Facilitators for inclusive education: rethinking schools from the experience of young people with intellectual disabilities in Spain

Abstract

Although compulsory education is a reality for students between the ages of 6 and 16 in Spain, the search for a single quality system for all and success for all continues to be a concern for the Spanish education system and an ongoing issue after successive educational reforms. The aim of this article is to present the facilitators for educational inclusion identified by 30 young people with intellectual disabilities between the ages of 19 and 30 in Spain. Using a biographical-narrative methodology, these young people review and reflect on their educational trajectories, from primary school to university. The participants identified factors related to the teaching staff, pupils, and the curriculum which helped them in their learning and contributed to their feeling of being part of the educational institution, especially in the very last years of their educational training. The facilitators outlined above could be key to rethinking some decision-making in schools.

Points of interest

• Many students with intellectual disabilities in Spain are in segregated schools during the compulsory education level.

• This article analyses the facilitators that 30 young people with intellectual disabilities identify in their educative experiences, from primary school to university education, using a biographical-narrative methodology.

• All the participants began their educational experience in the mainstream system, but most of them were sent to special schools during the secondary education.

• The participants identify facilitators that have helped them to learn and participate in their educational pathway which is related to teachers, curriculum, and peers.

Keywords:

• Inclusive education
• segregation
• facilitators for inclusion
• intellectual disabilities
• biographical-narrative interviews

Disclosure statement

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

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities (Spain) under Grant [PID2019-108775RB-C42]. This work is also supported by the Concepción Arenal pre-doctoral aid programme of the University of Cantabria, co-financed by the Regional Ministry of Universities, Equality, Culture and Sport of the Government of Cantabria.