Analysis of the conditions that enable and constrain knowledge mobilisation in inclusive education: contributions to teacher education

ABSTRACT

Despite the recommendations of international institutions on how to promote a more inclusive education, we are witnessing a significant gap between the research findings on Inclusive Education and what really happens in the classrooms. This article explores the conditions that enable or constrain knowledge mobilisation, from the perspective of university professors who teach and research in inclusive education in 10 Spanish Universities. Methodologically, this is a qualitative descriptive study. As a result of the content analysis of the data obtained from the focus groups, we were able to identify four key elements: the characteristics of the actors, the characteristics of knowledge mobilisation, the organisations’ culture, and the relationship between researchers and practitioners. The discussion on the conditions that strain these four elements leads us to propose some strategies to overcome the gap between theory and practice in the field of teacher education.

KEYWORDS:

• Inclusive education
• knowledge mobilisation
• content analysis
• gap between theory-practice; Spanish Universities
• reality in classrooms

Disclosure statement

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

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the AICO/2018/066 and UJI-B2021-44. This work is part of the R&D project funded by the Generalitat Valenciana and University Jaume I.

Notes on contributors

Odet Moliner

Odet Moliner holds a PhD in Philosophy and Educational Sciences from the University of Valencia and is a Lecturer in the Department of Education, attached to the area of Didactics and School Organisation at the Universitat Jaume I in Castellón. She currently focuses her teaching activity on the Master’s Degree in Psychopedagogy, the Master’s Degree in Secondary Education Teaching and the Bachelor’s Degrees in Early Childhood Education and Primary Education. Coordinator of the MEICRI Research Group (Educational Improvement and Critical Citizenship) at the Universitat Jaume I, she researches on inclusive education, school transformation processes from the IAP and inclusive university. She is a regular researcher at LISIS (Laboratoire International sur l’inclusion scolaire) in partnership with the Université HEP de Vaud (Switzerland) and the Université UQTR de Québec (Canada).

Aida Sanahuja

Aida Sanahuja is permanent teacher at the Department of Pedagogy and Didactics of the Social Sciences, Language and Literature at the University Jaume I. She is PhD from the Universitat Jaume I (International Doctorate mention). Master’s Degree in Secondary Education Teacher: specializing in educational guidance (University of Valencia). University Master’s Degree in Family Intervention and Mediation, Degree in Psychopedagogy and Diploma in Teaching, specializing in Early Childhood Education (University Jaume I). She coordinates the educational innovation group on diversity and initial teacher training (DIVPRO). She is part of the Research Group MEICRI (Educational Improvement and Critical Citizenship) and Laboratoire International sur l’inclusion scolaire (LISIS). Her research focuses on inclusive education and initial teacher training.