Inclusive Education today: scenarios and protagonists

70 (25,1) April 2011

This coming issue, entitled Inclusive Education today: scenarios and protagonists, is devoted to the analysis of inclusive education and the more recent concerns and developments on this topic in a number of countries around the world. Today, schools deal with a plethora of different audiences, students and families from different social, cultural, and ethnic origins, and also students with disabilities, who all see in education the way to get access to better social and economic opportunities. Inclusive schools have become key in this regard for the social inclusion of the most vulnerable social groups; one of the most important ways through which these schools are doing so is through the creation and sustainment of strong educational communities.

The current special issue is composed of an editorial and ten articles focused on different aspects of inclusion in education (click here). The authors represent nine different universities, and their contributions lead us to rethink the scenarios of inclusive education through the voices of their protagonists. Overall, the monograph seeks to contribute to and extend the debate on inclusion in education. Crucially, the issue shares successful experiences of inclusive education worldwide, thus giving tools to schools and communities to undertake transformations that increase educational success for all students.

This monograph has a seminal contribution from Len Barton, founder of Disability and Society and the British Journal of Sociology of Education and of the book series on Disability, Human Rights and Society. Barton introduces a theoretical framework for the monograph drawing on his large experience on research in inclusive education. There is also a contribution by Michael Fielding, a well-known scholar within the Students Voice movement. The influence of this movement has increased over the last years, and it joints a number of experiences of school improvement aimed at fostering students’ participation, discussion, and dialogue in schools. This is the first article by Fielding to be published in Spanish, and will appear in this issue of the Revista Interuniversitaria de Formación del Profesorado (The article is also available in English: click here).

In addition, this issue provides examples of inclusive practices worldwide, includes the analysis of specific measures in the way to inclusive education, and deepens on the potentiality of taking on a community perspective on this topic. In line with the main topics of the Revista Interuniversitaria de Formación del Profesorado (RIFOP), this special issue dedicates articles to teacher education, this time in relation to how it can contribute to improve inclusion in schools as well as how needs in schools should inform teacher education.

Finally, consistent with criteria of research quality in educational sciences, this special issue has an international, interdisciplinary, and practice informative approach. With the publication of research articles, case studies, and empirical discussions, this RIFOP special issue on educative inclusion sheds light on important contemporary concerns and challenges in education while at the same time raises awareness regarding which new research topics in inclusive education are of central concern in communities worldwide.