Towards a More Inclusive Education: A School Transformation

Abstract

Research in inclusive education points out the need to broaden our understanding of school transformation processes with an inclusive horizon from particular contexts, with an emic approach. The research we present seeks to contribute in that direction. This is a single case study of an instrumental type with a qualitative approach. Its main objective is to know the development of the transformation process with an inclusive horizon of an educational center, analyzing the reasons that prompted it and the strategies followed to start its change process. We have used the interview as information gathering strategies, carrying out a total of 37 to 27 members of the educational community, and the discussion group, carrying out three with a total of 16 informants. From an inductive thematic analysis we extract the main results related to two large dimensions: the break with the pre-established and the strategies in the transformation process. The first of the dimensions has two thematic blocks, where the reasons that led the professionals of the educational community to undertake the process of change and the horizon that they followed are outlined. The second shows the strategies they put in place related to changes in the structure and organization of the center, the connection with their own professional practice and the accompaniment of teachers in the change. Developing an inclusive education can mean a personal transformation related to the perception of oneself as an agent of change and a collective transformation from the group strategies that are developed and the institutional change that is needed.