Opportunities and Barriers for the Consolidation of More Inclusive Classroom Practices within the Framework of the New School Model

Abstract

The main goal of this study was to understand the different opportunities and barriers that arise in rural school contexts for the consolidation of more inclusive classroom practices within the framework of the Escuela Nueva model for students with disabilities. To identify the factors that favor or hinder inclusive processes, a multiple case study is structured with six teachers from two rural educational institutions in Colombia, to approach their understandings, experiences and practices, through conversational techniques (informal interviews and semi-structured) and observational (classroom observations recorded in field diaries). Three emerging categories are identified that account for the results of the study: Understandings of inclusion: discourses that determine inclusive or exclusive practices; Pedagogical strategies for more inclusive educations: tensions between needs and barriers; and Inclusive education in rural contexts: limitations and opportunities. In this way, it is possible to state that inclusive education in the rural context constitutes a pedagogical and political challenge, quite complex from the possibilities of some schools to guarantee access, participation and permanence of all, which requires transformations in educational proposals, accessibility, co-responsibility and continuous training of teachers.