Actuar-Enseñar entre la Diversidad: Construyendo Educación Inclusiva en Atacama

Abstract

Chilean education has transitioned in the search of quality and inclusion of everyone, fulfilling the demands of the context. Through a qualitative and local study, experiences from professionals of six educational communities belonging to public schools with an Integration Program in process of implementation due to the inclusion law are analyzed in the three provinces of the Atacama region. The purpose is to reveal unseen realities through the analysis of interviews directed to eighteen educational members: headmasters, social workers and professionals who are part of the Educational Integration Program; the main actors of the current educational process. Through the experiences and arguments of the ones involved in the study; obstacles, enhancements, disagreements, and meaningful elements are made evident. Each one of these help in the scaffolding of theoretical and practical knowledge which mainly refers to the resistance of traditional pedagogical transformation and to the collaborative working developed with multidisciplinary teams, the establishment of innovative practices through curricular adaptions, the importance of students and families’ involvement, emotional education and positive behavior, key elements for assembling inclusive communities.