746
Views
4
CrossRef citations to date
0
Altmetric
Research Article

Education, power, and segregation. The psychoeducational report as an obstacle to inclusive education

ORCID Icon, ORCID Icon & ORCID Icon
Received 17 Dec 2021, Accepted 27 Jul 2022, Published online: 08 Aug 2022
 

ABSTRACT

This article is the result of research carried out by a group of activists who advocate for the rights of children with disabilities. They are exploring new approaches to both school counselling and the fight against segregation in order to improve the situation of children in the Spanish education system. It focuses on how the psychoeducational report is a key tool for legitimising school segregation, and how deconstructing it is essential for building inclusive schools. The data analysed were collected from 100 people from all over Spain who took part in a Participatory Action Research project focused on emerging narratives on inclusive schooling. The aim of the project was to gather accounts of the experiences of pupils, families, and activist professionals who are engaged in a determined struggle to make schools inclusive. Participants were able to share their experiences, conduct their analysis through assemblies and cooperative groups, and use networking to transform existing policies, cultures, and practices. The information obtained indicates that the labels used by current psychoeducational reports are based on a clinical model and are focused on children’s deficiencies. They provide limited knowledge about the individuals involved and exercise strong social and symbolic control over them and others.

Disclosure statement

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

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities under Grant RTI2018-099218-A-I00; and the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation under FPU Grant 17/00385.

Notes on contributors

Ignacio Calderón-Almendros

Ignacio Calderón-Almendros is an associate professor at the Department of Theory and History of Education and Research & Diagnosis Methods in Education at the University of Malaga, Spain. He researches collaboratively with activists, teachers and other researchers in promoting inclusive education. He has authored numerous articles and books, the last one in English is entitled ‘Disability, education and inclusion: A family struggle against an excluding school’ (Calderón-Almendros and Habegger Citation2017).

Jesús J. Moreno-Parra

Jesús Moreno-Parra is a Postgraduate Teaching Assistant in the Department of Didactics and School Organisation, University of Málaga, Spain. His main research focus are inclusive education and school counselling. He is a member of ProCIE Research Group and participates in different research projects on Inclusive Education emerging narratives and Innovative Community Practices in Education.

Eduardo S. Vila-Merino

Eduardo Vila-Merino is an associate professor at the Department of Theory and History of Education and Research & Diagnosis Methods in Education at the University of Malaga, Spain. His main research focus are related to Theory of education and social pedagogy, specially the processes linked to human rights and intercultural education, peace culture, inclusion and gender equity.

Log in via your institution

Log in to Taylor & Francis Online

PDF download + Online access

  • 48 hours access to article PDF & online version
  • Article PDF can be downloaded
  • Article PDF can be printed
USD 53.00 Add to cart

Issue Purchase

  • 30 days online access to complete issue
  • Article PDFs can be downloaded
  • Article PDFs can be printed
USD 304.00 Add to cart

* Local tax will be added as applicable

Related Research

People also read lists articles that other readers of this article have read.

Recommended articles lists articles that we recommend and is powered by our AI driven recommendation engine.

Cited by lists all citing articles based on Crossref citations.
Articles with the Crossref icon will open in a new tab.