Is the Italian school system really adequately prepared to ensure real inclusion of all students?
Dear António José Rodrigues Rebelo
, I certainly agree with what you wrote but we still need to improve the situation. Thank you for your contribution to this open question of mine for all colleagues. I would like to talk to you about something that is happening in Italy.An article on the inclusive chair by Dario Ianes was recently published. For the famous Professor of Pedagogy and Special Didactics in Bolzano and co-founder of the Centro Studi Erickson, the school is called to face an important challenge: to achieve a true inclusion of all students, valuing their diversity and guaranteeing everyone the right to learn.
To achieve this goal, the inclusive chair is proposed, an innovative model that includes two significant "hybrids":
support teachers will also carry out hours of curricular teaching in their subject, supporting the curricular teachers. In this way, they will share their specific skills with the entire class, promoting more personalized and inclusive teaching.
Curricular teachers will also carry out support hours, supporting the support teachers or intervening in other classes. This will allow them to become familiar with the different needs of students and to develop a greater awareness of the challenges related to inclusion.
The proposal is completed with:
Specific training for curricular teachers on inclusive teaching methodologies. It is essential that all teachers are able to implement effective teaching strategies for all students, regardless of their diversity.
Stable pedagogical support structures at school and local level. The school cannot be left alone to face the challenges of inclusion. It is necessary to create a support network that involves experts, families and other local bodies.
The proposal is based on two urgent challenges:
Crisis in the support system:
Lack of specialization among support teachers. Not all Italian support teachers have specific training, which can compromise the quality of their teaching because teachers without qualification are also recruited.
Delegation of students with disabilities to the support teacher alone. Students with disabilities are often “ghettoized” in support classrooms, with limited opportunities to interact with their classmates.
Micro-exclusion in support classrooms. Isolation in support classrooms can deprive students with disabilities of important learning and socialization experiences.
Inclusioscepticism:
Presence of positions against inclusion by some teachers. Even today, some Italian teachers do not believe in inclusion or consider it impossible to achieve in our schools.
Surveys: 17-40% of inclusionosceptic teachers. According to recent surveys, a significant percentage of teachers have doubts or even hostility towards inclusion.
Objectives and benefits
The “inclusive” classroom aims to:
Improve teaching for all students, making it more personalized and inclusive. All students, with their diversity, have the right to learn and be valued.
Overcome the dichotomy between curricular teaching and support, encouraging collaboration between teachers. Collaboration between teachers is essential to create a truly inclusive school.
Enhance the skills of both types of teachers, creating a synergy of professionalism. The “Inclusive Chair” will allow the specific skills of both types of teachers to be exploited, creating a richer and more stimulating school for everyone.
Positive experiences and consensus
The “Inclusive Chair” has already been tested in several Italian schools with positive results:
Greater valorization of support teachers. Support teachers feel more involved and an integral part of the teaching team.
Greater involvement of curricular teachers in inclusion. Curricular teachers develop a greater awareness of the challenges related to inclusion and feel more ready to face them.
Perhaps the Italian school is ready for a qualitative evolution that would bring it closer to an ideal of an inclusive school where “the infinite variety of human differences” (Fred Vargas) can respectfully coexist in mutual valorization.
I sincerely hope so because the situation needs to improve.
Dear António José Rodrigues Rebelo
certainly the family and students must be at the center of the inclusion process and collaborate with educators but this law proposal which has just been presented is the result of intense work made up of meetings, discussions and in-depth studies to relaunch something that gives back vitality to the school.The law proposal provides for the creation of optimal conditions for an inclusive learning environment. It consists in creating the conditions so that a student entering the class is faced with his teachers and interfaces with all the teachers who enter that class, not just with the support teacher. This requires teachers to have specific skills to work with all students, including those with disabilities.
The plan includes a multi-year training plan for teachers, recognizing the importance of specialized training. There will be a transition period, clearly it will not happen overnight. This will allow teachers to acquire the necessary skills, adapting training courses to their professional experiences.
The hours of support assigned to classes with disabled students will not be reduced. The approach will promote educational continuity, co-responsibility among teachers and the creation of an inclusive learning community. There must also be collaboration between teachers and unfortunately this is not always the case. Thank you for your valuable observations.
Interesting question and replies. I haven't had the opportunity to deepen my experience in the Italian system. In Greece, my home country I can say that as time goes by, higher levels of inclusion are achieved.
However we should bear in mind that inclusion is a dynamic and not static concept. There is usually always a new group to be included at schools.
Things change. New groups of nationalities settle in a country. Their children should be included. Since they are new, schools face a new challenge. At the same time the rights of several social minorities are being recognised and this means new inclusion standards or tasks.