Integración sí, integración no, una escuela que cambia

Zusammenfassung

Inclusion requires a change in the training methods used in all parts of the educational sector, including at the school level. The personal and cultural characteristics of students are ever more diverse and this is reflected in a more welcoming school environment. The aim of this research is to show the extent and nature of inclusion in schools; specifically to establish whether inclusion is viewed only as individual instances of disadvantage in the classroom or is seen as an essential part of educational training that considers needs and expectations and seeks to foster high achievement for all. The research was carried out in schools in Mazara del Vallo in the province of Trapani: three Primary schools (“Circoli Didattici”), two Secondary Schools “di Primo Grado” and two Secondary Schools “di Secondo Grado”: “Liceo Scientifico” and “IPSIA”; involving 324 teachers (243 curriculum and 81 support) from across the different schools. The sample consisted of 40 male and 284 female teachers with an average age of 52.5 years. The questionnaire administered was based on The Index for Inclusion which is a resource created by the Centre for Studies on Inclusive Education [CSIE] which promotes inclusion in schools. Once completed, the results were compiled and uploaded to the program SPSS Statistics, a software package for statistical analysis, which allows for the assessment of data patterns. The questionnaire is organized in three dimensions: “Creating Inclusive cultures”, “Producing inclusive policies” and “Evolving inclusive practices”. These dimensions are correlated to social and personal variables: Teacher Role [Curricular/Support], Gender, Age, School Type, Contract Type [Permanent/Temporary], Educational Level [Master/Post-Graduate Specialization], Domicile. Applying the t-test for independent samples, a statistically significant difference is evident between male and female teachers on the two dimensions “Creating Inclusive cultures” and “Producing inclusive policies”. Male teachers score significantly higher in both of these dimensions; they, therefore, show a lower propensity for creating inclusive cultures and policies than female teachers. Applying a univariate ANOVA test, based on School Type, there was a statistically significant difference, at the 5% level, across all three dimensions. Specifically, those teaching in secondary school “di Secondo Grado” scored higher in all three dimensions of the questionnaire, indicating a reduced propensity for creating inclusive cultures and policies and evolving new inclusive strategies, compared to those at the Infant and Primary schools. The results show that teachers are aware of the educational connotations of inclusion, but they do not always adopt or develop personalized strategies in their lessons, limiting themselves to undifferentiated whole-class teaching. In addition, while Primary and Infant school teachers provide lessons more specifically tailored to the needs of their students, based on their viewing these students as complex individuals, as the level of the school increases, the attention on the part of the teacher to address the specific learning needs of individual students diminishes. Male teachers, although making up only a small proportion of the sample, research more information on the subject of inclusion.