More innovation, less inclusion? Debates and discussions regarding the intersectionality of innovation and inclusion in the Catalan school system: a position paper

ABSTRACT

Catalonia is experiencing a significant wave of innovation in its schools. After decades of little change, since 2015 there has been a systemic surge of innovation in education that includes hundreds of primary and secondary schools. Almost at the same time, in 2015, the Catalan government enacted a new inclusive school framework based on the Salamanca Statement and subsequent developments (Ainscow, Booth, Slee, Stainback or Pujolàs, among others). This position paper analyses exploratory what is occurring in schools regarding the intersectionality between innovation and inclusion. The preliminary results show that, inclusion often competes and clashes with innovation in concrete school perspectives and practices. Our appraisal is that some schools tend to prioritise innovative practices over inclusive ones and present them as a ‘school brand’ in order to compete for white middle-class families. At the same time, some (head) teachers avoid implementing inclusive practices because they feel they are related to having more Special Educational Needs (SEN) students and a more complex and less ‘competitive’ school. The paper concludes by critiquing the setback to inclusive practices due to intersectionality with innovation, and by outlining some recommendations to generate positive synergies between the movements of innovation and inclusion

KEYWORDS:

• Salamanca statement
• inclusive education
• school innovation

Disclosure statement

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

Notes

1 www.escolanova21.cat

2 http://www.salutmental.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/Informe-Salut-Mental-Infantil-i-Juvenil.pdf

3 http://xtec.gencat.cat/web/.content/innovacio/marc_normatiu/documents/marc_dinnovacio_pedagogica.pdf