Rural schools have always been inclusive: the meanings rural teachers construct about inclusion in Chile

ABSTRACT

We analyse the meanings that rural schoolteachers construct about inclusion, following the entry into force of the School Inclusion Law in Chile in 2015. Rural schools are more than half of the schools in Chile. This is a qualitative study involving six rural schools in the north, centre and south of the country, with a basis in action research and ethnography. The results show that inclusion has different meanings for different teachers, indicating that passage of the law has not been accompanied by a policy providing clear meanings to guide teaching practices. However, one meaning commonly shared is that inclusion, understood as the acceptance of everyone, is a duty of rural schools, a cultural feature that apparently distinguishes them from their urban counterparts.

KEYWORDS:

• Inclusion
• inclusive practices
• meanings
• rural school
• teachers

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 The IVE is calculated by the National Board of School Assistance and Scholarships (JUNAEB) based on various sources and is individual. The establishment's IVE is then calculated from this data. The index rises if the school has many students with IVE.

2 "The PEI is the mobilising instrument of the educational work of each school/high school and explicitly defines its identity, that is, its Mission, Vision and Educational Seals" (MINEDUC, p.31, 2018b).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by PIA-ANID: [Grant Number CIE 160009]; Fondo Nacional de Desarrollo Científico, Tecnológico y de Innovación Tecnológica: [Grant Number 1211163].

Notes on contributors

Carmen Gloria Nuñez

Carmen Gloria Nuñez is a psychologist and PhD in Sciences of Education from de Pontifical Catholic University of Chile and the Bordeaux 2 University, France. She is a professor of the School of Psychology in the Pontifical Catholic University of Valparaíso, Chile. She is a member of the National Network of Universities for Rural Education (RUCHER). Her research is focused on inclusive processes in rural schools, and the relations between rural schools and local communities.

Mónica Peña

Mónica Peña is Social psychologist, researcher in childhood, education and school inclusion. I am interested in childhood discourses and experiences in schools.

Bryan González

Bryan González is a psychologist and graduate in Psychology at the Pontifical Catholic University of Valparaíso. He is currently working at the Costadigital Centre and is a researcher has been an attache teacher at the PUCV. His research is focused on education, technologies and transformations in rural areas.

Paula Ascorra

Paula Ascorra is PhD in Psychology from the University of Chile. Professor at the School of Psychology of the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Valparaíso. Principal Researcher of the Research Center for Inclusive Education PIA ANID CIE 160009. Her research's lines is school climate and inclusion, which she works from a social ecological approach that reviews public policy, middle levels, school level and classroom level. She is the author of books, book chapters and articles. Her last published book is entitled “A decade of research in school climate” Editorial Universitaria.

Andrea Hain

Andrea Hain is Psychology MS in Social Policy and Community Mediation, Universidad de Los Lagos. Osorno, Chile. Her research is focused on psychosocial accompaniment in community and collective practices, and also in social and cultural rights.