, Finland & University of Stockholm, Sweden; 4Leuphana University Lüneburg, Germany Presenting Author:Research has illustrated that a positive diversity climate at school can improve students’ wellbeing and life-satisfaction (Aldridge et al., 2018). It has also been shown to reduce minoritized youths’ personal experiences of discrimination (Heikamp et al., 2020), which makes it important to create. Specifically, research shows that perceptions of a positive diversity climate buffer against personal experiences of discrimination and thus predict better belonging among minoritized students (Baysu et al, 2016; Heikamp et al., 2020; Lee, 2017). Further, a positive climate including contact and cooperation among students, multicultural values, and emphasizing a common humanity, has been shown to be positively associated with the intercultural competence of both immigrant and non‐immigrant background students (Schwarzenthal et al., 2020).
Despite such clear benefits for embracing diversity and creating a positive climate for it in classrooms, many teachers, students, and school communities struggle to create the opportunity for diversity to be positive and productive. In schools there is often a dominant cultural narrative that difference is deficit (Mitchell, 2013) as identified through research on varying issues around race, language, social class, ability levels, religious backgrounds, culture, gender, sexuality, and other identity markers that can minoritize and “otherize” students, teachers, and other members of school communities (Spencer et al., 2020). These issues impact students’ perceptions of belonging (Lee, 2017) and can play a role in violent and deeply troubling bullying issues (Siperstein et al., 2022) as well as impacting academic achievement. Further, the pandemic has exacerbated many of these issues for students and teachers from minoritized groups (Meinck et al., 2022); poor mental health issues are dramatically on the rise (Theberath et al., 2022) and there is an increasing call for attention to social and emotional learning and wellbeing in schools (Heineke & Vera).
In the context of inclusive education, these challenges to create a positive climate for diversity are important to grapple with. Therefore, this study explores the perceptions of teachers, students, and administrators from schools in four European countries: Finland, Norway, Germany, and England regarding diversity and how to make it positive and productive in schools. Methodology, Methods, Research Instruments or Sources Used In the Fall of 2022, we hosted focus group conversations with 55 participants from schools where substantial levels of diversity (across all facets, language, ability, class, race, religion, etc.) exist with students, teachers, and administrators in Finland, Norway, Germany, and England to explore their perceptions of diversity and the possibilities for diversity to be positive and productive in schools. The data collected for this study is part of a larger study exploring teacher orientations for creating a positive climate for diversity in teaching/learning spaces. However, for this study, we focused on the participants’ definitions of diversity, their experiences with it in teaching/learning spaces (both positive and negative) and the opportunities participants articulated regarding how to make diversity positive and productive in teaching/learning spaces. Specifically, we investigated: - How do teachers, students, and administrators define and discuss diversity? o Across the varying contexts, do patterns emerge regarding what aspects of diversity are discussed and/or absent? o What possibilities and/or challenges do teachers, students, and administrators discuss for making diversity positive and productive in teaching/learning spaces? We are engaged in a collaborative analysis to generate the answers to these research questions. One of our research team members was present at each data collection event and is also participating in the collaborative analysis discussions. Each conversation is focused on inductive coding regarding definitions and discussions of diversity, paying attention to presences and absences as well as possibilities and challenges. Conclusions, Expected Outcomes or Findings Preliminary findings suggest that across varying schools in multiple European countries, teachers, students, and administrators are discussing and attending to myriad factors of diversity including race, nationality, language, gender, and sexual orientation. Disability/ability was also discussed across the focus groups, however, with less frequency than the topics previously listed and rarely in a way that included expansive notions and diverse experiences with disability/ability. Many perspectives were shared regarding possibilities and challenges to creating positive climates for diversity including curriculum demands, policy issues, teacher education/support, and societal perspectives/impact of broader oppressive projects. A major focus of these conversations was gender fluidity and sexual orientation along with race and multilingualism. The limited explorations of disability/ability in the context of discussions of diversity is a notable finding and worthy of further exploration and theorization. Implications/Conclusion The implications of this research are vast for developing and sustaining inclusive learning environments for students from a variety of backgrounds, including those with disabilities. The kind of attention and at times lack of attention disability/ability receives in conversations related to diversity in teaching and learning spaces is notable and impactful in terms of the work that needs to be done to further disability rights and opportunities in inclusive classrooms. References Aldridge, J. M. & McChesney, K. (2018). The relationships between school climate and adolescent mental health and wellbeing: A systematic literature review. International Journal of Educational Research, 88, 121-145. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijer.2018.01.012 Baysu, G., Celeste, L., Brown, R., Verschueren, K., & Phalet, K. (2016). Minority adolescents in ethnically diverse schools: Perceptions of equal treatment buffer threat effects. Child Development, 87(5), 1352-1366. https://doi.org/10.1111/cdev.12609 Heineke, A. J. & Vera, E. M. (2022). Beyond language and academics: Investigating teachers’ preparation to promote social-emotional well-being of emergent bilingual learners. Journal of Teacher Education 73 (2), 145-158. Heikamp, T., Phalet, K., Van Laar, C., & Verschueren, K. (2020). To belong or not to belong: Protecting minority engagement in the face of discrimination. International Journal of Psychology, 55(5), 779-788. https://doi.org/10.1002/ijop.12706 Lee, C. D. (2017). Integrating research on how people learn and learning across settings as a window of opportunities to address inequality in educational processes and outcomes. Review of Research in Education, 41, 88-111. doi: 10.3102/0091732X17690498 Meinck, S., Fraillon, J., & Strietholt, R. (2022). ‘The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on education: International evidence from the Responses to Educational Disruption Survey (REDS)’. Paris: UNESCO. https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000380398 Mitchell, K. (2013). Race, difference, meritocracy, and English: Majoritarian stories in the education of secondary multilingual learners. Race Ethnicity and Education. 16(3), 339-364. doi:10.1080/13613324.2011.64556 Schwarzenthal, M., Schachner, M. K., Juang, L. P. (2020). Reaping the benefits of cultural diversity: Classroom cultural diversity climate and students’ intercultural competence. European Journal of Social Psychology, 50(2), 323-346. Siperstein, G. N., Ballard, S. C., Jacobs, H. E., Rodriquez, J., & Shriver, T. P. (2022). “A Place for Everybody”: Students’ Perspectives on Inclusive Behavior in School. Educational Researcher, 51(6), 387–398. Spencer, M. B., Offidani-Bertrand, C., Harris, K., & Velez, G. (2020). Examining links between culture, identity, and learning. In N. S., Nasir, C. D. Lee, R. Pea, & M. McKinney de Royston (Eds.), Handbook of the cultural foundations of learning (pp. 44-61). Routledge. Theberath M, Bauer D, Chen W., Salinas, M., Mohabbat, A. B., Yang, J., Chon, T. Y., Bauer, B. A., Wahner-Roedler, D. L. (2022). Effects of COVID-19 pandemic on mental health of children and adolescents: A systematic review of survey studies. SAGE Open Medicine, 10(1), 1-14. Viesca, K.M., Strom, K., Hammer, S., Masterson, J., Linzell C.H., Mitchell-McCollough, J., & Flynn, N. (2019). Developing a complex portrait of content teaching for multilingual learners via nonlinear theoretical understandings. Review of Research in Education, 43, 304-335. 04. Inclusive Education
Paper The Keys to Inclusive Curricula: The View of Spanish Experts University of Cadiz, Spain Presenting Author:The aim of this study is to reveal the keys with regard to obstacles or barriers and facilitators or levers, that curricula represent on the path to designing an inclusive education system in Spain. Specifically, our research geographical area is Andalusia, which is a region in the south of the country that is characterised by rather depressed socioeconomic circumstances that result in high levels of educational failure and early school dropout.
International bodies have already pointed out that "the curriculum is the central means through which the principle of inclusion is put into action within an education system" (UNESCO, 2017, p.22). Recent research studies on equity and equal opportunities within education (Stainback and Stainback, 2007; Azorín and Sandoval, 2019; De Haro et al., 2019; Gortázar, 2019; Muntaner-Guasp et al., 2022), have revealed the profound injustice that a single, homogeneous and standardised response to diversity represents from an educational perspective. Nevertheless, the Spanish education system continues to be beholden to a logic whereby all the students must learn the same things, in the same way and at the same time. Even though some progress has been made regarding certain aspects, the reflection made years ago by Arnáiz (1999) on the need to question the merely instructional design and the conception of the curriculum if attention to diversity is to be promoted is still valid.
This idea has been already reflected in the Incheon Declaration and Framework for Action for the development of Sustainable Development Goal 4: Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all (UNESCO, 2015 a,b). This implies a shift in the paradigm as it considers that education will only be quality education as long as it embraces an inclusive approach (Alba, 2019). This premise is at the heart of this proposal, and is embodied in three core ideas (Bolívar, 2019; Muntaner-Guasp et al., 2022) as follows:
Each of these core ideas connects respectively with three fundamental principles that have been identified by Ainscow and Booth (2006, 2015) as the basis for the development of more inclusive educational systems: presence, participation and progress of all the students. It is on these basis that Muntaner-Guasp et al. (2022) find the necessary resources for the evaluation of curricular proposals, by identifying and removing the barriers that compromise any of these principles and, consequently, inclusiveness. This implies a change of perspective from the problem-student to the problem-context (Benítez-Gaviray Aguilar-Gavira, 2022) in order to promote the implementation of facilitators or levers that modify the environment to ensure and augment student success (Azorín and Sandoval, 2019).
Our research seeks to provide answers to the following questions:
Methodology, Methods, Research Instruments or Sources Used The general aim of this research is to analyse and characterise the impact of a curriculum as an exclusion/inclusion factor of educational systems. Although our approach is eminently qualitative, we have also considered the use of opinion surveys for descriptive purposes. As a result, with regard to certain groups of respondents the design of our research is conformed by a multi-method or mixed approach, even if it does so from an paradigmatic perspective (Maxwell 2010, 2016). Thus, our research design contemplates the gathering of information through: interviews to policy makers within the Education Administration, focus groups comprising teachers from different educational stages and opinion surveys to students. In order to identify the key aspects that should allow us to define the theoretical framework, as well as to ascertain the main aspects to be investigated on this topic, a number of experts will be interviewed as an initial exploration. Numerous studies have made use of a panel of experts as a technique to validate the data collection tools to be employed (Herrera et al., 2017; López et al., 2017). The interviews should also allow us to get to know the views of specific individuals who, because of their qualification and/or professional background, are in a position to deliver evidences and critical evaluations on the subject to be studied, while seeking rational consensus and conferring validity to the subject matter (Escobar-Pérez and Cuervo-Martínez, 2008; Robles and Rojas, 2015). This communication presents the results of the exploratory research, which was developed through in-depth interviews to 5 recognized Spanish academic researchers, who are experts in inclusive education and have extensive experience in national and international research, with a large number of publications. The five interviews have been centred on two main dimensions and core themes. Dimension A: the sense of curricula; a.1) definition of curriculum, a.2) purpose; and Dimension B: the role of curricula in inclusive education; b.1) inclusive school, b.2) curricular barriers and levers to inclusion, and b.3) inclusive curricula. The interview transcripts have been submitted to the experts for them to validate their content. The gathered information was analysed and interpreted by categorising and triangulating the data by means of the software application NVIVO. The descriptors that have been previously mentioned constituted our predefined categories and the data collected from the experts were also used to construct the emerging categories. Conclusions, Expected Outcomes or Findings The main results from this initial investigation revealed some obstacles to overcome, as well as a number of elements to be taken into consideration in relation to curricula as facilitators in inclusive education contexts. These results were also in line with the recommendations made by a number of experts to the Spanish Ministry of Education with regard to the recent amendments to Spanish education law (MEFP, 2020). Some of the main obstacles found were: curricula that are markedly academic, standardised, increasingly fragmented into disciplines, and largely propaedeutic; predominance of one-size-fits-all methodologies anchored to textbooks, that promotes individuality and competitiveness, and that operate on the basis of ranking and segregating evaluative practices; curricular obstacles that validate and aggravate social, cultural and economic inequalities, thereby questioning equal opportunities and turning curricula into instruments to exclude the most vulnerable students from the education system. As opposed to this model, we propose inclusive curricula: open, flexible, up-to-date, meaningful, interdisciplinary, relevant, pertinent, sustainable and ethical. These are to be implemented through active and participative teaching and following methodological strategies that promote cooperative, dialogic and critical learning. Furthermore, they must be supported by evaluation processes that include co-evaluation and self-evaluation that aim to improve the learning process. All of this requires of teacher training, pedagogical leadership and of a novel professional teaching culture based on the collaborative work of teachers, the support from staff and families and from the rest of the education community. School improvement movements, comprising a variety of pedagogical currents and movements that support innovative approaches to education and evaluation, share the fundamental idea that the quality of education systems and institutions is brought into question when the opportunities and benefits of a "good education" do not reach all. References Ainscow, M., & Booth, T.(2006). Improving Schools, Developing Inclusion. Routledge. Ainscow, M., & Booth, T.(2015). Guía para la Educación Inclusiva. Desarrollando el aprendizaje y la participación en los centros escolares. OEI/FUHEM. Alba, C.(2019). Diseño Universal para el Aprendizaje: un modelo teórico-práctico para una educación inclusiva de calidad. Participación educativa, 6(9), 55-66. Arnaiz, P.(1999). Currículum y atención a la diversidad. Hacia una nueva concepción de la discapacidad: Actas de Jornadas Científicas de Investigación, 39-62. Azorín, C., & Sandoval, M.(2019). Apoyos para avanzar hacia una educación más inclusiva en los centros escolares: análisis de guías para la acción. Siglo Cero, 50(3), 7-27 Benítez-Gavira, R., & Aguilar-Gavira, S.(2022). Mirada inclusiva. La diversidad como característica. International Humanities Review, 11, 1-12. Bolívar, A.(2019). Un currículum inclusivo en una escuela que asegure el éxito para todos. Revista e-Curriculum, 17(3), 827-851. De Haro, R., Ayala, A., & Rey, M.(2019). Promoviendo la equidad en los centros educativos: identificar las barreras al aprendizaje y a la participación para promover una educación más inclusiva. Revista Complutense de Educación, 31(3), 341-352. Escobar-Pérez, J., & Cuervo-Martínez, Á.(2008). Validez de contenido y juicio de expertos: una aproximación a su utilización. Avances en medición, 6(1), 27-36. Gortázar, L.(2019). ¿Favorece el sistema educativo español la igualdad de oportunidades? ICE: Revista de economía, (910), 15-29. Herrera, A., Vergara, S., & Figueroa, S.(2017). Validación de contenido, mediante juicio de expertos, de un instrumento para medir la competencia aprender a aprender. Academia Journals, 2, 850-854. López, I., Suanes, M., León, C., & Cámara, A.(2017). El panel de expertos como técnica de validación de contenido. AIDIPE: Actas Congreso Internacional, 1121-1128. Maxwell, J.(2010). Using numbers in qualitative research. Qualitative Inquiry, 16, 475-482. Maxwell, J.(2016). Expanding the history and range of mixed methods research. Journal of Mixed Methods Research, 10(1), 12–27. MEFP (2020). La reforma del currículo en el marco de la LOMLOE [Archivo PDF]. https://curriculo.educacion.es/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/DOCUMENTO-BASE-CURRICULO-MEFP-NOV-2020.pdf Muntaner-Guasp, J. J., Mut-Amengual, B., & Pinya-Medina, C.(2022). Las metodologías activas para la implementación de la educación inclusiva. Revista Electrónica Educare, 26(2), 85-105. Robles, P., & Rojas, C.(2015). La validación por juicio de expertos: dos investigaciones cualitativas en lingüística aplicada. Revista Nebrija, (18), 124-139. Stainback, S., & Stainback, W. (2007). Aulas inclusivas Un nuevo modo de enfocar y vivir el currículo. Narcea Ediciones. UNESCO (2015a). Agenda 2030 para el Desarrollo Sostenible. http://www.unesco.org/new/es/santiago/ education‐2030/ UNESCO (2015b). Declaración de Incheon. Educación 2030. http://unesdoc.unesco.org/ images/0023/002338/233813m.pdf UNESCO (2017). A guide for ensuring inclusion and equity in education. https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000248254 |