Perception and attitude of students from compulsory secondary school to the challenge of inclusive education and co-teaching

Abstract

Inclusion continues being one of the educational challenges that requires from educational agents their shared responsibility. Students, as active participant agent, are a key tool for educational changing and building and promoting an inclusive school. Taking into consideration their opinion has an impact on inclusive processes improvement. This work is focused on students' voice to the challenge of inclusion and diversity in a public high school from a municipality of Barcelona. It aims to know the profile, thinking and attitudes of students from compulsory secondary level towards educational inclusion and shared working of both teachers -support teacher and regular teacher- in the classroom. The results of the application of a questionnaire to 310 students -with and without educational needs- show a positive attitude towards inclusion and a positive appraisal of shared teaching as well as the impact of the presence of support teacher in the regular classroom, who reinforces this positive attitude because contributes to better processes of interaction, socialization, inclusion and the attention of diversity in the classrooms and the educational centre although it is still evident that the change of educational practices, in pro of students' inclusion and socialization, is necessary.