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Learning together to live
together
Action plan 2008-2015




    Generalitat de Catalunya
    Departament d’Educació
2




Contents
1.	 Introduction	......................................................................................................................... 3
2.	 Inclusive	education:	education	for	everybody,	school	for	all	........................................ 6
3.	 Principles.	The	general	framework	of	the	Action	Plan	“Learning	Together		
    to	Live	Together”	................................................................................................................. 9
4.	 Pupils	with	the	greatest	specific	needs	for	support	in	the	context	of	inclusive		
    education	............................................................................................................................ 11
5.	 Conditions	and	criteria	to	progress	toward	education	for	all	and	to	facilitate		
    the	development	of	inclusive	schools	............................................................................. 13
6.	 Entering	society	and	the	workplace:	the	transition	to	adult	life	................................. 27
7.	 The	collaboration	of	families	and	professionals	............................................................ 29
8.	 Training	for	inclusive	education	..................................................................................... 32
                                                     .
9.	 Administration	of	the	Plan	.............................................................................................. 36
10.	Resources	and	services	map	........................................................................................... 38
                                               .
11.	Calendar	............................................................................................................................ 41
12.	Budget	................................................................................................................................ 44
13.	Bibliography	...................................................................................................................... 46
Appendix.	Resources	and	services	map............................................................................... 50
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1.
Introduction
To	ensure	that	quality	education	is	available	to	all	students,	independently	of	the	con-
ditions	in	which	they	live	and	of	their	personal	characteristics,	has	in	recent	decades	
become	one	of	the	chief	objectives	of	their	teachers	and	families,	and	the	institutions		
and	individuals	who	are	concerned	with	education.

This	great	aim,	which	in	recent	years	has	become	known	as	education for all or	school
for all (Booth	and	Ainscow,	2004;	Giné,	2001;	UNESCO,	1994;	Stainback,	1999)	these	
days	goes	beyond	the	desire,	first	expressed	many	years	ago,	of	including	children	for-
merly	excluded	from	the	education	system.

To	 advance	 towards	 inclusive education,	 progressing	 towards	 true	 schools for all,	
calls	for	the	involvement	of	the	whole	of	the	educational	community—the	students,	the	
teachers	and	the	families,	as	well	as	the	administrators	concerned—in	a	single	goal:	to	
procure	that,	progressively,	all	children	enjoy	the	right	to	go	to	school	in	their	neigh-
bourhood	or	village,	without	this	compromising	the	equally	important	right	of	recei-
ving	an	education	that	is	suited	to	their	particular	needs.

In	 recent	 history,	 various	 pronouncements	 of	 international	 organisations,	 such	 as	      	
UNESCO	or	the	OCDE,	point	in	this	direction.	In	this	respect,	the	Salamanca	Decla-	
ration	of	1994	(UNESCO,	1994),	a	document	approved	by	acclamation	by	representa-
tives	of	92	governments	and	25	international	organisations,	which	has	become	an	im-
portant	referent	for	educational	innovation	and	for	education	policies,	recommended	
that	“those	with	special	educational	needs	must	have	access	to	regular	schools	which	
should	accommodate	them	within	a	child-centred	pedagogy	capable	of	meeting	these	
needs”,	also	asserting	that	“regular	schools	with	this	inclusive	orientation	are	the	most	
effective	means	of	combating	discriminatory	attitudes,	creating	welcoming	communi-	
ties,	building	an	inclusive	society	and	achieving	education	for	all”,	and	observing	that	
such	 schools	 can	 “provide	 an	 effective	 education	 to	 the	 majority	 of	 children	 and	 im-
prove	the	efficiency	and	ultimately	the	cost-effectiveness	of	the	entire	education	system”.

A	 year	 later,	 the	 International	 Classification	 of	 Functioning,	 Disability	 and	 Health	
                                                                                              	
(ICF),	approved	at	the	54th	World	Health	Assembly	on	22	May	2001,	gave	an	impetus	to	
the	new	culture	of	disability	with	two	basic	propositions:

1.	The	consideration	of	disability	as	a	universal	human	phenomenon,	and	not	as	a	diffe-
rentiating	trait	of	a	minority	of	society	for	whom	special	policies	are	required.

2.	The	understanding	of	diversity	as	the	outcome	of	a	complex	interaction	between	a	
person’s	state	of	health,	personal	factors	and	their	surroundings,	in	which	an	interven-
tion	on	any	of	these	may	modify	the	others,	their	being	elements	of	a	complex	system.

More	 recently,	 the	 Convention	 on	 the	 Rights	 of	 Persons	 with	 Disabilities,	 ratified	 by	
                                                                                                 	
the	 majority	 of	 UN	 member	 states	 on	 30	 March	 2007,	 also	 recognizes	 the	 rights	 of	
children	and	young	people	with	disabilities	to	enjoy	the	benefits	of	an	inclusive	educa-	
tion	system,	with	access	to	compulsory	education	under	the	same	conditions	as	other	
members	 of	 the	 community,	 without	 exclusion	 by	 reason	 of	 their	 disability,	 but	 with
4




the	adjustments	and	support	needed	to	bolster	their	academic,	personal	and	social	de-
velopment	to	the	maximum.

Legislative	 initiatives	 in	 this	 and	 neighbouring	 countries	 have	 also	 adopted	 this	 approach	
                                                                                                     	
and	 are	 also	 taken	 into	 account	 in	 this	 Action	 Plan:	 the	 National	 Special	 Education	    	
Plan	(PNEE)	of	1978;	the	Circular	of	4	September	1981,	which	lays	down	criteria	in	the	
field	of	special	education	in	Catalonia;	Decree	117/84,	of	17	April,	concening	the	or-
ganisation	of	special	education	for	integration	into	the	mainstream	education	system;	
the	 Organic	 Law	 for	 the	 General	 Organisation	 of	 the	 Education	 System	 (LOGSE,	             	
1990)	and	the	provisions	that	implement	it;	the	Organic	Law	on	Education	(2006);	the	
Master	Plan	for	Special	Education	(2003);	and	the	National	Education	Pact	(2006).

The	new	Catalan	Education	Law	(LEC)	stresses,	in	its	preamble,	the	need	to	adapt	edu-
cational	activity	to	meet	the	diverse	needs	of	students	and	to	achieve	greater	equality	of	
opportunity.	Moreover,	the	preliminary	paragraph	includes	as	one	of	the	fundamental	
principles	of	the	Catalan	education	system	“social	cohesion	and	inclusive	education	as	
the	basis	of	school	for	all”.	Subsequently,	the	clauses	of	the	act	assert	that	educational	
attention	for	all	students	is	governed	by	the	principle	of	inclusion,	and	they	define	cri-	
teria	 for	 educational	 organisation	 that	 must	 facilitate	 educational	 attention	 to	 all	 stu-
dents,	particularly	those	who	might	encounter	more	barriers	to	learning	and	partici-
pation,	 deriving	 from	 their	 personal	 disabilities.	 It	 also	 provides	 that	 special	 schools	
may	 develop	 services	 and	 programmes	 to	 support	 the	 education	 of	 disabled	 students	       	
in	mainstream	schools.

Quite	apart	from	these	important	documents,	it	would	be	a	mistake	not	to	take	account	
also	 of	 two	 other	 sources	 that	 have	 undoubtedly	 contributed	 to	 pointing	 the	 way	 to-
wards	school for all:	on	the	one	hand	the	educational	practices	that	have	already	been	
developed	in	this	direction,	both	in	mainstream	schools	and	in	special	education;	and	
on	 the	 other,	 the	 research	 that	 has	 been	 undertaken	 on	 this	 issue.	 These	 two	 are	 im-	
portant	resources	when	it	comes	to	deploying	this	Plan	and	sketching	out	the	shape	of	
the	future.

In	concord	with	everything	we	have	just	outlined,	the	intention	is	for	this	Action Plan
“Learning Together to Live Together” to	 become	 part	 of	 the	 set	 of	 policies	 already	
being	 implemented	 by	 the	 Department	 of	 Education	 to	 promote	 quality education
for all,	placing	special	emphasis,	at	the	present	time,	on	enhancing	disabled	and	dis-
advantaged	pupils’	access	to	inclusive	education	as	one	of	the	basic	pillars	of	the	quality	
of	the	Catalan	education	system.	As	Stainback	(1999)	stressed,	“We	hope	that	soon	we	
will	be	able	to	speak	simply	of	giving	a	quality	education	to	all	students.	Yet	still	there	
                                                                                           	
are	students	who	are	excluded	from	normal	school	and	community	life”.

Furthermore,	 the	 Action	 Plan	 will	 promote	 the	 development	 and	 implementation	 of	
good	practice	in	the	education	system	as	a	whole,	and	channel	proposals	towards	the	
implementation	of	the	legal	requirements,	training,	organisation	and	use	of	resources	
and	the	evaluation	and	review	of	the	progress	made.

The	Action	Plan	“Learning	Together	to	Live	Together”	is,	therefore,	a	specific	instru-
ment	in	the	hands	of	the	whole	of	the	educational	community	for	the	attainment	of	the	
following	goals:
5




— 	Advance	toward	the	inclusive	schooling	of	all	pupils	in	mainstream	schools.
 —

— 	Promote	methodologies	that	favour	participation	by	all	pupils	in	the	mainstream	
  —
school	environment.

— 	 Optimise	 support	 resources	 for	 the	 education	 of	 disabled	 pupils	 in	 the	 mains-
  —
tream	school	environment.

— 	Enhance	interdepartmental	coordination	in	pursuit	of	integrated	attention	for	dis-
  —
abled	pupils	while	they	are	at	school	and	during	their	transition	to	adult	life.

— 	 Define	 the	 map	 of	 resources	 and	 services	 for	 the	 education	 of	 disabled	 pupils	 in	
 —
Catalonia.
6




2.
Inclusive education: education for
everybody, school for all
Considering	the	different	ways	of	defining	inclusive	education	that	currently	exist,	we	
could	agree	that,	in	general,	it	has	been	considered	that	inclusion,	or	education	for	all,	
has	to	do	with	the	capacity	of	educational	systems	to	provide	effective,	quality	educa-
tion	for	all	pupils	and	their	intention	of	providing	it	in	normal,	shared	environments.

Moreover,	as	several	authors	have	observed	(Ainscow,	2001	and	Giné,	2008),	different	
traditions	 can	 be	 identified:	 that	 which	 is	 associated	 with	 attention	 for	 students	 with	
disabilities;	 that	 which	 is	 associated	 with	 groups	 in	 danger	 of	 marginalisation;	 that	
which	focuses	primarily	on	the	improvement	of	school	for	all	pupils;	and	that	which	
understands	inclusion	as	a	principle	for	the	understanding	of	education	and	society.

These	traditions	have	led	some	countries	to	place	the	emphasis	on	the	reform	of	spe-	
cial	education,	while	others	place	it	on	modifications	in	mainstream	education	(Ains-
cow,	2005b;	Giné,	2005;	Marchesi,	2001;	European	Agency	for	Development	in	Special	
Needs	Education,	2007).

Here	 in	 our	 country,	 changes	 began	 with	 reforms	 in	 special	 education,	 but	 evolved	
progressively,	 some	 time	 afterwards,	 toward	 an	 orientation	 in	 which—as	 Marchesi	
(1999)	 has	 noted—the	 improvement	 of	 the	 system	 as	 a	 whole	 has	 come	 to	 be	 consi-	
dered	 essential.	 Thus,	 the	 LOGSE	 and	 Catalan	 Government	 decrees	 75/1992	 and	
299/1997	no	longer	speak	of	integration,	but	regard	diversity	as	a	characteristic	of	the	
system	as	a	whole.

Stainback	 (2001,	 in	 a	 succinct	 phrase	 that	 has	 been	 abundantly	 quoted,	 defined	 in-
clusive	 education	 as	 “a	 process	 that	 offers	 all	 children,	 without	 disctinction	 of	 ability,	
                                                                                                      	
race	or	any	other	difference,	the	opportunity	to	continue	being	a	member	of	an	ordi-
nary	 class	 and	 to	 learn	 from	 his	 or	 her	 companions,	 and	 together	 with	 them,	 in	 the	    	
classroom”.	 She	 thus	 emphasises	 the	 belonging	 of	 any	 pupil	 to	 a	 community,	 and	 at	       	
the	same	time	stresses	the	interactive	and	shared	nature	of	all	classroom	learning.

Similarly,	 the	 experience	 of	 schools	 that	 have	 implemented	 practices	 to	 make	 educa-
tion	for	all	available,	as	well	as	his	own	research,	led	Ainscow	(2005)	to	emphasise	the	
following	points:

— 	Inclusion is an on-going process to find better, ever more suitable, ways to res-
  —
pond to diversity.	 He	 deals	 with	 the	 fact	 of	 living	 with	 difference	 and	 learning	 to	
learn	 from	 difference.	 From	 this	 point	 of	 view,	 difference	 becomes	 a	 positive	 factor	
                                                                                                	
and	a	stimulus	to	learning	for	children	and	adults.

— 	Inclusion	is	concerned	with—and	pays	special	attention	to—the	identification and
  —
elimination of barriers to learning and participation that	pupils	may	encounter.	It	is	
a	question	of	using	the	information	acquired	from	observing	educational	policies	and	
practices	to	stimulate	creativity	and	the	resolution	of	difficulties.

— 	 Inclusion seeks the presence, participation and success of all pupils.	 The	 idea	
  —
of	presence includes	the	place	where	the	pupil	learns,	preferably	in	settings	that	are	as
7




normal	as	possible;	participation refers	to	the	quality	of	the	experience	of	the	pupils	in	
the	school,	and	hence	includes	both	their	collaborative	experience	and	the	opinion	of	
the	class;	while	success refers	to	the	result	obtained	by	pupils	in	learning	activities	as	a	
whole	and	not	just	in	tests	and	examinations.

— 	 Inclusion also particularly focuses on those groups of pupils who are at risk
  —
of greater marginalisation, of exclusion, or of not reaching appropriate levels of
achievement.	 This	 implies	 special	 responsibility	 for	 administrators	 for	 such	 groups	
of	 pupils,	 as	 well	 as	 their	 need	 to	 specifically	 monitor	 the	 presence, participation and	
success	just	referred	to.

In	this	Action	Plan	“Learning	Together	to	Live	Together”,	when	inclusion is	referred	to,	
it	is	not	in	the	sense	of	returning	(reintegrating)	anyone,	but	of	avoiding	ever	leaving	
them	out	of	mainstream	school	life.	It	is	not	a	question	of	bringing	in	those	who	are	
excluded,	but	of	building	a	system	able	to	meet	the	needs	of	everyone.

Similarly,	 it	 is	 understood	 that	 working	 from	 the	 point	 of	 view	 of	 school	 for	 all	 also	
means	 moving	 from	 the	 idea	 of	 assisting	 only	 pupils	 with	 disabilities	 to	 the	 idea	 of	  	
providing	the	necessary	support	for	any	pupil,	according	to	their	needs,	with	the	aim	               	
of	facilitating	the	participation	of	all	in	the	class’s	group	activities.

An	inclusive	school,	as	proposed	by	Porter	(2001),	is	one	in	which	pupils	with	special	
educational	needs	or	with	disabilities	go	to	the	same	class	as	their	companions	of	the	
same	age,	the	same	class	they	would	go	to	if	they	had	no	disability.

Thus,	 inclusive	 education	 is	 a	 process	 that	 begins	 with	 the	 recognition	 of	 the	 diffe-	
rences	 there	 are	 between	 the	 pupils,	 with	 respect,	 and	 the	 building	 of	 teaching	 and	  	
learning	processes	on	the	basis	of	these	differences,	reducing	barriers	to	learning	and	           	
to	 participation	 by	 all	 pupils,	 not	 just	 those	 with	 disabilities	 or	 special	 educational	
                                                                                                   	
needs	(Booth,	T.	and	Ainscow,	M.,	2004).

In	an	inclusive	school,	as	Pujolàs	(2005)	has	stressed,	there	are	no	ordinary	pupils	or	
special	 pupils,	 but	 just	 pupils,	 with	 no	 adjective,	 each	 with	 their	 own	 characteristics	      	
and	 needs;	 diversity	 is	 understood	 as	 the	 natural	 state	 of	 affairs,	 and	 hence	 all	 these	    	
difference	are	taken	into	account	so	that	all	pupils,	who	are	diverse,	learn	to	the	best	                 	
of	their	possibilities.	In	this	context,	pupils	with	disabilities	participate	as	much	as	they	
can	 in	 general	 activities	 and	 in	 the	 life	 of	 the	 school,	 as	 well	 as	 in	 teaching	 and	 lear-	
ning	activities	in	the	ordinary	classroom.

From	 this	 perspective,	 this	 Action	 Plan	 assumes	 the	 point	 of	 view	 adopted	 by	 Index
for Inclusion (Booth,	T.	and	Ainscow,	M.,	2004)	when	it	pauses	to	consider	three	inter-
connected	dimensions	in	the	improvement	of	school	education:	creating	inclusive	cul-
tures,	generating	inclusive	policies	and	developing	inclusive	practices.

For	any	improvement	in	schools	to	be	consolidated	on	the	road	toward	effective	and	
inclusive	education	for	all	pupils,	all	three	dimensions	must	be	developed.

Furthermore,	as	the	same	text	underlines,	it	must	be	borne	in	mind	that	“school	cul-
tures”	 are	 key	 for	 the	 implementation	 of	 improvements	 and	 to	 the	 stimulation	 of,	 or	
hindrance	to,	teaching	and	learning.
8




School	culture	is	made	up	of	the	basic	beliefs	and	convictions	of	the	teaching	staff	and	           	
of	 the	 educational	 community	 in	 relation	 to	 the	 teaching	 and	 learning	 of	 the	 pupils	   	
and	 to	 the	 functioning	 of	 the	 school.	 Beyond	 a	 school’s	 teaching	 and	 learning	 sys-	
tems,	 school	 culture	 also	 includes	 aspects	 such	 as	 the	 rules	 that	 affect	 the	 educatio-
nal	 community,	 information	 and	 communication	 systems,	 the	 relations	 between	 the	           	
teaching	 staff	 and	 the	 pupils	 or	 between	 the	 teaching	 staff	 and	 the	 families,	 or	 other	
values	 shared	 by	 the	 members	 of	 the	 community	 (Huguet,	 2006;	 Marchesi	 and	 Mar-	
tin,	2000).

In	this	regard	we	once	again	coincide	with	Index for Inclusion when	it	is	asserted	that	
it	is	through	progress	in	inclusive	school	cultures	that	the	teachers	and	new	pupils	can	
develop	and	maintain	changes	in	policies	and	practices.
9




3.
Principles. The general framework
of the Action Plan “Learning Together
to Live Together”
On	 the	 road	 towards	 the	 school	 for	 all,	 the	 aims	 and	 the	 measures	 it	 is	 proposed	 to	
implement	in	the	Action	Plan	“Learning	Together	to	Live	Together”	are	based	on	the	
following	principles	which	define	the	general	approach	that	underlies	the	Plan:

— 	Inclusion. The	principle	of	inclusion	affirms	that	schools	must	be	open	to	all	pu-
  —
pils	without	discrimination	nor	exclusion,	considering	all	pupils	to	be	members	of	the	
community	by	right.

From	this	principle	there	follows	the	will	to	advance,	progressively	and	insofar	as	possi-
ble,	towards	the	education	of	all	pupils	in	mainstream	schools,	encouraging	the	fullest	
and	most	active	participation	possible	of	everyone	in	school	activities.

— 	 Normalisation. Educational	 attention	 for	 pupils	 with	 special	 educational	 needs	
  —
(SEN),	arising	from	their	personal	disabilities,	severe	learning	difficulties	or	other	diffi-	
culties,	is	provided,	to	the	greatest	possible	extent,	using	the	ordinary	resources	avai-
lable	 for	 all	 pupils	 and	 in	 ordinary	 contexts	 and	 environments,	 thus	 facilitating	 the	
                                                                                                 	
participation	of	pupils	with	special	educational	needs	in	activities	together	with	their	
companions.

Intervention	with	specific	support	and	resources	is	carried	out	by	bringing	the	specific	
support	or	resource	to	the	pupils	(to	their	classroom,	school	or	zone,	etc.)	rather	than	
the	other	way	round.

— 	Equality of opportunities for learning and participation. The	education	system	
  —
must	offer	all	pupils	the	possibility	of	participating	in	mainstream	activities,	and	eve-
ryone	who	most	needs	them	should	have	the	support	and	forms	of	attention	they	re-
quire	in	order	to	share	these	activities	and	attain	the	learning	goals	laid	down	for	each	
stage	to	the	greatest	possible	extent.

The	 education	 provided	 in	 schools	 must	 promote	 participation	 in	 the	 community	 of	
which	 the	 pupils	 form	 part	 and	 respond	 to	 the	 individual	 educational	 needs	 of	 each	
pupil.

Education	 needs	 to	 be	 personalised	 for	 all	 pupils,	 but	 more	 specific	 measures	 and	
                                                                                             	
attention	need	to	be	applied	to	pupils	with	special	educational	needs.

Personalised	education	implies	the	recognition	of	different	rhythms	of	learning	and	of	
different	types	of	participation,	not	necessarily,	or	only,	individual	attention;	rather,	it	is	   	
a	question	 of	 looking	at	 the	pupil	and	the	environment	in	a	 more	 personalised	light,	
allowing	 better	 identification	 of	 the	 learning	 barriers	 the	 pupils	 are	 facing,	 deciding,	
when	necessary,	on	the	application	of	individual	plans	and	activating	the	organisatio-	
nal	resources	for	improving	attention.

Beyond	the	school	environment	per	se,	the	pupils’	participation	in	complementary	and
10




extracurricular	 activities	 in	 the	 surrounding	 community	 should	 be	 promoted,	 while	
seeking	 to	 eliminate	 the	 barriers	 that	 might	 impede	 this,	 and	 creating	 the	 means	 to	
facilitate	it.

— 	 Education close at hand. The	 education	 system	 must	 guarantee	 the	 right	 of	 all	
  —
pupils	to	receive	education	close	to	where	they	live	and	determine	efficient	criteria	for	
the	 zoning	 and	 coordination	 of	 general	 and	 specific	 educational	 services	 in	 order	 to	
enhance	children’s	education	through	more	integrated	attention.

— 	 Participation and co-responsibility. The	 participation	 of	 the	 different	 segments	
  —
of	the	educational	community	(students,	teachers	and	families)	and	the	involvement	of	            	
the	 community	 at	 large,	 each	 with	 their	 respective	 responsibilities,	 are	 vital	 elements	
                                                                                                  	
to	pave	the	way	for	the	educational	and	social	inclusion	of	persons	with	disabilities.	The	
families	of	the	children	affected	must	take	part	in	decision-making	on	their	children’s	
schooling	and	the	development	of	their	educational	process.
11




4.
Pupils with the greatest specific needs
for support in the context of inclusive
education
4.1. From pupils’ special educational needs to the
barriers to learning and participation that may arise
in the environment
In	the	late	1970s,	the	Warnock	report	(1978)	introduced	the	concept	of	special educatio-
nal needs, which	brought	about	a	major	reappraisal	of	the	education	and	schooling	of	
persons	 with	 personal	 disabilities	 or	 pupils	 at	 risk	 due	 to	 exceptional	 social	 circums-
tances.

To	speak	of	special educational needs	allowed	attention	to	be	diverted	from	any	possible	
deficits	 or	 limitations	 of	 each	 specific	 pupil	 and	 to	 focus	 above	 all	 on	 the	 conditions	
required	for	their	education,	whether	in	terms	of	special	measures	or	the	modification	
of	curriculums	or	the	special	resources	that	needed	to	be	provided.	Thus,	the individual
description of the handicap or other diagnostic label of each specific pupil	began to
lose weight and	instead	greater attention began to be paid to the learning conditions
the environment needed to provide.	 Special	 educational	 needs	 referred	 to	 the	 com-
plementary	 support	 or	 resources	 some	 children	 needed.	 They	 were	 known	 as	 special
because	they	were	not	common	to	all	pupils	and	they	were	complementary because	they	
were	additional	to	those	provided	for	all	pupils.

From	this	perspective	it	seemed	evident	that	students	with	the	same	category	of	“dis-	
ability”,	 according	 to	 the	 traditional	 diagnostic	 standards,	 might	 have	 different	 edu-
cational	needs,	depending	on	the	family,	school	or	social	environment	in	which	they	
found	themselves,	and—which	is	even	more	remarkable—this	may	significantly	change	
the	 “special”	 nature	 of	 the	 educational	 needs	 identified.	 Thus,	 a	 pupil	 who	 requires	 a	
certain	type	of	support	in	one	school	might	need	something	else	in	the	next	town	or	in	
the	school	round	the	corner.

More	 recently	 the	 concept	 has	 been	 introduced	 of	 barriers to learning and participa-
tion (Ainscow,	 M.,	 2001;	 Booth,	 T.	 and	 Ainscow,	 M.,	 2004;	 Stainback,	 S.	 and	 Stain-
back,	W.,	1999),	and	this	concept	has	clarified	and	emphasised	the	importance	of	con-
text	in	determining	the	resulting	degrees	of	difficulty	faced	by	students.	It	is	not	only	
the	needs	deriving	from	the	pupil’s	personal	disabilities	that	count,	but	rather	it	is	the	
barriers	that	the	environment	puts	in	the	way	of	each	person’s	possibilities	to	learn	that	
come	to	the	fore	as	being	particularly	relevant.

In	the	same	vein,	Porter	(1990)	observes	how	the	most	significant	differences	between	               	
a	traditional	approach	to	special	education	and	an	inclusive	approach	originate	in	the	
fact	 that	 the	 former	 is	 focused	 on	 the	 pupil—being	 based	 above	 all	 on	 prescriptive	
diagnostics	and	placing	special	emphasis	on	the	role	of	individualised	programmes—
while	 the	 latter	 prioritises	 and	 focuses	 on	 the	 class	 group,	 and	 considers	 the	 types	 of	
measures	 and	 resources	 that	 need	 to	 be	 implemented	 or	 provided	 in	 the	 school	 or	
classroom,	in	order	the	better	to	resolve	the	difficulties	any	particular	student	may	face.
12




4.2. The Action Plan and pupils with disabilities
In	spite	of	the	insistence	on	the	fact	that	attention	to	diversity	and	the	inclusive	school	
approach	affects	all	the	pupils	and	the	educational	community	as	a	whole,	these	days	
pupils	 with	 disabilities	 require	 special	 consideration	 for	 two	 reasons:	 firstly	 because	
                                                                                                 	
they	 are	 still	 excluded	 from	 mainstream	 schools;	 and	 secondly,	 their	 full	 incorpora-	
tion	requires	certain	changes	for	which	specific	structural	measures	need	to	be	taken.

Consequently,	 the	 Action	 Plan,	 as	 well	 as	 focusing	 on	 general	 aspects	 that	 are	 essen-
tial	in	order	for	schools	to	advance	toward	education	for	all,	also	specifically	considers	
the	definition	of	measures	to	facilitate	the	incorporation	of	pupils	with	disabilities	into	
mainstream	schools,	with	the	aim	of	providing	ideal	conditions	for	quality	education	
and	good	inter-personal	relations	between	all	pupils.


4.3. Support and support resources
When	it	comes	to	defining	the	supports	needed	to	put	inclusive	education	into	practice,	
the	observations	by	Stainback	(2001)	are	relevant	when	she	stresses	that	the	provision	
of	effective	support	depends,	in	part,	on	what	we	decide	should	be	expected	from	this	
support.	In	the	case	of	the	inclusive	classroom,	the	following	two	results,	at	least,	seem	
desirable:

— 	that	all	pupils	are	successful	in	curricular	and	social	activities;
 —

— 	 that	 the	 teaching	 staff	 genuinely	 feel	 they	 are	 being	 supported	 in	 their	 efforts	 to	
  —
promote	the	success	of	pupils	in	their	participation	in	educational	activity	and	in	their	
positive	interdependence	with	the	class	group.

From	 this	 perspective,	 support	 may	 take	 many	 different	 forms,	 the	 only	 important	
                                                                                           	
condition	being	that	it	be	effective	for	the	attainment	of	the	desired	objective.

Also	Index for Inclusion	(Booth	and	Ainscow,	2004)	offers	a	new	perspective	of	support	
when	 it	 is	 defined	 as	 “all those activities which increase the capacity of schools to
respond to diversity”,	 asserting,	 furthermore,	 that	 individual	 support	 is	 only	 one	 of	
various	 possible	 forms	 of	 support	 that	 may	 improve	 student’s’	 learning.	 Thus,	 class-	
room	 programming	 to	 facilitate	 the	 diversification	 of	 activities,	 or	 agreeing	 on	 crite-
ria	that	allow	for	different	forms	of	participation	and	assessment,	would	also	qualify	as	        	
support.

In	this	context,	where	do	we	include	 support resources?	In	this	case	we	are	speaking	
of	 the provision of tangible material (such	 as	 adapted	 computer	 keyboards,	 special	
chairs	 or	 desks,	 special	 class	 material,	 etc.)	 or	 of	 teacher participation (two	 teachers	
per	class,	doubling	up	of	groups,	etc.),	or	of	participation by other professional staff
(speech	therapists,	physiotherapists,	auxiliaries,	etc.)	who	help	the	teacher	in	the	class	
group.	Below	we	will	deal	specifically	with	ways	of	organising	support	resources	in	a	
shared,	effective	operation	to	improve	inclusion.
13




5.
Conditions and criteria to progress
toward education for all and to facilitate
the development of inclusive schools
Good	practice	in	the	building	of	the	school	for	all,	the	experiments	on	inclusion	that	
have	been	started	in	various	schools,	the	experience	of	schools	with	SESU	resources	or	
with	SEUs	and	the	observations	of	teachers	with	regard	to	all	this,	as	well	as	the	conclu-
sions	reached	by	various	researchers	(Ainscow,	2001;	Giné,	2001;	Huguet,	2006;	Porter	
and	 Stone,	 2001;	 UNESCO,	 1995);	 all	 these	 have	 made	 clear	 some	 of	 the	 conditions	
that	allow	practice	in	schools	to	be	improved	in	order	to	provide	effective	education	for	
all.	They	include	a	variety	of	ways	of	organisation,	strategies	and	resources,	which	each	
school	or	educational	zone	must	adapt	to	its	particular	situation	and	characteristics.

As	 we	 shall	 see	 below,	 above	 and	 beyond	 the	 provision	 of	 the	 necessary	 services	 and		
resources,	 the	 changes	 that	 will	 make	 possible	 the	 improvement	 of	 education	 for	 all	  	
imply	 a	 change	 in	 students’	 learning	 expectations,	 the	 recognition	 of	 the	 possibilities	
of	learning	from	one	another	and	the	interactive	work	of	professional	staff	in	order	to	
respond	adequately	to	students’	needs.

In	what	follows	we	review	a	series	of	criteria	that	must	be	considered	from	the	perspec-
tive	of	inclusive	education.


5.1. School organisation and teaching and learning
strategies
It	is	for	head	teachers	and	their	senior	staff	to	implement	measures	to	advance	toward	
the	inclusion	of	all	pupils.	They	must,	therefore,	promote	the	evolution	of	institutional	     	
approaches	 and	 school	 structures	 to	 facilitate	 the	 elimination	 of	 physical,	 cultural,	
                                                                                               	
attitudinal,	curricular,	methodological	and	organisational	barriers	that	impede	the	ac-
quisition	of	learning	by	students.

As	can	be	seen	in	the	schools	that	have	already	implemented	this	practice,	this	appro-
ach	must	involve	the	teaching	staff	and	the	educational	community	as	a	whole,	so	that,	       	
starting	 from	 existing	 practices	 and	 understanding,	 they	 actively	 participate	 in	 the	
                                                                                              	
process	 of	 introducing	 the	 modifications	 favourable	 to	 inclusive	 education	 which	 are	
                                                                                              	
collectively	 implemented	 in	 the	 school.	 The	 consolidation	 of	 teaching	 teams	 around	
shared	school	projects	has	proved	to	be	a	necessary	condition	for	this	approach	to	be	
possible.

In	 this	 process	 it	 is	 useful	 to	 consider	 those	 educational	 resources,	 ways	 of	 doing	   	
things	 and	 strategies	 that	 have	 proved	 effective	 in	 attempts	 to	 facilitate	 education	 for	
all.	The	European	Agency	for	the	Development	of	Special	Education	(2003),	as	well	as	
other	reports	and	research	(Ainscow,	2001;	CSE,	2008;	Duran	and	Vidal,	2004;	Giné,	
2001;	Giné,	2005;	Huguet,	2006;	Parrilla,	2005;	Puigdellivol,	1998;	Pujolàs,	2005b;	Por-
ter,	2001;	Ruiz,	2008;	Stainback,	2001)	have	described	factors	that	are	effective	for	in-
clusive	education,	notable	among	which	are	the	following:
14




For schools, the following have proved effective and positive:

— 	 Schools’ equipping themselves with a flexible structure,	 able	 to	 adapt	 to	 the	
  —
characteristics	 and	 needs	 of	 the	 students	 and	 the	 teaching	 staff,	 and	 an	 internal	
organisation	that	strengthens	collaboration	between	teachers	in	terms	both	of	planning	
and	work	in	the	classroom.	That	they	agree	on	criteria	for	the	distribution	of	support	
teacher	 attention,	 professional	 support	 staff	 and	 the	 resources	 and	 mechanisms	 for	
coordination	 that	 facilitate	 flexible	 adaptation	 to	 the	 diverse	 needs	 of	 different	 class	
groups	and	of	the	school;

— 	The facilitation of collaborative teaching. The	task	of	teaching	is	facilitated	when	
  —
the	teaching	staff	do	it	collaboratively,	with	regard	to	both	the	internal	relations	of	the	
team	and	to	the	support	and	assessment	available	to	the	school.	Hence,	it	is	necessary	
and	useful	to	 make	 cooperative	work	between	the	teaching	staff	the	habitual	 tool	for	
creating	 knowledge,	 and	 to	 develop	 new	 initiatives	 that	 enable	 a	 response	 to	 the	 stu-
dents’	 needs.	 In	 school	 organisation,	 consideration	 must	 be	 given	 to	 this	 need	 in	 the	
design	 of	 the	 teaching	 staff ’s	 personal	 and	 collective	 timetables,	 thus	 paving	 the	 way	
for	initiatives	for	shared teaching (two	teachers	per	class,	support	and	accompaniment	
from	time	to	time,	etc.)	and	for	coordination,	joint	programmes	and	shared	review;

— 	 Schools’	 providing	 themselves	 with	 organs and structures that facilitate the
  —
development of an inclusive orientation,	such	as	a	Committee	on	Attention	to	Diver-
sity	 (CAD)	 and	 (in	 many	 schools)	 a	 Social	 Committee	 also.	 The	 coordination	 of	 the	
specific	 action	 and	 support	 implemented	 in	 schools,	 as	 well	 as	 a	 distribution	 of	 the	
teaching	 staff	 that	 is	 particularly	 suited	 to	 the	 diversity	 of	 the	 school	 population,	 are	
key	 factors	 if	 progress	 is	 to	 be	 made	 towards	 inclusive	 education.	 The	 Committee	
on	 Attention	 to	 Diversity	 (CAD)	 is	 a	 powerful	 tool	 available	 to	 schools	 to	 this	 end,	
as	 experience	 in	 schools	 has	 demonstrated	 in	 recent	 years	 (Bassedas,	 2005;	 Huguet	         	
2006).	 The	 CAD	 takes	 responsibility	 for	 stimulating	 and	 implementing	 measures	 to	
move	towards	inclusion	and	to	manage	resources.	The	Social	Committee,	meanwhile,	
created	in	many	schools	in	recent	years,	has	enabled	more	efficient	identification	and	
resolution	of	barriers	to	education	faced	by	students	with	learning	difficulties	deriving	
from	social	and	family	factors,	for	which	a	networked	response	is	essential;

— 	 For	 schools	 that	 have	 specific	 resources	 available	 (SESU,	 SEU,	 groupings	 of	 chil-
   —
dren	with	hearing	difficulties,	etc.),	the	coordination	of	their	work	with	other	specia-	
lised	resources	and	that	of	the	teaching	staff	as	a	whole,	within	the	framework	of	the	
attention	to	diversity	plan	designed	by	the	school.	The	effectiveness	of	these	resources	        	
is	amplified	when	they	become	part	of	the	mechanism	for	attention	to	diversity	with	             	
the	whole	of	the	teaching	staff	behind	them;

— 	 Agreement	 in	 the	 school	 on	 shared criteria and a variety of ways of assessing
  —
students,	enabling	coherence	within	the	teaching	team	and	clear	communication	with	
the	pupils	and	their	families	on	the	learning	progress	of	each	pupil;	use	of	a	variety	of	
means	and	resources	to	assess	the	abilities	of	different	pupils,	according	to	the	goals	set;	
diversification	of	the	ways	of	informing	the	pupils	and	their	families	of	the	results	of	
assessment;

— 	Forming	class	groups	with	a mixed composition of students.	Mixed	grouping	and	
  —
personalised	 focus	 are	 two	 complementary	 strategies	 that	 have	 proved	 to	 be	 effective	
and	necessary.	A	diversity	of	students	in	the	classroom	makes	it	useful	and	necessary
15




to	offer	alternative	routes	to	learning	and	at	the	same	time	enables	personalised	teacher	
attention,	exemplary	role-modelling	and	peer	cooperation.

As for dealing with diversity in the classroom, good practice in schools has demons-
trated the utility and effectiveness of:

— 	 Facilitating	 group	 work	 within	 the	 class	 and	 promoting	 cooperative learning.
  —
Educational	experience	with	a	diversity	of	students	in	the	same	class	has	revealed	that	
when	pupils	work	together	and	help	one	another	in	learning	activities,	all	pupils	reap	
the	benefit,	thanks	to	mutual	learning	that	promotes	cooperation.	Above	and	beyond	      	
its	positive	contribution	in	terms	of	the	value	of	dialogue,	social	harmony	and	solida-	
rity,	cooperative	work	has	proved	to	benefit	abilities	related	to	planning,	the	manage-
ment	of	learning,	the	use	of	language	and	the	contrast	of	criteria	of	all	cooperating	pu-
pils	(Duran	and	Blanch,	2008;	Pujolàs,	2008;	Serra,	2008);

— 	Taking	steps	toward	the	practice	of	participative resolution of relational problems
  —
and conflicts. Cooperative	conflict-resolution	strategies,	and	the	mediation	resources	
developed	in	schools	with	the	active	involvement	of	teaching	staff	and	students,	have	
proved	 particularly	 positive	 for	 pupils	 with	 social	 or	 behavioural	 difficulties.	 The	 es-
tablishment	of	clear	rules	for	behaviour,	coherent	treatment	by	the	whole	school	and	               	
the	 acceptance	 of	 individual	 and	 collective	 commitment	 by	 the	 pupils	 have	 also	 all	
proved	to	be	effective;

— 	 The	 development	 of	 ways of class programming that	 pay	 regard	 to	 the	 diverse	
  —
composition	 of	 a	 class	 group,	 and	 which	 provide	 for	 different	 levels	 of	 participation	
and	educational	response.	Multilevel	learning	has	proved	to	be	an	effective	approach	to	
respond	to	the	diverse	needs	of	the	students	that	make	up	the	group.	In	this	approach,	
on	the	basis	of	picking	out	the	key	ideas	of	each	unit,	ways	of	presentation	and	activity	
development	are	devised	that	allow	for	different	roles,	goals	and	paces	of	learning,	as	
well	as	a	variety	of	ways	of	assessment	(Ruiz,	2008;	Schulz	and	Turnbull,	1984);

— 	 Deciding	 on	 individualised (or	 personalised)	 plans which,	 taking	 as	 a	 starting-
  —
point	the	barriers	to	learning	and	participation	that	pupils	face,	define	the	key	aspects	
on	 which	 attention	 must	 be	 focused	 in	 order	 for	 certain	 skills	 to	 be	 acquired.	 Such	
plans	 make	 sense	 in	 the	 context	 of	 inclusive	 education	 when	 they	 are	 explicitly	 re-	
lated	 to	 classroom	 programming	 and	 take	 account,	 furthermore,	 of	 how	 to	 promote	
student	participation	in	the	various	activities;

— 	The	development	of	ways of working and other measures that facilitate attention
  —
to diversity in the classroom.	Amongst	the	different	ways	of	coping	with	diversity	in	
the	 classroom	 with	 an	 inclusive	 orientation	 for	 all	 pupils,	 the	 following	 have	 proved	
particularly	effective:

	    •	shared	teaching	by	two	teachers	in	the	classroom,
	    •	group	learning,
	    •	the	use	of	specialised	support	in	the	classroom,
	    •	group	work	and/or	workshops	within	the	class,
	    •	working	in	inter-class	groups	and/or	workshops,
	    •	specific	workshops	on	oral	or	written	expression	in	small	groups,
	    •	working	in	small	groups	within	the	class.
16




5.2. The psychoeducational assessment of pupils
The	social	nature	of	learning	and	development	described	by	Vigotsky,	which	has	been	
amply	 confirmed	 by	 subsequent	 research	 and	 development	 (Bronfenbrenner,	 1987;	        	
Bruner,	1977;	Rogoff,	1993;	Schaffer,	1977),	as	well	as	the	pre-eminent	role	of	barriers	
to	learning	and	participation	(Booth	and	Ainscow,	2004),	to	which	we	refer	throughout	
this	 document,	 lead	 to	 an	 approach	 to	 psychoeducational	 assessment	 that	 is	 no	 lon-
ger	mainly	or	exclusively	centred	on	the	individual,	but	instead	considers	it	essential	to	   	
take	account	also	of	the	learning	and	development	environment	and	the	intervention	
strategies	employed.

Thus,	it	seems	clear	that	if	pupils’	development	and	learning	is	in	function	of	the	ex-
periences	and	opportunities	that	are	achieved	in	interaction	with	adults	and	peers,	the	
process	of	identifying	these	pupils’	specific	educational	needs	and	potential	must	take	
account	of	the	variables	that	affect	teaching	and	learning	and	not	merely	each	pupil’s	
individual	characteristics.

Understood	in	this	sense,	psychoeducational	assessment	must	aim	to	provide	relevant	
information	to	steer	pupils’	education.	As	a	number	of	works	have	stressed	and	veri-
fied	(Bonals	and	Sanchez-Cano,	2007;	Giné,	2001b;	Huguet,	2006;	Monereo	and	Solé,	              	
1999;	 Sanchez-Cano	 and	 Bonals,	 2005)	 this	 assessment	 must	 be	 a	 process	 shared	 be-
tween	 professional	 staff	 and	 the	 families,	 to	 obtain	 and	 analyse	 relevant	 information	
about	the	different	factors	that	affect	the	process	of	development	and	learning.

This	 is	 information	 that	 must	 prove	 useful	 to	 identify	 pupils’	 educational	 needs	 and	
                                                                                                	
potential,	particularly	with	regard	to	those	with	difficulties	in	personal	development	or	
who	have,	for	a	variety	of	reasons,	severe	difficulties	in	acquiring	the	skills	called	for	by	
the	syllabus,	in	order	to	facilitate	decision-making	with	regard	to	the	curriculum	and	
the	types	of	measures	needed	for	each	pupil	at	the	school,	in	order	to	bolster	progress	in	
personal	development	and	maximise	participation	in	the	community.

In	 consequence,	 reports	 on	 assessment	 and	 psychoeducational	 orientation,	 as	 well	 as	
schools’	agreements	on	resources	and	support,	must	have	the	same	goals	and	be	poin-
ted	in	this	direction.

The	results	of	the	assessment	and	the	reports	deriving	from	them	must	serve	to	steer	
                                                                                    	
the	psychoeducational	interventions	of	teaching	staff	and	families.

Assessment	and	orientation	for	pupils’	education	must	be	updated	from	time	to	time,	
generally	at	the	beginning	of	each	stage	and	particularly	when	there	is	a	request	or	the	
need	for	it.


5.3. The schooling of children with disabilities
Schools,	whether	private	or	publicly-funded,	must	follow	the	general	criterion	of	edu-
cating	all	children	in	the	most	normal,	ordinary	environment	possible.	As	for	children	
with	personal	disabilities,	account	must	be	taken	on	a	personalised	basis	of	the	support	
they	may	require	and	of	the	conditions	in	the	school.

This	 personalised	 approach	 means	 that	 account	 must	 be	 taken,	 above	 and	 beyond	
the	general	criteria	that	have	been	established,	of	specific	variables	affecting	the	child
17




concerned,	such	as	the	situation	and	priorities	of	the	pupil’s	family,	the	accessibility	of	
the	nearest	school	and	the	conditions	within	it.

Thus,	although	information	about	children’s	personal	disabilities,	or	the	extent	of	their	
autonomy,	 contribute	 to	 guiding	 the	 decision	 as	 to	 where	 they	 will	 be	 educated,	 this	
information	must	not	be	considered	in	an	absolute	or	decontextualised	manner.

To	help	meet	the	special	educational	needs	of	pupils	in	all	schools,	the education sys-
tem has general and specific resources and services:	zonal	educational	services	(ZES),	
special	 education	 teachers,	 therapeutic	 education	 teachers,	 speech	 and	 hearing	 tea-	
chers,	 educational	 psychologists,	 resource	 centres	 for	 students	 with	 hearing	 impair-	
ment	(ERCHI),	resource	centres	for	students	with	visual	impairment	(ERVI),	support	
services	for	students	with	motor	disability	and	support	services	for	students	with	de-
velopmental	and	behavioural	disorders,	in	addition	to	the	other	measures	to	attend	to	
diversity	that	are	developed	in	schools.

Depending	 on	 these	 general	 conditions	 and	 the	 characteristics	 of	 the	 various	 educa-
tional	levels,	pupils’	schooling	must	consider	the	following	criteria:


Nursery education (0-3 years)
Early	 attention	 for	 children	 with	 personal	 disabilities	 may	 in	 many	 cases	 be	 greatly	      	
helped	 at	 the	 nursery	 stage.	 It	 is	 for	 this	 reason	 that	 advice	 and	 attention	 to	 families	
                                                                                                       	
and	early	attention	to	the	infant	(with	intervention	by	the	Centre	for	Children’s	Deve-
lopment	and	Early	Care	(CCDEC)	when	necessary)	must	be	coordinated	from	the	very	
first	stages,	with	nursery	attendance	when	the	family	considers	this	to	be	appropriate.	
Throughout	this	process	coordinated	professional	attention	is	needed	for	both	the	in-
fant	and	the	family.

Thus,	at	this	stage:

— 	 children	 should	 be	 accommodated	 in	 mainstream	 nurseries	 that	 have	 places	 for	
  —
children	with	special	educational	needs;

— 	nurseries	with	disabled	children	have	recourse	to	advice	from	the	PEOT	and	the	
  —
support	of	the	district	CCDEC.	They	can	also	receive	support	from	the	special	schools;

— 	the	PEOT	is	responsible	for	the	coordination	of	intervention	by	professional	support	
  —
staff	and	the	orientation	of	subsequent	schooling.


Infant (age 3-6), primary (3-12) and secondary (12-16)
In	this	period:

— 	 with	 the	 normal	 resources	 and	 the	 specific	 educational	 services,	 students	 with	
  —
sufficient	 autonomy	 and	 adequate	 social	 behaviour	 (such	 as	 those	 with	 visual	 or	 au-
ditory	 impairment,	 motor	 disability,	 those	 who	 are	 autonomous	 or	 partially	 depen-
dent	and	those	with	slight	to	moderate	intellectual	disability)	will	attend	mainstream	        	
schools;
18




— 	to	facilitate	the	attendance	of	pupils	with	a	lack	of	autonomy	(dependent	persons	
  —
with	 motor	 impairment,	 severe	 intellectual	 disability,	 general	 developmental	 or	 severe	
behavioural	 disorders)	 in	 the	 mainstream	 school	 environment,	 schools	 are	 provided	
with	 special	 education	 support	 units	 (SESU),	 with	 speech	 and	 hearing	 teachers	 and	     	
other	 specialists,	 as	 personal	 resources	 additional	 to	 the	 resources	 already	 present	 in	
schools	and	to	the	different	sorts	of	inclusive	organisation	developed	up	to	now	in	va-
rious	schools;

— 	the	special	schools	will	educate	those	children	for	whom	this	is	determined	to	be	
  —
the	best	option	after	assessment	of	their	educational	needs	and	support	requirements,	
sharing	 activities	 with	 a	 mainstream	 school	 whenever	 possible.	 The	 special	 schools	
                                                                                            	
must	collaborate	with	the	ZES	with	respect	both	to	the	education	of	disabled	children	
and	to	advice	and	support	for	mainstream	schools	in	the	zone,	once	pupils	have	been	
enrolled.


Post-compulsory education
Once	 compulsory education	 is	 completed,	 whenever	 possible	 the	 inclusive	 education	
of	 students	 with	 specific	 support	 needs	 and/or	 personal	 disabilities	 should	 continue	
in	 mainstream	 educational	 settings,	 promoting	 their	 participation	 in	 general	 courses		
(higher-secondary	education	and	training	courses)	so	that	they	will	be	able	to	lead	an	
active	life	with	the	highest	possible	degree	of	autonomy	and	equality	of	opportunity.

The	individualised	plans	specified	in	the	new	regulations	for	higher-secondary	educa-	
tion	and	the	flexibility	of	the	new	structure	of	training	courses	are	key	factors	for	pro-
gress	to	be	made	in	this	direction.

Furthermore,	 the	 Initial	 Professional	 Qualification	 Programmes	 (IPQPs)	 can	 help	      	
young	 people	 with	 personal	 disabilities	 to	 start	 a	 personal	 and	 professional	 career	
according	to	their	interests	and	abilities,	and	their	launch	into	the	world	of	work.	IPQPs	
that	are	addressed	to	disabled	students	must	include	modules	on	personal	and	social	
autonomy	and	assistance	in	job	placement.

Also,	disabled	young	people	must	be	able	to	follow	a	diversified	syllabus	to	ensure	they	
have	the	essential	training	for	transition	to	adult	life.

Steps	must	be	taken	to	make	their	educational	careers	as	similar	as	possible	to	those	of	
other	students	who	have	been	educated	together	with	them	in	the	compulsory	stages	      	
of	education,	as	well	as	procuring	the	continuity	of	inclusive	conditions	in	the	centre	
where	post-compulsory	courses	are	given,	with	a	sufficiently	diverse	and	appropriately	
adapted	range	of	courses.

In	all	cases	it	is	important	that	the	guidance	given	to	these	students	takes	a	global	view	
of	their	life	project.


5.4. Personal support resources
Defining	as	an	objective	that	schools	cater	to	the	educational	needs	of	all	pupils	means	
                                                                                        	
that	some	of	the	ways	things	have	been	done	until	now	will	have	to	be	reassessed.	Some-
times	this	may	also	mean	the	progressive	modification	of	the	organisation	of	specific
19




resources	at	present	available	to	schools,	as	well	as	to	move	towards	a	more	precise	de-
finition	of	new	needs.

In	 this	 regard,	 and	 as	 described	 elsewhere	 in	 this	 Plan,	 the	 effectiveness	 of	 personal	
support	resources	is	greatly	increased	when	they	form	part	of	a	package	of	support	ac-	
tions,	such	as	those	mentioned	above	in	connection	with	multilevel	education,	coope-
rative	work	between	pupils	or	different	ways	of	grouping	them.

The	 various	 professionals	 who	 make	 up	 what	 we	 call	 personal support resources take	
on	 a	 variety	 of	 tasks	 and	 in	 some	 cases	 require	 specific	 training	 and	 skills,	 but	 they	
have	in	common	the	ultimate	goal	of	reducing	barriers	to	learning	and	participation,	
and	hence	also	the	shared	aim	of	enhancing	the	efficacy	of	teaching	in	contexts	which	
are	 as	 normal	 and	 participative	 as	 possible.	 Their	 function	 makes	 sense	 when	 they	
act	in	a	coordinated,	complementary	way.	The	group	tutor,	the	support	teaching	staff,	
supplementary	 activities,	 professional	 specialists,	 and	 teachers	 in	 the	 reception	 class	    	
all	have	certain	aims	and	a	programme	in	common	with	regard	to	a	particular	pupil	or	
class	group.

The	 specialised personal support resources that	 are	 available	 to	 a	 school	 include
support teaching staff (special	 education	 teachers;	 therapeutic	 education	 teachers,	
educational	 psychologists	 at	 secondary	 level,	 and	 reception	 class	 teachers	 and	 speech	
and	hearing	teachers	at	both	levels),	auxiliary support staff (infant	education	specia-
lists,	monitors	to	assist	the	autonomy	of	disabled	students,	SE	educators,	SE	auxiliaries	
and	social	integration	staff)	and	educational services specialists, such	as	speech	the-
rapists	and	physiotherapists.	Each	member	of	the	personal	support	resources	staff	must	
collaborate	with	the	teaching	staff	to	attend	to	the	specific	needs	of	the	pupils	in	each	
school,	with	regard	to	mobility	problems,	lack	of	autonomy,	language	or	communica-
tion	difficulties,	relational	or	behavioural	difficulties	or	severe	learning	difficulties.	This	
support	must	be	carried	out	wherever	possible	and	must	adapt	to	the	goals	and	to	the	
tasks	under	way	in	the	mainstream	classroom.

Also,	 depending	 on	 the	 presence	 in	 a	 school	 of	 students	 with	 specific	 major	 support	
needs,	 it	 may	 also	 have	 a	 special	 education	 support	 unit	 (SESU)	 or	 support	 teaching	
staff	 for	 the	 grouping	 of	 deaf	 children.	 A	 SESU	 is	 a	 personal	 support	 resource	 that	
complements	 others	 available	 to	 a	 school	 and	 is	 focused	 particularly	 toward	 facilita-
ting	 participation	 and	 learning	 by	 students	 with	 a	 lack	 of	 autonomy	 deriving	 from	
motor	disability,	severe	intellectual	disabilities	or	severe	developmental	or	behavioural	
disorders	in	the	mainstream	school	environment.	The	current	special	education	units	
assigned	to	mainstream	schools	are	to	become	SESUs	in	these	schools.

In	any	event,	all	pupils	at	a	school,	independently	of	their	support	needs,	must	form	part	       	
of	 an	 ordinary	 class	 group,	 and	 the	 various	 resources	 must	 be	 organised	 to	 facilitate	
                                                                                                  	
their	 participation	 in	 ordinary	 activities	 and	 to	 help	 and	 support	 students	 faced	 with	
learning	difficulties,	above	all	in	normal	settings.

The	head	teacher	and	senior	staff,	the	school’s	CAD	and,	on	the	basis	of	their	proposals,	
the	whole	of	the	teaching	staff,	must	assume	different	levels	of	responsibility	according	     	
to	 current	 guidelines	 and	 rules,	 for	 the	 modifications	 and	 support	 organised	 by	 the	
school	to	meet	students’	educational	needs.
20




Schools	 also	 have	 available	 to	 them	 the	 advice	 of	 the	 educational	 services	 and	 of	 the	
special	schools	in	the	district.

When	 using	 and	 organising	 the	 personal	 support	 resources	 that	 are	 available	 to	 the	
school,	 account	 must	 always	 be	 taken	 of	 the	 criteria	 discussed	 above	 on	 cooperative	
work	between	the	students	and	other	forms	of	support,	so	that	they	complement	one	
another.

Furthermore,	specialist	staff	(special	education	teachers,	therapeutic	education	teachers...)	
should	prioritise	their	attention	to	disabled	students	and	support	interventions	in	the	
mainstream	classroom,	in	view	of	how	very	effective	this	practice	has	proved	to	be	for	
the	 students	 as	 a	 whole,	 and	 they	 should	 reserve	 their	 activities	 outside	 the	 general	
classroom	for	specific	activities	for	which	their	presence	is	essential.

The	danger	must	always	be	avoided	of	allowing	a	personal	support	resource	to	become	               	
a	 barrier	 to	 participation,	 as	 a	 result	 of	 generating	 excessive	 dependence	 on	 the	 part	
of	 the	 student,	 or	 of	 not	 having	 sufficiently	 combined	 individual	 attention	 with	 that	
addressed	to	the	group	as	a	whole.


5.5. Special schools
The	current	state	of	our	education	system,	as	is	the	case	also	with	those	of	most	of	our	
neighbours,	obliges	us	to	consider	the	special	schools	as	an	asset	and	a	resource	that	      	
needs	 to	 be	 progressively	 transformed	 to	 adapt	 to	 the	 inclusive	 education	 approach	
which	is	proposed	in	this	Plan.

Various	 discussions	 of	 this	 topic	 (APPS,	 2007;	 Carbonell	 et al.,	 2007;	 Font	 and	 Giné,	
2007)	 have	 stressed	 the	 importance	 of	 valuing	 the	 expertise,	 the	 fund	 of	 knowledge,	 	
the	professional	teams	and	the	resources	the	special	schools	have	accumulated,	in	or-	
der	 to	 reinvest	 these	 assets	 in	the	development	of	 inclusive	education.	As	Farrell	 and	
Ainscow	(2002)	have	observed,	the	direction	and	future	of	the	special	schools	is	inti-
mately	bound	up	with	“making	special	education	more	inclusive”.

In	Catalonia,	legislation	as	early	as	Decree	299/1997	provided	for	cooperation	between	
mainstream	schools	and	special	schools,	with	regard	both	to	the	mobility	of	staff	and	
to	shared	education	or	exchange	of	experience	and	educational	resources.	Before	and	
after	this	legal	provision,	our	country	has	undertaken	several	pioneering	experiments	
that	help	confirm	here	the	successful	experiments	carried	out	by	other	countries	in	this	
regard	(Ainscow	2001).	These	experiments	allow	us	to	state	that	making	special	educa-
tion	more	inclusive	means	understanding	it	as	a	package	of	specialised	aid,	resources	
and	support	at	the	service	of	students	with	special	needs	of	educational	support,	prio-	
ritising	 intervention	 in	 mainstream	 school	 environments.	 Thus,	 the	 existing	 special	
schools	must	evolve	to	enable	them	to	perform	a	double	function	focused	on	the	edu-
cational	inclusion	of	all	pupils:

— 	Firstly,	the	education	of	pupils	with	major	educational	support	needs.	In	this	case,	
  —
educational	 attention	 must	 prioritise	 the	 functionality	 of	 what	 is	 learnt	 and	 promote	
                                                                                                	
the	autonomy	and	social	habits	that	facilitate	students’	participation	in	the	communi-	
ty	and	their	surroundings,	insofar	as	possible	in	mainstream	school	environments.
21




This	 function	 implies	 that	 a	 special	 school	 should	 act	 as	 a	 facilitator	 for	 pupils’	 pre-	
sence,	 participation,	 learning	 and	 success,	 particularly	 in	 the	 case	 of	 those	 students	    	
with	the	most	need	for	specialised	support	in	normal	environments.

The	possibilities	should	always	be	considered	of	combined	school	attendance	and	par-
ticipation	 in	 activities	 in	 mainstream	 schools,	 depending	 on	 the	 student’s	 specific	 si-
tuation,	as	well	as	of	maintaining	collaborative	relations	with	community	services	and	
institutions	in	the	zone	to	facilitate	everyone’s	participation	in	the	community.

— 	 Secondly,	 they	 must	 become	 reference centres and providers of services and
  —
support programmes for educational inclusion.

The	 specialised	 knowledge,	 experience	 and	 resources	 available	 to	 the	 existing	 special	
schools	 on	 the	 teaching	 and	 learning	 of	 students	 with	 the	 greatest	 need	 of	 educatio-	
nal	 support,	 means	 they	 can	 become	 important	 support	 resources	 for	 student	 inclu-
sion	in	situations	ranging	from	ways	of	approaching	situations	of	difficulty	or	conflict	        	
faced	by	the	student,	to	reception,	orientation	and	support	for	families.

At	any	event,	as	research	and	good	practice	has	shown,	inclusive	education	necessarily	
involves	cooperation	between	different	professionals,	through	which	tutors	in	mains-
tream	schools	and	special	school	teaching	staff	exchange	their	experiences.

This	 creative	 and	 innovative	 collaboration	 shares	 the	 experience,	 educational	 tradi-	
tions	 and	 teaching	 techniques	 already	 found	 in	 mainstream	 schools	 and	 special	     	
schools	 and,	 above	 and	 beyond	 simply	 adding	 them	 together,	 generates	 new	 ways	 of	
doing	things	that	are	the	outcome	of	shared	thought	and	practice.

The	special schools, whether	public	or	private	schools	receiving	support	from	public	
funds, acting	in	coordination	with	educational	services,	must	become	outreach special
schools for	the	mainstream	schools	in	the	zone,	in	order	to	provide	specific	resources,	
collaborate	with	the	adaptation	of	materials	and	the	development	of	intervention	strate-
gies	for	students’	educational	inclusion.

Furthermore,	the	special	schools, with	the	authorisation	of	the	Department	of	Educa-
tion	 and	 in	 coordination	 with	 the	 zonal	 and	 specific	 education	 services,	 may	 act	 as	
                                                                                                	
providers	 of	 specific	 services	 and	 programmes	 to	 support	 educational	 inclusion,	 in	   	
matters	such	as	the	following:

	 •	Stimulation	of	language	and	alternative	communication.
	 •	 Multisensorial	 stimulation	 and	 mobility	 adaptations	 in	 the	 classroom	 environ-
  ment.
	 •	Emotional	balance	and	self-control.
	 •	Functional	skills	(mobility,	eating,	hygiene...).
	 •	Orientation	of	methodological	and	organisational	strategies,	adaptation	of	mate-
  rials	and	teaching	resources.
	 •	Specific	support	for	students	in	exceptional	situations.
	 •	Contributions	to	or	information	about	specific	teaching	materials.
	 •	Support	for	job	placement.

To	enhance	inclusiveness	in	a	given	area,	projects	may	also	be	considered	for	unions	
between	special	schools	and	mainstream	schools	promoted	by	the	schools	themselves.
22




5.6. Education services and specific support
programmes
Because	 of	 their	 role	 in	 encouraging	 good	 educational	 practice	 and	 in	 providing	
                                                                                          	
support	for	schools	to	meet	the	needs	of	all	pupils,	particularly	those	with	special	edu-
cational	needs,	the	education	services	have	a	very	important	part	to	play	on	the	road	
towards	inclusive	education.

In	harmony	 with	 earlier	 advice	on	the	contribution	of	education	services	to	progress	
toward	inclusive	education	(CSE,	2008),	we	outline	below	a	number	of	fields	to	which	
they	can	contribute:

— 	 Advice to and collaboration with schools to progress toward the inclusive
  —
treatment of all pupils through	participation	when	necessary	in	the	schools’	structure	
(courses,	 teaching	 teams,	 staff	 meetings,	 departments...),	 particularly	 in	 the	 CADs.	
Cooperation	 with	 the	 head	 teacher	 and	 teaching	 staff	 to	 make	 specific	 proposals	 for	
improvements	and	contribute	to	putting	them	into	practice.

— 	Assessing, with the cooperation of the teaching staff, the needs and potential of
  —
SEN students, considering	how	to	deal	with	the	barriers	to	learning	and	participation	
the	 student	 faces	 in	 the	 environment.	 Collaboration	 in	 tracking	 their	 progress	 and	
learning	throughout	their	time	at	school.

— 	Initiate	and	participate	in	proposals to update, review and improve the teaching
  —
staff ’s professional practice,	 promoting	 and	 coordinating,	 when	 necessary,	 seminars	
on	methodology,	in	order	to	help	schools	advance	towards	inclusive	education.

— 	Cooperate	to	bring together and share good practice on educational inclusion.	
  —
Facilitate	the	adoption	of	measures	to	improve	schools,	as	decided	on	after	considera-
tion	of	good	practices	with	teaching	staff.

— 	 Facilitate	 the	 inclusion of methodological and didactic proposals in training
  —
activities	that	take	place	in	the	educational	zone,	which	take	account	of	diversity	and	
promote	inclusiveness	in	the	classroom.

— 	Contribute	to	raising awareness of educational inclusion in the whole commu-
  —
nity, organising	(or	cooperating	with)	informative	events	in	the	zone,	and	encouraging	
participation	 by,	 and	 the	 active	 involvement	 of,	 disabled	 young	 people	 and	 adults	 or	
those	at	risk	of	social	exclusion,	in	local	social	events.

— 	Offer advice, support and orientation to teaching staff to	enhance	learning	and	
 —
participation	by	all	pupils	in	the	mainstream	environment.

— 	Facilitate and participate in networking by	local	professionals	working	in	diffe-
  —
rent	fields	(education,	health,	social	services,	etc.)	to	monitor	and	support	students	and	
their	families.

— 	 Advise families on	 matters	 arising	 from	 the	 education	 of	 their	 children	 and	 on	
  —
their	participation	in	family,	school	and	community	life.
23




Education	services	maybe	zonal	or	specific:

— 	 Zonal education services (ZES) provide	 psychoeducational	 evaluation	 and	 tea-
  —
ching	resources	support	services	for	schools	in	their	zone.	They	include	the	psychoedu-
cational	evaluation	and	orientation	team	(PEOT),	the	teaching	resources	centre	(TRC)	
and	the	language,	interculturality	and	social	cohesion	team	(LISCT).

——	Specific education services (SES) are	services	to	support	teaching	activity	in	schools	
with	the	aim	of	adapting	educational	activity	for	disabled	students	or	those	with	severe	
developmental	or	behavioural	disorders.

The	 SESs	 perform	 a	 specific	 evaluation	 of	 the	 educational	 needs	 of	 pupils	 connected	 	
with	 their	 speciality,	 provide	 specific	 support	 in	 the	 form	 of	 resources	 and	 teaching	
                                                                                                 	
materials	and	carry	out	educational	support	actions	for	teaching	staff,	students	and	fa-
milies.

The	specific	education	services	are	as	follows:

— 	ERCHI (educational	resources	centre	for	hearing	impairment).	These	provide	ser-
  —
vices	 to	 support	 the	 education	 of	 students	 with	 hearing	 impairment	 or	 communica-	
tion	and	language	disorders.

— 	SESMD (specific	education	services	for	motor	disability).	These	provide	services	to	
  —
support	the	education	of	students	with	motor	disability.

— 	SEGDBD (specific	education	service	for	generalised	developmental	and	behaviou-
  —
ral	 disorders).	 Provides	 support	 for	 students	 with	 generalised	 developmental	 and	 be-
havioural	disorders.

— 	 ERVI (educational	 resource	 centre	 for	 visual	 impairment).	 Provides	 support	 ser-
  —
vices	for	the	education	of	students	with	visual	impairment.

In	addition,	the	Department	of	Education	will	call	on	special	schools,	in	coordination	
with	the	education	services,	to	carry	out	specific support programmes for	the	inclu-
sive	education	of	disabled	students	in	mainstream	schools	in	the	zone,	providing	ad-	
vice	for	teaching	staff,	support	in	adapting	materials	and,	when	necessary,	direct	atten-
tion	for	students	with	special	educational	needs	deriving	from	disablement,	generalised	
developmental	disorders	or	severe	behavioural	disorders.


5.7. Networking
Students	 in	 general,	 and	 most	 particularly	 those	 who	 are	 more	 vulnerable	 for	 social	
reasons,	because	of	their	health	or	because	of	their	personal	disabilities,	need	a	greater	
or	 lesser	 degree	 of	 intervention	 by	 professional	 staff	 working	 in	 the	 social,	 health,	
employment	or	leisure	spheres.

Overcoming the barriers to learning and participation,	 the	 fundamental	 goal	 of	
inclusive	education,	often	requires	the	intervention	of	professionals	in	more	than	one	
of	these	fields,	above	and	beyond	that	of	professionals	from	the	educational	community.
24




When	 such	 a	 variety	 of	 aspects	 are	 in	 play,	 to	 share	 goals	 and	 to	 move	 forward	 in	 a	
coherent	way	is	as	indispensable	as	it	is	complex.

Various	authors	(Abril	and	Ubieto,	2008;	Bassedas,	2005;	Huguet,	2005)	have	discussed	
networking	and	have	offered	experiences	and	observations	that	have	enabled	a	step	to		
be	taken	above	and	beyond	mere	coordination	between	different	professionals,	in	pur-
suit	of	a	complementary,	incremental	action,	the	fruit	of	collaboration.

Their	observations	stress	that	the	view	of	a	single	professional	is	not	enough,	in	many	
cases,	 to	 help	 students	 and	 their	 families	 to	 overcome	 these	 barriers	 to	 learning	 and	
participation,	 in	 order	 to	 follow	 the	 best	 possible	 path	 of	 learning	 and	 development.	
When	 it	 comes	 to	 identifying	 the	 difficulties	 and	 strong	 points	 of	 a	 person	 and	 their	
environment	and	drawing	up	a	plan	for	intervention	and	monitoring,	it	is	from	con-
versation	 amongst	 professionals	 that	 a	 shared	 view	 and	 a	 collaborative	 line	 of	 work	   	
can	emerge.

Networking	 means,	 at	 least,	 that	 the	 professionals	 involved	 share	 this	 need	 for	 colla-
borative	action,	and	that	they	define	a	minimal	shared	plan,	with	a	collective	commit-
ment	to	monitoring	it.

The	first	expression	of	networking	should	be	in	collaborative	action	by	the	professional	
staff	who	intervene	in	schools	(tutorial	teaching	staff,	support	teaching	staff,	educatio-
nal	psychology	consultants,	etc.)	and	it	should	extend,	when	necessary,	into	the	three	
fields	 mentioned	 earlier:	 health,	 social,	 leisure.	 Networking	 by	 the	 various	 professio-	
nal	staff	will	be	enhanced	by	the	education	services.

In	 order	 for	 networking	 to	 be	 possible,	 enough	 time	 and	 suitable	 structures	 must	 be	
available.	Occasions	such	as	meetings	of	the	CAD	or	the	Social	Committee	are	ideal	for	
this	important	function,	with	the	cooperation	of	the	education	services.	Ideas	on	how	          	
to	cooperate	with	other	services	or	how	to	meet	the	needs	of	each	zone	and	each	situa-
tion	may	also	arise	from	such	meetings.


5.8. Involving the community
Research	 into	 inclusive	 education	 has	 made	 plain	 the	 vital	 importance	 of	 the	 role	 of	
                                                                                                 	
the	community	for	the	success	of	inclusion.

First	of	all,	stress	has	been	laid	on	the	role	of	the	school	itself	as	a	community	which	is	
moving	in	a	certain	direction	to	facilitate	education	for	all	to	a	greater	or	lesser	degree.	
It	has	also	been	observed	that	the	pupils	themselves	are	the	first	resource	for	inclusion	
when	 the	 school	 is	 organised	 to	 promote	 cooperation	 between	 peers	 or	 when	 it	 pro-
motes	initiatives	such	as	group	work	in	which	students	learn	from	one	another.

But	the	community	goes	well	beyond	the	school.	Families	and	social	agents	can	have	
a	very	important	role	to	play	in	enhancing	the	academic	success	of	all	students,	parti-
cularly	when	schools	work	in	harmony	with	the	rest	of	the	community	and	when	the	
cooperation	that	is	required	of	parents	has	a	direct	bearing	on	their	children’s	educa-	
tion.
25




This	 broader	 concept	 of	 the	 learning	 community	 further	 strengthens	 the	 school’s	   	
possibilities	 of	 inclusiveness	 and	 the	 success	 of	 all	 pupils.	 Community	 involvement	
in	schools,	whether	in	the	form	of	mixed	committees	or	volunteer	work	(by	families,	         	
other	 members	 of	 the	 community,	 higher-education	 students,	 teaching	 staff,	 etc.)	   	
enhances	 the	 schools’	 harmonising	 role	 and	 significantly	 improves	 learning,	 incor-	
porating	ways	of	doing	things	such	as	interactive	groups	and	promoting	the	inclusion	        	
of	all	students	in	the	same	activities.

In	parallel	with	this,	steps	must	be	taken	to	further	participation	by	students	with	spe-
cial	educational	needs	in	activities	in	the	surrounding	community,	taking	advantage	of	
the	 available	 cultural	 and	 leisure	 resources	 which	 may	 contribute	 to	 developing	 their	
potential,	improving	their	quality	of	life	and	making	their	presence	in	general	activi-	
ties	something	normal.


5.9. Interdepartmental coordination
Individuals	 with	 disabilities	 often	 require	 support	 that	 goes	 beyond	 the	 school	 envi-
ronment,	 necessitating	 coordination	 between	 institutions	 to	 ensure	 the	 effectiveness	   	
of	services	and	that	major	measures	are	complementary	to	one	another.

To	this	end	it	is	essential	for	the	departments	of	Education,	Health	and	Social	Action	
and	Citizenship	to	draw	up	between	them	an	integrated	plan	to	attend	to	the	needs	of	
individuals	with	disabilities.

Coordination	is	also	essential	between	the	Department	of	Education	and	the	Depart-
ment	 of	 Employment	 to	 advance	 towards	 the	 integrated	 planning	 of	 training	 pro-	
grammes	for	people	with	disabilities,	with	due	regard	for	their	prospects	for	job	place-
ment.

It	is	also	important	to	coordinate	the	criteria	of	the	various	professional	staff	who	ad-	
vise	and	guide	families	to	ensure	coherence	throughout	the	process.


5.10. Students’ own views about their education
Progressing	toward	inclusive	education	also	means	listening	to	the	students’	opinions	
about	school	for	all.	Students,	whether	they	have	disabilities	or	not,	should	be	able	to	
express	their	views	on	the	positive	aspects	and	the	limitations	they	perceive;	only	thus	
can	ways	truly	be	found	to	resolve	the	difficulties.	Steps	must	be	taken	to	fill	the	gap	
                                                                                        	
that	has	been	revealed	in	this	regard	by	research	into	the	opinions	of	young	people	with	
personal	disabilities	and	their	classmates	after	they	have	completed	school	(Anderson	
and	Clarke,	cited	by	Marchesi,	2001b).

Account	must	be	taken	in	this	respect	of	young	people’s	thoughts	about	the	need	to	be	
informed	about	different	aspects	of	their	personal	disabilities	or	specific	ways	of	dea-	
ling	with	them.

It	is	also	important	to	promote	their	socialization	and	formation	of	relationships,	in	or-	
der	to	avoid	the	sense	of	isolation	they	may	feel,	particularly	when	they	reach	adoles-
cence.
26




Appropriate	 steps	 must	 also	 be	 taken	 to	 prepare	 students	 for	 independence	 or	 the	
assumption	of	responsibility	for	commonplace	aspects	of	daily	life.

Each	 person’s	 disability	 situation	 is	 unique,	 and	 so	 the	 rigid	 application	 of	 general	
educational	 criteria	 must	 be	 avoided,	 lest	 it	 cause	 dissatisfaction	 on	 the	 part	 of	 those	
who	have	not	had	the	opportunity	to	have	their	voice	heard.	We	must	listen	to	the	views	
of	 students	 with	 disabilities,	 be	 sensitive	 to	 them	 and	 understand	 them,	 seeking	 to	     	
make	the	adjustments	that	may	be	needed	in	each	particular	situation.

Furthermore,	we	should	continue	to	diversify	the	specific	ways	of	providing	education	
for	 students	 with	 personal	 disabilities,	 making	 the	 general	 criteria	 discussed	 so	 far	
compatible	with	other,	more	specific	ones,	in	order	to	facilitate	the	process	of	learning	
and	socialisation.

Adolescents	 and	 young	 people	 with	 disabilities	 who	 attend	 the	 various	 schools	 have	
also	from	time	to	time	expressed	their	desire	to	make	their	attendance	at	mainstream	
schools—which	allows	them	to	be	with	and	learn	with	different	classmates—compatible	
with	the	opportunity	of	periodically	meeting	other	adolescents	and	young	people	who	
share	with	them	expectations	for	the	future	and	interests	related	to	their	personal	disa-
                                                                              personal	disa-
bilities.

The	development	of	inclusive	education	must	also	be	sensitive	to	the	desires	and	aspi-
rations	of	adolescents	and	young	people	with	disabilities,	trying	out	a	variety	of	forms	
                                                                                        	
of	social	and	community	participation	to	enhance	their	quality	of	life.
27




6.
Entering society and the workplace:
the transition to adult life
At	the	end	of	the	period	of	school	attendance,	transition	to	adult	life	for	people	with	
personal	disabilities	calls	for	special	attention	if	the	goals	of	participation	and	learning	
for	all	that	have	been	pursued	throughout	their	inclusive	education	are	to	be	achieved.

Experience	 with	 students	 with	 major	 needs	 for	 educational	 support	 deriving	 from	
disability	make	it	clear	that	attention	must	be	paid	to	preparation	for	access	to	a	job	and	
the	transition	to	adult	life,	before	their	time	at	school	is	over.	Hence,	experience	and	
opportunities	for	work	and	in	the	community	should	be	provided	for	them	before	they	
leave	school.	A	plan	for	transition	to	adult	life	(Font	and	Giné,	2007)	should	have	two	
goals:

— 	For	students	to	identify	their	abilities	for	learning	and	development	before	leaving	
  —
school	so	as	to	improve	their	autonomy	and	functionality.

— 	 To	 identify	 the	 services	 and	 support	 needed	 to	 help	 them	 obtain	 a	 proper	 job,	 a	
  —
suitable	place	to	live	and	the	opportunity	to	continue	developing	personal	and	social	
skills,	as	well	as	giving	them	the	opportunity	to	form	relationships	and	friendships.

With	these	aims	in	view,	personalised life projects can	be	drawn	up	as	a	background	
to	the	development	of	skills	for	transition	to	adult	life,	bearing	in	mind	the	conditions	
and	possibilities	in	each	area	and	the	needs	and	possibilities	of	each	individual,	in	or-	
der	to	reaffirm	personal	autonomy	and	social	skills	as	well	as	work-related	skills.

Hence,	 at	 the	 end	 of	 the	 period	of	compulsory	 education	it	is	 indispensable	to	begin	
guiding	students	in	this	regard,	and	to	this	end	personalised	itineraries	must	be	devised	
that	are	suited	to	the	young	people’s	abilities	and	interests	and	to	their	possibilities	in	
society	and	at	work.

In	the	development	of	personalised	life	projects	the	following	have	an	important	role	
                                                                                     	
to	play:

— 	 the	 community	 work	 carried	 out	 in	 connection	 with	 inclusive	 education	 in	 the	
  —
zone,	as	well	as	the	solidity	of	the	networking	that	has	taken	place	on	social	and	work-
related	questions	and	the	prospects	for	future	job	placement	and	participation	within	
the	community;

— 	participation	by	the	families	of	young	people	with	disabilities	and	others	close	to	
  —
them.	Collaboration	between	the	families	and	the	professional	staff	who	advise	them,	
and	the	support	these	are	able	to	provide,	are	essential	throughout	the	process.

To	facilitate	this	process,	the	Department	of	Education,	in	coordination	with	the	De-
partment	of	Employment,	will:

— 	promote	the	involvement	and	participation	of	companies	in	the	processes	of	fin-
  —
ding	initial	employment	and	the	development	of	a	variety	of	options,	such	as	sheltered
28




employment,	 work	 teams,	 supported	 employment,	 self-employment	 and	 other	 forms	
                                                                                     	
of	work	activity;

— 	encourage	companies	to	offer	work	experience	for	school-leavers	with	disabilities	
 —
under	 the	 same	 terms	 as	 the	 others	 and	 procure	 that	 the	 IPQPs	 (Initial	 Professional	
Qualification	Programmes)	in	each	zone	are	coherent	with	the	availability	of	jobs;

— 	plan	the	availability	of	professional	training	to	take	account	of	the	possibilities	of	
  —
companies	in	the	area	as	well	as	the	interests,	abilities	and	skills	of	people	with	perso-	
nal	disabilities.

People	with	personal	disabilities	very	often	need	instruments	to	support	them	if	they	               	
are	 to	 enter	 the	 world	 of	 work	 with	 equal	 opportunities.	 Supported	 employment	
is	 a	 system	 that	 provides	 a	 package	 of	 aids	 and	 measures	 to	 accompany	 people	 with	
disabilities	 as	 they	 seek	 work,	 start	 their	 job	 and	 hold	 it	 in	 an	 ordinary	 company.	 It	
                                                                                                     	
suits	all	those	individuals	who	need	continual	accompaniment	or	supervision	as	they	
begin	work	so	that	they	can	successfully	do	a	real	job	in	the	long	term.	One	of	the	key	
figures	in	this	process	is	the	job placement officer,	who	will	offer	assistance	to	workers	
with	disabilities	and	who	coordinates	all	related	issues.

Furthermore,	 the	 Department	 of	 Education,	 in	 coordination	 with	 the	 Department	 of	
Social	 Action	 and	 Citizenship,	 will	 promote	 the	 measures	 needed	 to	 facilitate	 transi-	
tion	 to	 adult	 life	 for	 people	 with	 disabilities	 under	 the	 best	 possible	 conditions,	 and	
                                                                                                    	
hence	the	transition	from	attention	in	the	school	environment	to	attention	on	a	daily	
basis	(at	present	occupational	centres	and	specialised	attention	centres).
29




7.
The collaboration of families
and professionals
It	is	generally	agreed	that	the	family	environment	has	a	key	role	for	the	development	 	
and	education	of	the	individual,	and	this	is	even	more	so	in	the	case	of	students	with	
special	educational	needs	in	view	of	the	greater	dependence	that	often	conditions	their	
development	and	their	access	to	learning	and	participation.

Here	in	the	Action	Plan	“Learning	Together	to	Live	Together”, we	wish	to	give	a	pro-
minent	 place	 to	 the	 cooperation	 between	 the	 family	 and	 the	 school	 and	 between	 the	
family	and	professional	staff	which	is	so	necessary	in	order	to	deal	with	barriers	to	lear-
ning	and	participation.

For	many	years,	those	working	in	the	fields	of	health	and	education	tended	to	think	of	
the	role	of	the	families	of	students	with	special	educational	needs	more	as	an	instru-
mental	one	than	as	a	collaborative	one:	they	often	sought	the	cooperation	of	parents	to	
take	part	in	programmes	to	stimulate	their	children,	programmes	drawn	up	by	specia-
lists	in	various	aspects	of	education	or	by	enablers.	Progressively,	staff	in	the	Centres	      	
for	Children’s	Development	and	Early	Care	(CCDECs),	schools	and	the	education	ser-
vices	 have	 evolved	 toward	 a	 more	 global,	 interactive	 approach,	 in	 which	 the	 families	
begin	to	play	a	more	relevant	and	active	role.

As	various	studies	and	research	have	stressed	(Almirall,	2007;	Giné,	2003;	Leal,	1999;	
Planas,	2003;	Paniagua,	1999),	to	move	forward	with	inclusive	education	it	is	essential:

	 •	to	improve	communication	between	professional	staff	and	families,
	 •	to	improve	avenues	of	participation	by	parents	in	decision-making,
	 •	to	put	greater	emphasis	on	the	work	of	professional	staff	to	inform,	support	and	
  advise	the	families	of	SEN	students.


7.1. From the family with problems to the family with
needs and a part to play
In	recent	years	the	idea	that	families	with	a	child	with	disabilities	had	to	have	problems	
or	difficulties	that	were	characteristic	of	their	situation	has	gradually	been	left	behind	       	
in	 favour	 of	 a	 view	 in	 which	 they	 are	 considered	 normal	 families	 in	 exceptional	 cir-
cumstances	(Seligman	and	Darling,	2007).

The	abandonment	of	this	“pathologising”	approach	became	possible	when	families	be-
gan	to	be	analysed	in	their	specific	environment	and	as	people	with	certain	resources	
available,	 whether	 within	 the	 family	 itself	 or	 in	 their	 immediate	 setting.	 This	 change	
                                                                                                  	
of	 perspective	 means	 that	 families	 are	 no	 longer	 thought	 of	 in	 terms	 of	 deficits and	
problems, but	 rather	 as	 having	 needs and	 possibilities, and	 also	 allows	 the	 differences	
between	 the	 characteristics	 of	 different	 families	 to	 be	 envisioned	 and	 attention	 to	 be	
                                                                                                  	
paid	to	how	their	situation	evolves.
30




7.2. Collaboration between families and professionals
Improving	avenues	for	parents’	participation	in	decision-making	and	in	the	process	of	
educating	their	children	involves	a	commitment	to	progress	toward	a	model	in	which	
professional	 staff	 and	 families	 collaborate,	 and	 in	 which	 each	 party	 recognises	 the	
                                                                                              	
other’s	mutually-necessary	knowledge	and	expertise.

This	model	is	based	on	recognition	by	professional	staff	of	the	knowledge	the	parents	
have	about	their	child.	Parents	are	seen	as	protagonists	in	the	adaptive	process	and	in	          	
the	 response	 to	 their	 child’s	 needs,	 and	 a	 balance	 is	 sought	 between	 participation	 by	
families	and	professionals.

The	professionals	can	contribute	information,	offer	options,	open	up	alternatives	and	
help	interpret	information,	situations	and	reactions.

This	approach	means	that	professionals,	above	and	beyond	their	technical	expertise	as	
teachers	or	advisers	in	a	certain	field,	need	to	have	the	ability	to	relate	and	a	particular-	
ly	empathic	attitude	to	enable	them	to	control	and	lead	this	collaboration.


7.3. Information, support and advice for families
The	growing	presence	of	students	with	disabilities	in	mainstream	schools,	as	proposed	
by	educational	inclusion,	must	be	accompanied	by	the	implementation	of	organisatio-
nal	measures	and	training	for	the	staff	that	will	enable	adequate	communication	with	
students’	 families.	 Furthermore,	 provision	 must	 be	 made	 to	 ensure	 the	 availability	 of	
whatever	 specific	 information,	 support	 and	 advice	 the	 families	 may	 need	 (Almirall,	
2007;	Giné,	2003;	Paniagua,	1999)	on	specific	aspects	related	to	their	particular	needs.

In	 general	 terms,	 the	 schools	 and	 education	 services	 should	 pay	 special	 attention	 to	
                                                                                                	
aspects	such	as	the	following	with	regard	to	information	and	advice:

— 	 Provide	 information	 and	 clarification	 on	 aspects	 of	 students’	 progress	 and	 on	
  —
functional	aspects	connected	with	disability.

— 	Cooperate	with	the	family	on	students’	schooling	and	the	adoption	of	measures	to	
  —
facilitate	their	educational	and	social	inclusion.

— 	Provide	information,	and/or	ways	of	obtaining	it,	on	technical	resources	and	so-
  —
cial	assistance.

— 	 Advise	 on	 strategies	 and	 ways	 of	 doing	 things	 that	 facilitate	 the	 control	 of	 beha-
  —
viour	and	the	setting	of	limits	for	their	child.

— 	Facilitate	contact	with	associations	of	families	or	other	organisations	that	may	be	
  —
a	source	of	mutual	assistance.

As	for	families’	emotional	support	needs,	schools	and	education	services	must	prioritise:

— 	Appropriate	treatment	when	disability	is	diagnosed	and	assistance	to	face	up	to	the	
  —
feelings	this	may	arouse	within	the	family.
31




— 	 Help	 for	 families	 in	 comprehending	 the	 disability,	 providing	 an	 accurate	 view	 of	
  —
the	difficulties	faced	by	a	person	with	disabilities	as	well	as	their	potential.

— 	Help	for	families	to	find	their	own	resources	to	cope.
 —

— 	 Support	 and	 advice	 in	 the	 situations	 of	 particular	 difficulty	 that	 occur	 in	 the	
  —
course	 of	 life	 and	 school	 (starting	 school,	 change	 in	 stage	 of	 education	 or	 the	 school	
attended,	changes	in	a	student’s	capacity	for	autonomy,	puberty	and	the	onset	of	ado-
lescence,	etc.).

— 	 Support	 in	 the	 event	 of	 a	 communication	 block	 between	 the	 parents	 and	 their	
  —
child	with	disability.
32




8.
Training for inclusive education
To	put	this	Action	Plan	“Learning	Together	to	Live	Together”	into	effect	a	specific	trai-
ning	programme	is	necessary	for	all	teaching	staff,	head	teachers,	professional	staff	in	
the	education	services	and	support	personnel	(educators	and	monitors).	Even	though	
the	 Framework	 Plan	 for	 Continuing	 Training	 2005-2010	 already	 provides	 for	 educa-
tional	inclusion	as	a	priority	topic	for	training,	on	the	basis	of	this	Action	Plan	a	se-	
ries	of	specific	measures	will	be	taken	that	will	take	account	of	inclusion	in	classrooms	
and	schools,	at	the	same	time	setting	it	in	a	broader	social	and	community	context.

To	move	firmly	 toward	 educational	inclusion	it	is	 necessary,	at	the	outset,	to	provide	
class	teachers,	other	specialists	in	schools,	professional	staff	in	the	education	services	
and	 head	 teachers	 and	 senior	 teaching	 staff	 with	 an	 orientation	 and	 with	 strategies	
                                                                                               	
that	smooth	their	task	in	a	normal	classroom	or	school	setting.

According	 to	 the	 Framework	 Plan	 for	 Continuing	 Training	 2005-2010,	 the	 training	
                                                                                         	
plan	for	inclusive	education	will	combine	training	in	the	school	and	in	the	local	educa-
tional	zone	(so	as	to	facilitate	the	exchange	of	experiences	and	the	optimisation	of	re-
sources)	with	other,	more	general,	measures	addressed	to	all	professional	staff.


8.1. The objectives of training
The	objectives	of	training	for	inclusive	education	are	evident	from	the	very	concept	and	
ought	to	impregnate	all	informative	and	training	actions	that	derive	from	the	Action	
Plan.

— 	To	share	the	idea	that	underlies	educational	inclusion:	the	recognition	that	all	stu-
  —
dents	can	learn	and	that	they	should	do	so	in	an	ordinary	social	and	educational	con-
text,	in	equality	of	rights	and	duties	and	without	barriers.

— 	 To	 move	 forward	 with	 the	 practice	 of	 inclusion	 as	 a	 set	 of	 actions	 in	 the	 class-
  —
room,	 the	 school	 and	 the	 surrounding	 area,	 aimed	 at	 combating	 inequality	 and	 pro-
moting	 the	 educational	 success	 of	 all	 pupils,	 placing	 special	 emphasis	 on	 the	 groups	
which	are	traditionally	most	vulnerable,	amongst	whom	are	students	with	disabilities.

— 	To	contribute	to	perceiving	the	process	towards	inclusive	education	as	one	of	trans-
  —
formation	 that	 requires	 commitment	 and	 which	 will	 bring	 with	 it	 improvement	 for	
everyone,	emphasising	the	fact	that	equality	and	quality	of	education	are	not	only	not	
contradictory,	but	reinforce	one	another.

— 	To	sensitise	the	educational	community	about	inclusion,	so	that	it	is	perceived	as	
  —
something	positive	that	benefits	everyone	and	contributes	to	creating	more	just,	more	
cohesive	communities.

— 	To	share	inclusive	practices	as	a	means	to	achieve	both	basic	transverse	skills	and	
  —
those	specific	to	each	area.

— 	To	pool	and	disseminate	the	strategies	and	resources	needed	by	all	those	involved,	
 —
33




so	that	they	can	offer	all	pupils	the	opportunity	to	learn	and	participate	in	the	context	
                                                                                         	
of	the	classroom,	the	school	and	the	ordinary	environment.

— 	 To	 give	 teaching	 staff	 the	 tools	 and	 strategies	 they	 need	 to	 enter	 into	 inclusive	
  —
practices	with	enough	confidence	for	positive,	collaborative	dynamics	to	be	generated	            	
in	the	classroom	and	in	the	school.


8.2. The initial training of teaching staff
Initial	 teacher	 training	 at	 university	 must	 include	 the	 theoretical	 underpinnings	 of	
                                                                                              	
educational	inclusion	as	an	option	that	promotes	learning	and	the	overall	development	
of	the	student.

Furthermore,	this	training	must	stress	the	content	on	strategies	and	ways	of	program-
ming	activities	that	facilitate	inclusive	education	in	schools	and	in	classrooms.

In	 specialised	 training,	 carried	 out	 at	 postgraduate	 and	 master’s	 level,	 priority	 must	
                                                                                                 	
be	given	to	enabling	graduates	to	provide	support	and	assessment	on	methods	and	re-
sources	that	enhance	educational	attention	to	all	students	in	mainstream	environments.


8.3. Continuing training of teaching staff
The	backbone	of	this	training	is	that	given	in-school	or	in	the	local	educational	zone.

— 	In-school training is	justified	by	the	importance	of	the	joint	work	of	the	professio-
   —
nal	 staff	 who	 work	 there	 to	 facilitate	 processes	 of	 inclusion.	 This	 training	 necessarily	
involves	a	discussion	centred	on	the	school’s	beliefs,	policies	and	educational	practice.	          	
It	 must	 cover	 the	 organisational	 and	 structural	 measures	 that	 must	 be	 taken	 in	 the	    	
school	to	facilitate	inclusion;	an	analysis	and	a	recognition	of	the	most	suitable	class-
room	 methodology;	 a	 discussion	 of	 the	 strategies	 for	 collaboration	 between	 the	 tea-
ching	 staff	 involved	 in	 teaching	 the	 same	 group	 (tutorial	 teachers,	 specialist	 teachers	 	
and	support	teachers)	to	promote	an	inclusive	dynamic,	and	of	the	consequent	decisions	
on	 the	 role	 of	 specialists	 in	 schools	 (special	 education	 teachers,	 speech	 and	 hearing	
teachers,	therapeutic	education	teachers,	educators,	educational	psychologists,	etc.).

The	 leadership	 of	 the	 head	 teacher	 and	 the	 senior	 staff	 and	 the	 presence	 of	 external	
advisors	 are	 essential	 for	 the	 optimum	 development	 of	 training	 in	 the	 school.	 This	
proposal,	 furthermore,	 is	 coherent	 with	 the	 new	 Catalan	 Education	 Law,	 which	 pro-
poses	a	greater	degree	of	autonomy	for	schools.

— 	As	for	training in the local area (educational	zone	or	training	plan	zone),	training	
  —
must	ensure	that	inclusive	good	practice	is	known	and	shared,	it	must	promote	coope-
rative	networking	between	the	schools,	including	the	special	schools,	and	provide	spe-
cific	training	for	certain	specialists.	Initially,	training	actions	will	be	organised	directed	
at	all	the	different	staff	involved	in	order	to	raise	their	awareness	and	encourage	wor-
king	together,	and	subsequently	there	will	be	more	focused	training	for	specific	groups	
of	staff,	according	to	their	needs.	In	parallel	with	this	and	as	a	general	rule,	discussion	
will	be	stimulated	on	the	teaching	and	learning	methodologies	that	are	most	propitious	
for	inclusion	with	respect	to	all	types	of	didactic	activity.
34




This	 proposal	 is	 also	 fully	 coherent	 with	 the	 desire	 of	 the	 Department	 of	 Education,	
manifested	in	the	Education	Law,	to	manage	education	on	a	local	basis,	as	is	the	case	of	
the	educational	zones.

It	is	therefore	incumbent	on	the	zone	director,	in	conjunction	with	the	education	ser-
vices	and	the	schools’	inspectorate,	to	take	charge	of	this	zonal	training.

— 	 The	 centralised training provided	 by	 the	 Department	 of	 Education,	 directed	 at	
  —
head	teachers,	senior	teachers	and	the	teachers	of	particular	segments	of	the	curricu-	
lum,	will	include	transversal	guidelines	and	methodologies	to	facilitate	the	implemen-
tation	of	inclusive	education.

— 	Specific training will	focus	on	more	detailed	aspects	of	the	educational	needs	and	
  —
potential	of	those	with	different	disabilities.	This	training	will	be	directed	primarily	at	
specialised	 teaching	 staff	 and	 the	 teaching	 staff	 at	 schools	 which	 have	 students	 with	
disabilities.


8.4. The basic content of training
The	 content	 of	 training	 will	be	adapted	to	 the	various	 types	of	 school,	the	local	zone	
                                                                                             	
concerned	and	the	staff	and	their	requirements,	but	will	basically	cover	the	following	
topics:

— 	General	aspects:
 —

	 •	The	underpinnings	of	inclusive	education.	Concept	and	models	of	inclusion.
	 •	Knowledge	and	use	of	the	material:	Índex per a la inclusió: guia per a l’avaluació
  i la millora de l’inclusive education (IC-UB	 2005),	 to	 draw	 up	 and	 implement	 an	
  improvement	plan	for	the	school.
	 •	Collaborative	work	with	support	teaching	staff	and	other	specialists.
	 •	Ways	of	organising	support	for	and	attention	to	diversity	in	the	school.
	 •	Universal	design	of	learning.
	 •	The	evaluation	of	inclusive	contexts:	identifying	the	barriers	to	learning,	partici-
  pation	and	success	for	all	pupils.
	 •	Involving	families	and	the	surrounding	area	to	promote	inclusive	practices.
	 •	Optimising	resources.

— 	Methodology	and	educational	attention:
 —

	 •	Ways	of	organising	the	school	and	the	classroom	that	are	favourable	to	educatio-	
  nal	inclusion.
	 •	 Classroom	 management	 strategies	 to	 optimise	 learning	 and	 participation	 for	 all	
  pupils:	 strategies	 for	 the	 self-regulation	 of	 learning,	 cooperative	 work,	 multilevel	
  teaching,	etc.
	 •	Adaptation	of	textbooks	and	teaching	material.
	 •	Forms	and	strategies	of	adaptation	for	different	subject	areas.
	 •	Use	of	technological	resources.
	 •	Working	with	methodologies	based	on	reflective	practice.
35




8.5. Specific actions
Training	for	inclusive	education	is	directed	at	all	professional	staff	in	schools	and	the	
education	services;	it	will	take	place	in	different	settings:	centralised,	by	region,	by	local	
educational	zone,	in	schools	or	on	an	individual	basis	on-line.

Teaching	staff	thus	have	access	to	generalised	training	to	support	the	process	of	trans-
formation	in	the	school	and	the	classroom,	with	the	aim	of	achieving	the	participation	     	
of	all	pupils	in	mainstream	environments,	but	they	will	also	have	at	their	disposal	spe-	
cific	training	on	different	types	of	disability	and	specific	strategies	and	resources	to	de-
ploy.

At	the	regional	level,	coordination	seminars	will	be	organised	to	cover	cooperation	be-
tween	the	staff	in	special	schools,	those	in	mainstream	schools	with	special	education	
support	units,	and	the	education	services.
36




9.
Administration of the Plan
Many	 experts	 and	 professionals	 have	 participated	 in	 the	 drafting	 of	 the	 Department	
of	 Education’s	 Action	 Plan,	 and	 together	 with	 them,	 priorities	 have	 been	 established,	
together	with	criteria	and	proposals	for	bringing	its	measures	and	aims	into	line	with	         	
real	educational	needs.	The	Plan	takes	account	of	their	suggestions	and	contributions.

Various	committees	have	been	established	to	implement	the	process:


Technical committees
A	technical	committee	was	established	in	2007.	Representatives	of	the	various	directo-
rates	general	of	the	Department	of	Education	sit	on	this	committee.

The	technical	committee	sits	fortnightly	to	analyse	proposals	and	actions	and	to	iden-
tify	the	ways	forward.


Territorial committees
Within	 each	 of	 the	 territorial	 services	 a	 specific	 committee has	 been	 established	 to	
promote	the	Plan	and	to	determine	the	map	of	resources	and	services	in	an	ongoing	
manner.	 Those	 responsible	 for	 the	 planning	 units,	 school	 inspection	 and	 the	 educa-	
tion	services	sit	on	these	committees	to	analyse	the	projections	and	existing	resources	
and,	on	the	basis	of	statistical	data	regarding	the	population	of	each	zone,	they	propose	     	
how	resources	and	services	be	distributed,	and	programmes	implemented,	with	sights	
set	on	2015.

The	territorial	committees	meet	regularly,	at	least	once	every	three	months,	to	push	for-
ward	the	planning	for	resources	and	to	coordinate	actions	associated	with	the	imple-
mentation	of	the	Plan.

In	order	to	coordinate	the	actions	of	the	various	territorial	areas,	the	meetings	of	the	
territorial	committees	are	attended	by	members	of	staff	from	the	Directorate	General	   	
for	Attention	to	the	Educational	Community.


Group of experts
The	 Department	 of	 Education	 is	 assisted	 through	 the	 collaboration	 of	 a	 group	 of	 ex-
perts	 consisting	 of	 university	 teaching	 staff,	 members	 of	 school	 management	 teams,	    	
the	 education	 service’s	 staff,	 school	 inspectors,	 representatives	 of	 the	 Departments	 of	
Health,	 Employment,	 Social	 Action	 and	 Citizenship,	 representatives	 of	 organisations	
concerned	 with	 people	 with	 disabilities	 and	 members	 of	 the	 Directorate	 General	 for	
Innovation	and	the	Directorate	General	for	Attention	to	the	Educational	Community.	              	
The	group	of	experts	considers	proposals	and	criteria,	tracks	the	Plan’s	implementation	
and	decides	on	indicators	to	evaluate	that	implementation.


Teacher-training experts committee
A	specific	committee	was	established	to	design	an	educational	inclusion	teacher-trai-
ning	programme.	Sitting	on	this	committee	were	university	teaching	staff,	experts	on
37




inclusive	education;	members	of	the	Directorate	General	for	Innovation	and	members	
of	the	Directorate	General	for	Attention	to	the	Educational	Community.

The	committee	dealt	with	deeper	issues	regarding	the	aims,	content	and	form	of	trai-
ning	to	enable	teaching	staff	with	resources	and	strategies	regarding	all	pupils’	school	
work	within	the	ordinary	classroom	and	school	setting.


Interdepartmental coordination
The	 Department	 of	 Education	 has	 begun	 to	 hold	 coordination	 sessions	 with	 the	 De-
partments	of	Health,	Employment,	Social	Action	and	Citizenship	the	better	to	coordi-
nate	actions	in	which	the	various	departments	intervene	and	to	make	progress	in	the	
design	of	a	plan	for	integrated	attention	for	pupils	with	disabilities.

A	study	has	been	set	up,	in	this	regard,	about	school	pupils’	health	needs,	and	into	the	
incorporation	of	staff	from	the	Department	of	Education	during	the	months	when	job	
placement	is	being	sought	for	people	with	disabilities.

Furthermore,	during	the	2007-2008	academic	year,	presentation	sessions	by	the	schools	
inspectorate	and	the	education	services	about	the	fundamentals	of	the	Plan	were	held		
at	each	of	the	territorial	services	in	order	to	better	promote	its	implementation.

The	fundamentals	of	the	Plan	were	also	presented	to	head	teachers	at	publicly-funded	
special	education	schools	and	to	the	central	education	directors’	boards	for	infant,	pri-
mary	and	secondary	education.

During	the	2008-2009	academic	year,	various	working	sessions	were	held	with	the	Fe-
deració	Catalana	Pro	Persones	amb	Discapacitat	Intel·lectual	-	APPS	(Catalan	Federa-
tion	on	behalf	of	People	with	Intellectual	Disabilities),	with	the	union	representatives	
of	private	schools	receiving	support	from	public	funds,	and	with	the	representatives	of	
local	authorities	that	have	municipal	special	schools.

In	 September	 2008	 an	 agreement	 was	 signed	 with	 the	 employers’	 association	 for	 pri-	
vate,	special	education	schools	receiving	support	from	public	funds	about	the	modifi-
cation	of	accords	concerning	special	schools	deriving	from	the	implementation	of	the	
Plan.
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educacio_inclusiva_2_angles

  • 1. 2 Learning together to live together Action plan 2008-2015 Generalitat de Catalunya Departament d’Educació
  • 2. 2 Contents 1. Introduction ......................................................................................................................... 3 2. Inclusive education: education for everybody, school for all ........................................ 6 3. Principles. The general framework of the Action Plan “Learning Together to Live Together” ................................................................................................................. 9 4. Pupils with the greatest specific needs for support in the context of inclusive education ............................................................................................................................ 11 5. Conditions and criteria to progress toward education for all and to facilitate the development of inclusive schools ............................................................................. 13 6. Entering society and the workplace: the transition to adult life ................................. 27 7. The collaboration of families and professionals ............................................................ 29 8. Training for inclusive education ..................................................................................... 32 . 9. Administration of the Plan .............................................................................................. 36 10. Resources and services map ........................................................................................... 38 . 11. Calendar ............................................................................................................................ 41 12. Budget ................................................................................................................................ 44 13. Bibliography ...................................................................................................................... 46 Appendix. Resources and services map............................................................................... 50
  • 3. 3 1. Introduction To ensure that quality education is available to all students, independently of the con- ditions in which they live and of their personal characteristics, has in recent decades become one of the chief objectives of their teachers and families, and the institutions and individuals who are concerned with education. This great aim, which in recent years has become known as education for all or school for all (Booth and Ainscow, 2004; Giné, 2001; UNESCO, 1994; Stainback, 1999) these days goes beyond the desire, first expressed many years ago, of including children for- merly excluded from the education system. To advance towards inclusive education, progressing towards true schools for all, calls for the involvement of the whole of the educational community—the students, the teachers and the families, as well as the administrators concerned—in a single goal: to procure that, progressively, all children enjoy the right to go to school in their neigh- bourhood or village, without this compromising the equally important right of recei- ving an education that is suited to their particular needs. In recent history, various pronouncements of international organisations, such as UNESCO or the OCDE, point in this direction. In this respect, the Salamanca Decla- ration of 1994 (UNESCO, 1994), a document approved by acclamation by representa- tives of 92 governments and 25 international organisations, which has become an im- portant referent for educational innovation and for education policies, recommended that “those with special educational needs must have access to regular schools which should accommodate them within a child-centred pedagogy capable of meeting these needs”, also asserting that “regular schools with this inclusive orientation are the most effective means of combating discriminatory attitudes, creating welcoming communi- ties, building an inclusive society and achieving education for all”, and observing that such schools can “provide an effective education to the majority of children and im- prove the efficiency and ultimately the cost-effectiveness of the entire education system”. A year later, the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF), approved at the 54th World Health Assembly on 22 May 2001, gave an impetus to the new culture of disability with two basic propositions: 1. The consideration of disability as a universal human phenomenon, and not as a diffe- rentiating trait of a minority of society for whom special policies are required. 2. The understanding of diversity as the outcome of a complex interaction between a person’s state of health, personal factors and their surroundings, in which an interven- tion on any of these may modify the others, their being elements of a complex system. More recently, the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, ratified by the majority of UN member states on 30 March 2007, also recognizes the rights of children and young people with disabilities to enjoy the benefits of an inclusive educa- tion system, with access to compulsory education under the same conditions as other members of the community, without exclusion by reason of their disability, but with
  • 4. 4 the adjustments and support needed to bolster their academic, personal and social de- velopment to the maximum. Legislative initiatives in this and neighbouring countries have also adopted this approach and are also taken into account in this Action Plan: the National Special Education Plan (PNEE) of 1978; the Circular of 4 September 1981, which lays down criteria in the field of special education in Catalonia; Decree 117/84, of 17 April, concening the or- ganisation of special education for integration into the mainstream education system; the Organic Law for the General Organisation of the Education System (LOGSE, 1990) and the provisions that implement it; the Organic Law on Education (2006); the Master Plan for Special Education (2003); and the National Education Pact (2006). The new Catalan Education Law (LEC) stresses, in its preamble, the need to adapt edu- cational activity to meet the diverse needs of students and to achieve greater equality of opportunity. Moreover, the preliminary paragraph includes as one of the fundamental principles of the Catalan education system “social cohesion and inclusive education as the basis of school for all”. Subsequently, the clauses of the act assert that educational attention for all students is governed by the principle of inclusion, and they define cri- teria for educational organisation that must facilitate educational attention to all stu- dents, particularly those who might encounter more barriers to learning and partici- pation, deriving from their personal disabilities. It also provides that special schools may develop services and programmes to support the education of disabled students in mainstream schools. Quite apart from these important documents, it would be a mistake not to take account also of two other sources that have undoubtedly contributed to pointing the way to- wards school for all: on the one hand the educational practices that have already been developed in this direction, both in mainstream schools and in special education; and on the other, the research that has been undertaken on this issue. These two are im- portant resources when it comes to deploying this Plan and sketching out the shape of the future. In concord with everything we have just outlined, the intention is for this Action Plan “Learning Together to Live Together” to become part of the set of policies already being implemented by the Department of Education to promote quality education for all, placing special emphasis, at the present time, on enhancing disabled and dis- advantaged pupils’ access to inclusive education as one of the basic pillars of the quality of the Catalan education system. As Stainback (1999) stressed, “We hope that soon we will be able to speak simply of giving a quality education to all students. Yet still there are students who are excluded from normal school and community life”. Furthermore, the Action Plan will promote the development and implementation of good practice in the education system as a whole, and channel proposals towards the implementation of the legal requirements, training, organisation and use of resources and the evaluation and review of the progress made. The Action Plan “Learning Together to Live Together” is, therefore, a specific instru- ment in the hands of the whole of the educational community for the attainment of the following goals:
  • 5. 5 — Advance toward the inclusive schooling of all pupils in mainstream schools. — — Promote methodologies that favour participation by all pupils in the mainstream — school environment. — Optimise support resources for the education of disabled pupils in the mains- — tream school environment. — Enhance interdepartmental coordination in pursuit of integrated attention for dis- — abled pupils while they are at school and during their transition to adult life. — Define the map of resources and services for the education of disabled pupils in — Catalonia.
  • 6. 6 2. Inclusive education: education for everybody, school for all Considering the different ways of defining inclusive education that currently exist, we could agree that, in general, it has been considered that inclusion, or education for all, has to do with the capacity of educational systems to provide effective, quality educa- tion for all pupils and their intention of providing it in normal, shared environments. Moreover, as several authors have observed (Ainscow, 2001 and Giné, 2008), different traditions can be identified: that which is associated with attention for students with disabilities; that which is associated with groups in danger of marginalisation; that which focuses primarily on the improvement of school for all pupils; and that which understands inclusion as a principle for the understanding of education and society. These traditions have led some countries to place the emphasis on the reform of spe- cial education, while others place it on modifications in mainstream education (Ains- cow, 2005b; Giné, 2005; Marchesi, 2001; European Agency for Development in Special Needs Education, 2007). Here in our country, changes began with reforms in special education, but evolved progressively, some time afterwards, toward an orientation in which—as Marchesi (1999) has noted—the improvement of the system as a whole has come to be consi- dered essential. Thus, the LOGSE and Catalan Government decrees 75/1992 and 299/1997 no longer speak of integration, but regard diversity as a characteristic of the system as a whole. Stainback (2001, in a succinct phrase that has been abundantly quoted, defined in- clusive education as “a process that offers all children, without disctinction of ability, race or any other difference, the opportunity to continue being a member of an ordi- nary class and to learn from his or her companions, and together with them, in the classroom”. She thus emphasises the belonging of any pupil to a community, and at the same time stresses the interactive and shared nature of all classroom learning. Similarly, the experience of schools that have implemented practices to make educa- tion for all available, as well as his own research, led Ainscow (2005) to emphasise the following points: — Inclusion is an on-going process to find better, ever more suitable, ways to res- — pond to diversity. He deals with the fact of living with difference and learning to learn from difference. From this point of view, difference becomes a positive factor and a stimulus to learning for children and adults. — Inclusion is concerned with—and pays special attention to—the identification and — elimination of barriers to learning and participation that pupils may encounter. It is a question of using the information acquired from observing educational policies and practices to stimulate creativity and the resolution of difficulties. — Inclusion seeks the presence, participation and success of all pupils. The idea — of presence includes the place where the pupil learns, preferably in settings that are as
  • 7. 7 normal as possible; participation refers to the quality of the experience of the pupils in the school, and hence includes both their collaborative experience and the opinion of the class; while success refers to the result obtained by pupils in learning activities as a whole and not just in tests and examinations. — Inclusion also particularly focuses on those groups of pupils who are at risk — of greater marginalisation, of exclusion, or of not reaching appropriate levels of achievement. This implies special responsibility for administrators for such groups of pupils, as well as their need to specifically monitor the presence, participation and success just referred to. In this Action Plan “Learning Together to Live Together”, when inclusion is referred to, it is not in the sense of returning (reintegrating) anyone, but of avoiding ever leaving them out of mainstream school life. It is not a question of bringing in those who are excluded, but of building a system able to meet the needs of everyone. Similarly, it is understood that working from the point of view of school for all also means moving from the idea of assisting only pupils with disabilities to the idea of providing the necessary support for any pupil, according to their needs, with the aim of facilitating the participation of all in the class’s group activities. An inclusive school, as proposed by Porter (2001), is one in which pupils with special educational needs or with disabilities go to the same class as their companions of the same age, the same class they would go to if they had no disability. Thus, inclusive education is a process that begins with the recognition of the diffe- rences there are between the pupils, with respect, and the building of teaching and learning processes on the basis of these differences, reducing barriers to learning and to participation by all pupils, not just those with disabilities or special educational needs (Booth, T. and Ainscow, M., 2004). In an inclusive school, as Pujolàs (2005) has stressed, there are no ordinary pupils or special pupils, but just pupils, with no adjective, each with their own characteristics and needs; diversity is understood as the natural state of affairs, and hence all these difference are taken into account so that all pupils, who are diverse, learn to the best of their possibilities. In this context, pupils with disabilities participate as much as they can in general activities and in the life of the school, as well as in teaching and lear- ning activities in the ordinary classroom. From this perspective, this Action Plan assumes the point of view adopted by Index for Inclusion (Booth, T. and Ainscow, M., 2004) when it pauses to consider three inter- connected dimensions in the improvement of school education: creating inclusive cul- tures, generating inclusive policies and developing inclusive practices. For any improvement in schools to be consolidated on the road toward effective and inclusive education for all pupils, all three dimensions must be developed. Furthermore, as the same text underlines, it must be borne in mind that “school cul- tures” are key for the implementation of improvements and to the stimulation of, or hindrance to, teaching and learning.
  • 8. 8 School culture is made up of the basic beliefs and convictions of the teaching staff and of the educational community in relation to the teaching and learning of the pupils and to the functioning of the school. Beyond a school’s teaching and learning sys- tems, school culture also includes aspects such as the rules that affect the educatio- nal community, information and communication systems, the relations between the teaching staff and the pupils or between the teaching staff and the families, or other values shared by the members of the community (Huguet, 2006; Marchesi and Mar- tin, 2000). In this regard we once again coincide with Index for Inclusion when it is asserted that it is through progress in inclusive school cultures that the teachers and new pupils can develop and maintain changes in policies and practices.
  • 9. 9 3. Principles. The general framework of the Action Plan “Learning Together to Live Together” On the road towards the school for all, the aims and the measures it is proposed to implement in the Action Plan “Learning Together to Live Together” are based on the following principles which define the general approach that underlies the Plan: — Inclusion. The principle of inclusion affirms that schools must be open to all pu- — pils without discrimination nor exclusion, considering all pupils to be members of the community by right. From this principle there follows the will to advance, progressively and insofar as possi- ble, towards the education of all pupils in mainstream schools, encouraging the fullest and most active participation possible of everyone in school activities. — Normalisation. Educational attention for pupils with special educational needs — (SEN), arising from their personal disabilities, severe learning difficulties or other diffi- culties, is provided, to the greatest possible extent, using the ordinary resources avai- lable for all pupils and in ordinary contexts and environments, thus facilitating the participation of pupils with special educational needs in activities together with their companions. Intervention with specific support and resources is carried out by bringing the specific support or resource to the pupils (to their classroom, school or zone, etc.) rather than the other way round. — Equality of opportunities for learning and participation. The education system — must offer all pupils the possibility of participating in mainstream activities, and eve- ryone who most needs them should have the support and forms of attention they re- quire in order to share these activities and attain the learning goals laid down for each stage to the greatest possible extent. The education provided in schools must promote participation in the community of which the pupils form part and respond to the individual educational needs of each pupil. Education needs to be personalised for all pupils, but more specific measures and attention need to be applied to pupils with special educational needs. Personalised education implies the recognition of different rhythms of learning and of different types of participation, not necessarily, or only, individual attention; rather, it is a question of looking at the pupil and the environment in a more personalised light, allowing better identification of the learning barriers the pupils are facing, deciding, when necessary, on the application of individual plans and activating the organisatio- nal resources for improving attention. Beyond the school environment per se, the pupils’ participation in complementary and
  • 10. 10 extracurricular activities in the surrounding community should be promoted, while seeking to eliminate the barriers that might impede this, and creating the means to facilitate it. — Education close at hand. The education system must guarantee the right of all — pupils to receive education close to where they live and determine efficient criteria for the zoning and coordination of general and specific educational services in order to enhance children’s education through more integrated attention. — Participation and co-responsibility. The participation of the different segments — of the educational community (students, teachers and families) and the involvement of the community at large, each with their respective responsibilities, are vital elements to pave the way for the educational and social inclusion of persons with disabilities. The families of the children affected must take part in decision-making on their children’s schooling and the development of their educational process.
  • 11. 11 4. Pupils with the greatest specific needs for support in the context of inclusive education 4.1. From pupils’ special educational needs to the barriers to learning and participation that may arise in the environment In the late 1970s, the Warnock report (1978) introduced the concept of special educatio- nal needs, which brought about a major reappraisal of the education and schooling of persons with personal disabilities or pupils at risk due to exceptional social circums- tances. To speak of special educational needs allowed attention to be diverted from any possible deficits or limitations of each specific pupil and to focus above all on the conditions required for their education, whether in terms of special measures or the modification of curriculums or the special resources that needed to be provided. Thus, the individual description of the handicap or other diagnostic label of each specific pupil began to lose weight and instead greater attention began to be paid to the learning conditions the environment needed to provide. Special educational needs referred to the com- plementary support or resources some children needed. They were known as special because they were not common to all pupils and they were complementary because they were additional to those provided for all pupils. From this perspective it seemed evident that students with the same category of “dis- ability”, according to the traditional diagnostic standards, might have different edu- cational needs, depending on the family, school or social environment in which they found themselves, and—which is even more remarkable—this may significantly change the “special” nature of the educational needs identified. Thus, a pupil who requires a certain type of support in one school might need something else in the next town or in the school round the corner. More recently the concept has been introduced of barriers to learning and participa- tion (Ainscow, M., 2001; Booth, T. and Ainscow, M., 2004; Stainback, S. and Stain- back, W., 1999), and this concept has clarified and emphasised the importance of con- text in determining the resulting degrees of difficulty faced by students. It is not only the needs deriving from the pupil’s personal disabilities that count, but rather it is the barriers that the environment puts in the way of each person’s possibilities to learn that come to the fore as being particularly relevant. In the same vein, Porter (1990) observes how the most significant differences between a traditional approach to special education and an inclusive approach originate in the fact that the former is focused on the pupil—being based above all on prescriptive diagnostics and placing special emphasis on the role of individualised programmes— while the latter prioritises and focuses on the class group, and considers the types of measures and resources that need to be implemented or provided in the school or classroom, in order the better to resolve the difficulties any particular student may face.
  • 12. 12 4.2. The Action Plan and pupils with disabilities In spite of the insistence on the fact that attention to diversity and the inclusive school approach affects all the pupils and the educational community as a whole, these days pupils with disabilities require special consideration for two reasons: firstly because they are still excluded from mainstream schools; and secondly, their full incorpora- tion requires certain changes for which specific structural measures need to be taken. Consequently, the Action Plan, as well as focusing on general aspects that are essen- tial in order for schools to advance toward education for all, also specifically considers the definition of measures to facilitate the incorporation of pupils with disabilities into mainstream schools, with the aim of providing ideal conditions for quality education and good inter-personal relations between all pupils. 4.3. Support and support resources When it comes to defining the supports needed to put inclusive education into practice, the observations by Stainback (2001) are relevant when she stresses that the provision of effective support depends, in part, on what we decide should be expected from this support. In the case of the inclusive classroom, the following two results, at least, seem desirable: — that all pupils are successful in curricular and social activities; — — that the teaching staff genuinely feel they are being supported in their efforts to — promote the success of pupils in their participation in educational activity and in their positive interdependence with the class group. From this perspective, support may take many different forms, the only important condition being that it be effective for the attainment of the desired objective. Also Index for Inclusion (Booth and Ainscow, 2004) offers a new perspective of support when it is defined as “all those activities which increase the capacity of schools to respond to diversity”, asserting, furthermore, that individual support is only one of various possible forms of support that may improve student’s’ learning. Thus, class- room programming to facilitate the diversification of activities, or agreeing on crite- ria that allow for different forms of participation and assessment, would also qualify as support. In this context, where do we include support resources? In this case we are speaking of the provision of tangible material (such as adapted computer keyboards, special chairs or desks, special class material, etc.) or of teacher participation (two teachers per class, doubling up of groups, etc.), or of participation by other professional staff (speech therapists, physiotherapists, auxiliaries, etc.) who help the teacher in the class group. Below we will deal specifically with ways of organising support resources in a shared, effective operation to improve inclusion.
  • 13. 13 5. Conditions and criteria to progress toward education for all and to facilitate the development of inclusive schools Good practice in the building of the school for all, the experiments on inclusion that have been started in various schools, the experience of schools with SESU resources or with SEUs and the observations of teachers with regard to all this, as well as the conclu- sions reached by various researchers (Ainscow, 2001; Giné, 2001; Huguet, 2006; Porter and Stone, 2001; UNESCO, 1995); all these have made clear some of the conditions that allow practice in schools to be improved in order to provide effective education for all. They include a variety of ways of organisation, strategies and resources, which each school or educational zone must adapt to its particular situation and characteristics. As we shall see below, above and beyond the provision of the necessary services and resources, the changes that will make possible the improvement of education for all imply a change in students’ learning expectations, the recognition of the possibilities of learning from one another and the interactive work of professional staff in order to respond adequately to students’ needs. In what follows we review a series of criteria that must be considered from the perspec- tive of inclusive education. 5.1. School organisation and teaching and learning strategies It is for head teachers and their senior staff to implement measures to advance toward the inclusion of all pupils. They must, therefore, promote the evolution of institutional approaches and school structures to facilitate the elimination of physical, cultural, attitudinal, curricular, methodological and organisational barriers that impede the ac- quisition of learning by students. As can be seen in the schools that have already implemented this practice, this appro- ach must involve the teaching staff and the educational community as a whole, so that, starting from existing practices and understanding, they actively participate in the process of introducing the modifications favourable to inclusive education which are collectively implemented in the school. The consolidation of teaching teams around shared school projects has proved to be a necessary condition for this approach to be possible. In this process it is useful to consider those educational resources, ways of doing things and strategies that have proved effective in attempts to facilitate education for all. The European Agency for the Development of Special Education (2003), as well as other reports and research (Ainscow, 2001; CSE, 2008; Duran and Vidal, 2004; Giné, 2001; Giné, 2005; Huguet, 2006; Parrilla, 2005; Puigdellivol, 1998; Pujolàs, 2005b; Por- ter, 2001; Ruiz, 2008; Stainback, 2001) have described factors that are effective for in- clusive education, notable among which are the following:
  • 14. 14 For schools, the following have proved effective and positive: — Schools’ equipping themselves with a flexible structure, able to adapt to the — characteristics and needs of the students and the teaching staff, and an internal organisation that strengthens collaboration between teachers in terms both of planning and work in the classroom. That they agree on criteria for the distribution of support teacher attention, professional support staff and the resources and mechanisms for coordination that facilitate flexible adaptation to the diverse needs of different class groups and of the school; — The facilitation of collaborative teaching. The task of teaching is facilitated when — the teaching staff do it collaboratively, with regard to both the internal relations of the team and to the support and assessment available to the school. Hence, it is necessary and useful to make cooperative work between the teaching staff the habitual tool for creating knowledge, and to develop new initiatives that enable a response to the stu- dents’ needs. In school organisation, consideration must be given to this need in the design of the teaching staff ’s personal and collective timetables, thus paving the way for initiatives for shared teaching (two teachers per class, support and accompaniment from time to time, etc.) and for coordination, joint programmes and shared review; — Schools’ providing themselves with organs and structures that facilitate the — development of an inclusive orientation, such as a Committee on Attention to Diver- sity (CAD) and (in many schools) a Social Committee also. The coordination of the specific action and support implemented in schools, as well as a distribution of the teaching staff that is particularly suited to the diversity of the school population, are key factors if progress is to be made towards inclusive education. The Committee on Attention to Diversity (CAD) is a powerful tool available to schools to this end, as experience in schools has demonstrated in recent years (Bassedas, 2005; Huguet 2006). The CAD takes responsibility for stimulating and implementing measures to move towards inclusion and to manage resources. The Social Committee, meanwhile, created in many schools in recent years, has enabled more efficient identification and resolution of barriers to education faced by students with learning difficulties deriving from social and family factors, for which a networked response is essential; — For schools that have specific resources available (SESU, SEU, groupings of chil- — dren with hearing difficulties, etc.), the coordination of their work with other specia- lised resources and that of the teaching staff as a whole, within the framework of the attention to diversity plan designed by the school. The effectiveness of these resources is amplified when they become part of the mechanism for attention to diversity with the whole of the teaching staff behind them; — Agreement in the school on shared criteria and a variety of ways of assessing — students, enabling coherence within the teaching team and clear communication with the pupils and their families on the learning progress of each pupil; use of a variety of means and resources to assess the abilities of different pupils, according to the goals set; diversification of the ways of informing the pupils and their families of the results of assessment; — Forming class groups with a mixed composition of students. Mixed grouping and — personalised focus are two complementary strategies that have proved to be effective and necessary. A diversity of students in the classroom makes it useful and necessary
  • 15. 15 to offer alternative routes to learning and at the same time enables personalised teacher attention, exemplary role-modelling and peer cooperation. As for dealing with diversity in the classroom, good practice in schools has demons- trated the utility and effectiveness of: — Facilitating group work within the class and promoting cooperative learning. — Educational experience with a diversity of students in the same class has revealed that when pupils work together and help one another in learning activities, all pupils reap the benefit, thanks to mutual learning that promotes cooperation. Above and beyond its positive contribution in terms of the value of dialogue, social harmony and solida- rity, cooperative work has proved to benefit abilities related to planning, the manage- ment of learning, the use of language and the contrast of criteria of all cooperating pu- pils (Duran and Blanch, 2008; Pujolàs, 2008; Serra, 2008); — Taking steps toward the practice of participative resolution of relational problems — and conflicts. Cooperative conflict-resolution strategies, and the mediation resources developed in schools with the active involvement of teaching staff and students, have proved particularly positive for pupils with social or behavioural difficulties. The es- tablishment of clear rules for behaviour, coherent treatment by the whole school and the acceptance of individual and collective commitment by the pupils have also all proved to be effective; — The development of ways of class programming that pay regard to the diverse — composition of a class group, and which provide for different levels of participation and educational response. Multilevel learning has proved to be an effective approach to respond to the diverse needs of the students that make up the group. In this approach, on the basis of picking out the key ideas of each unit, ways of presentation and activity development are devised that allow for different roles, goals and paces of learning, as well as a variety of ways of assessment (Ruiz, 2008; Schulz and Turnbull, 1984); — Deciding on individualised (or personalised) plans which, taking as a starting- — point the barriers to learning and participation that pupils face, define the key aspects on which attention must be focused in order for certain skills to be acquired. Such plans make sense in the context of inclusive education when they are explicitly re- lated to classroom programming and take account, furthermore, of how to promote student participation in the various activities; — The development of ways of working and other measures that facilitate attention — to diversity in the classroom. Amongst the different ways of coping with diversity in the classroom with an inclusive orientation for all pupils, the following have proved particularly effective: • shared teaching by two teachers in the classroom, • group learning, • the use of specialised support in the classroom, • group work and/or workshops within the class, • working in inter-class groups and/or workshops, • specific workshops on oral or written expression in small groups, • working in small groups within the class.
  • 16. 16 5.2. The psychoeducational assessment of pupils The social nature of learning and development described by Vigotsky, which has been amply confirmed by subsequent research and development (Bronfenbrenner, 1987; Bruner, 1977; Rogoff, 1993; Schaffer, 1977), as well as the pre-eminent role of barriers to learning and participation (Booth and Ainscow, 2004), to which we refer throughout this document, lead to an approach to psychoeducational assessment that is no lon- ger mainly or exclusively centred on the individual, but instead considers it essential to take account also of the learning and development environment and the intervention strategies employed. Thus, it seems clear that if pupils’ development and learning is in function of the ex- periences and opportunities that are achieved in interaction with adults and peers, the process of identifying these pupils’ specific educational needs and potential must take account of the variables that affect teaching and learning and not merely each pupil’s individual characteristics. Understood in this sense, psychoeducational assessment must aim to provide relevant information to steer pupils’ education. As a number of works have stressed and veri- fied (Bonals and Sanchez-Cano, 2007; Giné, 2001b; Huguet, 2006; Monereo and Solé, 1999; Sanchez-Cano and Bonals, 2005) this assessment must be a process shared be- tween professional staff and the families, to obtain and analyse relevant information about the different factors that affect the process of development and learning. This is information that must prove useful to identify pupils’ educational needs and potential, particularly with regard to those with difficulties in personal development or who have, for a variety of reasons, severe difficulties in acquiring the skills called for by the syllabus, in order to facilitate decision-making with regard to the curriculum and the types of measures needed for each pupil at the school, in order to bolster progress in personal development and maximise participation in the community. In consequence, reports on assessment and psychoeducational orientation, as well as schools’ agreements on resources and support, must have the same goals and be poin- ted in this direction. The results of the assessment and the reports deriving from them must serve to steer the psychoeducational interventions of teaching staff and families. Assessment and orientation for pupils’ education must be updated from time to time, generally at the beginning of each stage and particularly when there is a request or the need for it. 5.3. The schooling of children with disabilities Schools, whether private or publicly-funded, must follow the general criterion of edu- cating all children in the most normal, ordinary environment possible. As for children with personal disabilities, account must be taken on a personalised basis of the support they may require and of the conditions in the school. This personalised approach means that account must be taken, above and beyond the general criteria that have been established, of specific variables affecting the child
  • 17. 17 concerned, such as the situation and priorities of the pupil’s family, the accessibility of the nearest school and the conditions within it. Thus, although information about children’s personal disabilities, or the extent of their autonomy, contribute to guiding the decision as to where they will be educated, this information must not be considered in an absolute or decontextualised manner. To help meet the special educational needs of pupils in all schools, the education sys- tem has general and specific resources and services: zonal educational services (ZES), special education teachers, therapeutic education teachers, speech and hearing tea- chers, educational psychologists, resource centres for students with hearing impair- ment (ERCHI), resource centres for students with visual impairment (ERVI), support services for students with motor disability and support services for students with de- velopmental and behavioural disorders, in addition to the other measures to attend to diversity that are developed in schools. Depending on these general conditions and the characteristics of the various educa- tional levels, pupils’ schooling must consider the following criteria: Nursery education (0-3 years) Early attention for children with personal disabilities may in many cases be greatly helped at the nursery stage. It is for this reason that advice and attention to families and early attention to the infant (with intervention by the Centre for Children’s Deve- lopment and Early Care (CCDEC) when necessary) must be coordinated from the very first stages, with nursery attendance when the family considers this to be appropriate. Throughout this process coordinated professional attention is needed for both the in- fant and the family. Thus, at this stage: — children should be accommodated in mainstream nurseries that have places for — children with special educational needs; — nurseries with disabled children have recourse to advice from the PEOT and the — support of the district CCDEC. They can also receive support from the special schools; — the PEOT is responsible for the coordination of intervention by professional support — staff and the orientation of subsequent schooling. Infant (age 3-6), primary (3-12) and secondary (12-16) In this period: — with the normal resources and the specific educational services, students with — sufficient autonomy and adequate social behaviour (such as those with visual or au- ditory impairment, motor disability, those who are autonomous or partially depen- dent and those with slight to moderate intellectual disability) will attend mainstream schools;
  • 18. 18 — to facilitate the attendance of pupils with a lack of autonomy (dependent persons — with motor impairment, severe intellectual disability, general developmental or severe behavioural disorders) in the mainstream school environment, schools are provided with special education support units (SESU), with speech and hearing teachers and other specialists, as personal resources additional to the resources already present in schools and to the different sorts of inclusive organisation developed up to now in va- rious schools; — the special schools will educate those children for whom this is determined to be — the best option after assessment of their educational needs and support requirements, sharing activities with a mainstream school whenever possible. The special schools must collaborate with the ZES with respect both to the education of disabled children and to advice and support for mainstream schools in the zone, once pupils have been enrolled. Post-compulsory education Once compulsory education is completed, whenever possible the inclusive education of students with specific support needs and/or personal disabilities should continue in mainstream educational settings, promoting their participation in general courses (higher-secondary education and training courses) so that they will be able to lead an active life with the highest possible degree of autonomy and equality of opportunity. The individualised plans specified in the new regulations for higher-secondary educa- tion and the flexibility of the new structure of training courses are key factors for pro- gress to be made in this direction. Furthermore, the Initial Professional Qualification Programmes (IPQPs) can help young people with personal disabilities to start a personal and professional career according to their interests and abilities, and their launch into the world of work. IPQPs that are addressed to disabled students must include modules on personal and social autonomy and assistance in job placement. Also, disabled young people must be able to follow a diversified syllabus to ensure they have the essential training for transition to adult life. Steps must be taken to make their educational careers as similar as possible to those of other students who have been educated together with them in the compulsory stages of education, as well as procuring the continuity of inclusive conditions in the centre where post-compulsory courses are given, with a sufficiently diverse and appropriately adapted range of courses. In all cases it is important that the guidance given to these students takes a global view of their life project. 5.4. Personal support resources Defining as an objective that schools cater to the educational needs of all pupils means that some of the ways things have been done until now will have to be reassessed. Some- times this may also mean the progressive modification of the organisation of specific
  • 19. 19 resources at present available to schools, as well as to move towards a more precise de- finition of new needs. In this regard, and as described elsewhere in this Plan, the effectiveness of personal support resources is greatly increased when they form part of a package of support ac- tions, such as those mentioned above in connection with multilevel education, coope- rative work between pupils or different ways of grouping them. The various professionals who make up what we call personal support resources take on a variety of tasks and in some cases require specific training and skills, but they have in common the ultimate goal of reducing barriers to learning and participation, and hence also the shared aim of enhancing the efficacy of teaching in contexts which are as normal and participative as possible. Their function makes sense when they act in a coordinated, complementary way. The group tutor, the support teaching staff, supplementary activities, professional specialists, and teachers in the reception class all have certain aims and a programme in common with regard to a particular pupil or class group. The specialised personal support resources that are available to a school include support teaching staff (special education teachers; therapeutic education teachers, educational psychologists at secondary level, and reception class teachers and speech and hearing teachers at both levels), auxiliary support staff (infant education specia- lists, monitors to assist the autonomy of disabled students, SE educators, SE auxiliaries and social integration staff) and educational services specialists, such as speech the- rapists and physiotherapists. Each member of the personal support resources staff must collaborate with the teaching staff to attend to the specific needs of the pupils in each school, with regard to mobility problems, lack of autonomy, language or communica- tion difficulties, relational or behavioural difficulties or severe learning difficulties. This support must be carried out wherever possible and must adapt to the goals and to the tasks under way in the mainstream classroom. Also, depending on the presence in a school of students with specific major support needs, it may also have a special education support unit (SESU) or support teaching staff for the grouping of deaf children. A SESU is a personal support resource that complements others available to a school and is focused particularly toward facilita- ting participation and learning by students with a lack of autonomy deriving from motor disability, severe intellectual disabilities or severe developmental or behavioural disorders in the mainstream school environment. The current special education units assigned to mainstream schools are to become SESUs in these schools. In any event, all pupils at a school, independently of their support needs, must form part of an ordinary class group, and the various resources must be organised to facilitate their participation in ordinary activities and to help and support students faced with learning difficulties, above all in normal settings. The head teacher and senior staff, the school’s CAD and, on the basis of their proposals, the whole of the teaching staff, must assume different levels of responsibility according to current guidelines and rules, for the modifications and support organised by the school to meet students’ educational needs.
  • 20. 20 Schools also have available to them the advice of the educational services and of the special schools in the district. When using and organising the personal support resources that are available to the school, account must always be taken of the criteria discussed above on cooperative work between the students and other forms of support, so that they complement one another. Furthermore, specialist staff (special education teachers, therapeutic education teachers...) should prioritise their attention to disabled students and support interventions in the mainstream classroom, in view of how very effective this practice has proved to be for the students as a whole, and they should reserve their activities outside the general classroom for specific activities for which their presence is essential. The danger must always be avoided of allowing a personal support resource to become a barrier to participation, as a result of generating excessive dependence on the part of the student, or of not having sufficiently combined individual attention with that addressed to the group as a whole. 5.5. Special schools The current state of our education system, as is the case also with those of most of our neighbours, obliges us to consider the special schools as an asset and a resource that needs to be progressively transformed to adapt to the inclusive education approach which is proposed in this Plan. Various discussions of this topic (APPS, 2007; Carbonell et al., 2007; Font and Giné, 2007) have stressed the importance of valuing the expertise, the fund of knowledge, the professional teams and the resources the special schools have accumulated, in or- der to reinvest these assets in the development of inclusive education. As Farrell and Ainscow (2002) have observed, the direction and future of the special schools is inti- mately bound up with “making special education more inclusive”. In Catalonia, legislation as early as Decree 299/1997 provided for cooperation between mainstream schools and special schools, with regard both to the mobility of staff and to shared education or exchange of experience and educational resources. Before and after this legal provision, our country has undertaken several pioneering experiments that help confirm here the successful experiments carried out by other countries in this regard (Ainscow 2001). These experiments allow us to state that making special educa- tion more inclusive means understanding it as a package of specialised aid, resources and support at the service of students with special needs of educational support, prio- ritising intervention in mainstream school environments. Thus, the existing special schools must evolve to enable them to perform a double function focused on the edu- cational inclusion of all pupils: — Firstly, the education of pupils with major educational support needs. In this case, — educational attention must prioritise the functionality of what is learnt and promote the autonomy and social habits that facilitate students’ participation in the communi- ty and their surroundings, insofar as possible in mainstream school environments.
  • 21. 21 This function implies that a special school should act as a facilitator for pupils’ pre- sence, participation, learning and success, particularly in the case of those students with the most need for specialised support in normal environments. The possibilities should always be considered of combined school attendance and par- ticipation in activities in mainstream schools, depending on the student’s specific si- tuation, as well as of maintaining collaborative relations with community services and institutions in the zone to facilitate everyone’s participation in the community. — Secondly, they must become reference centres and providers of services and — support programmes for educational inclusion. The specialised knowledge, experience and resources available to the existing special schools on the teaching and learning of students with the greatest need of educatio- nal support, means they can become important support resources for student inclu- sion in situations ranging from ways of approaching situations of difficulty or conflict faced by the student, to reception, orientation and support for families. At any event, as research and good practice has shown, inclusive education necessarily involves cooperation between different professionals, through which tutors in mains- tream schools and special school teaching staff exchange their experiences. This creative and innovative collaboration shares the experience, educational tradi- tions and teaching techniques already found in mainstream schools and special schools and, above and beyond simply adding them together, generates new ways of doing things that are the outcome of shared thought and practice. The special schools, whether public or private schools receiving support from public funds, acting in coordination with educational services, must become outreach special schools for the mainstream schools in the zone, in order to provide specific resources, collaborate with the adaptation of materials and the development of intervention strate- gies for students’ educational inclusion. Furthermore, the special schools, with the authorisation of the Department of Educa- tion and in coordination with the zonal and specific education services, may act as providers of specific services and programmes to support educational inclusion, in matters such as the following: • Stimulation of language and alternative communication. • Multisensorial stimulation and mobility adaptations in the classroom environ- ment. • Emotional balance and self-control. • Functional skills (mobility, eating, hygiene...). • Orientation of methodological and organisational strategies, adaptation of mate- rials and teaching resources. • Specific support for students in exceptional situations. • Contributions to or information about specific teaching materials. • Support for job placement. To enhance inclusiveness in a given area, projects may also be considered for unions between special schools and mainstream schools promoted by the schools themselves.
  • 22. 22 5.6. Education services and specific support programmes Because of their role in encouraging good educational practice and in providing support for schools to meet the needs of all pupils, particularly those with special edu- cational needs, the education services have a very important part to play on the road towards inclusive education. In harmony with earlier advice on the contribution of education services to progress toward inclusive education (CSE, 2008), we outline below a number of fields to which they can contribute: — Advice to and collaboration with schools to progress toward the inclusive — treatment of all pupils through participation when necessary in the schools’ structure (courses, teaching teams, staff meetings, departments...), particularly in the CADs. Cooperation with the head teacher and teaching staff to make specific proposals for improvements and contribute to putting them into practice. — Assessing, with the cooperation of the teaching staff, the needs and potential of — SEN students, considering how to deal with the barriers to learning and participation the student faces in the environment. Collaboration in tracking their progress and learning throughout their time at school. — Initiate and participate in proposals to update, review and improve the teaching — staff ’s professional practice, promoting and coordinating, when necessary, seminars on methodology, in order to help schools advance towards inclusive education. — Cooperate to bring together and share good practice on educational inclusion. — Facilitate the adoption of measures to improve schools, as decided on after considera- tion of good practices with teaching staff. — Facilitate the inclusion of methodological and didactic proposals in training — activities that take place in the educational zone, which take account of diversity and promote inclusiveness in the classroom. — Contribute to raising awareness of educational inclusion in the whole commu- — nity, organising (or cooperating with) informative events in the zone, and encouraging participation by, and the active involvement of, disabled young people and adults or those at risk of social exclusion, in local social events. — Offer advice, support and orientation to teaching staff to enhance learning and — participation by all pupils in the mainstream environment. — Facilitate and participate in networking by local professionals working in diffe- — rent fields (education, health, social services, etc.) to monitor and support students and their families. — Advise families on matters arising from the education of their children and on — their participation in family, school and community life.
  • 23. 23 Education services maybe zonal or specific: — Zonal education services (ZES) provide psychoeducational evaluation and tea- — ching resources support services for schools in their zone. They include the psychoedu- cational evaluation and orientation team (PEOT), the teaching resources centre (TRC) and the language, interculturality and social cohesion team (LISCT). —— Specific education services (SES) are services to support teaching activity in schools with the aim of adapting educational activity for disabled students or those with severe developmental or behavioural disorders. The SESs perform a specific evaluation of the educational needs of pupils connected with their speciality, provide specific support in the form of resources and teaching materials and carry out educational support actions for teaching staff, students and fa- milies. The specific education services are as follows: — ERCHI (educational resources centre for hearing impairment). These provide ser- — vices to support the education of students with hearing impairment or communica- tion and language disorders. — SESMD (specific education services for motor disability). These provide services to — support the education of students with motor disability. — SEGDBD (specific education service for generalised developmental and behaviou- — ral disorders). Provides support for students with generalised developmental and be- havioural disorders. — ERVI (educational resource centre for visual impairment). Provides support ser- — vices for the education of students with visual impairment. In addition, the Department of Education will call on special schools, in coordination with the education services, to carry out specific support programmes for the inclu- sive education of disabled students in mainstream schools in the zone, providing ad- vice for teaching staff, support in adapting materials and, when necessary, direct atten- tion for students with special educational needs deriving from disablement, generalised developmental disorders or severe behavioural disorders. 5.7. Networking Students in general, and most particularly those who are more vulnerable for social reasons, because of their health or because of their personal disabilities, need a greater or lesser degree of intervention by professional staff working in the social, health, employment or leisure spheres. Overcoming the barriers to learning and participation, the fundamental goal of inclusive education, often requires the intervention of professionals in more than one of these fields, above and beyond that of professionals from the educational community.
  • 24. 24 When such a variety of aspects are in play, to share goals and to move forward in a coherent way is as indispensable as it is complex. Various authors (Abril and Ubieto, 2008; Bassedas, 2005; Huguet, 2005) have discussed networking and have offered experiences and observations that have enabled a step to be taken above and beyond mere coordination between different professionals, in pur- suit of a complementary, incremental action, the fruit of collaboration. Their observations stress that the view of a single professional is not enough, in many cases, to help students and their families to overcome these barriers to learning and participation, in order to follow the best possible path of learning and development. When it comes to identifying the difficulties and strong points of a person and their environment and drawing up a plan for intervention and monitoring, it is from con- versation amongst professionals that a shared view and a collaborative line of work can emerge. Networking means, at least, that the professionals involved share this need for colla- borative action, and that they define a minimal shared plan, with a collective commit- ment to monitoring it. The first expression of networking should be in collaborative action by the professional staff who intervene in schools (tutorial teaching staff, support teaching staff, educatio- nal psychology consultants, etc.) and it should extend, when necessary, into the three fields mentioned earlier: health, social, leisure. Networking by the various professio- nal staff will be enhanced by the education services. In order for networking to be possible, enough time and suitable structures must be available. Occasions such as meetings of the CAD or the Social Committee are ideal for this important function, with the cooperation of the education services. Ideas on how to cooperate with other services or how to meet the needs of each zone and each situa- tion may also arise from such meetings. 5.8. Involving the community Research into inclusive education has made plain the vital importance of the role of the community for the success of inclusion. First of all, stress has been laid on the role of the school itself as a community which is moving in a certain direction to facilitate education for all to a greater or lesser degree. It has also been observed that the pupils themselves are the first resource for inclusion when the school is organised to promote cooperation between peers or when it pro- motes initiatives such as group work in which students learn from one another. But the community goes well beyond the school. Families and social agents can have a very important role to play in enhancing the academic success of all students, parti- cularly when schools work in harmony with the rest of the community and when the cooperation that is required of parents has a direct bearing on their children’s educa- tion.
  • 25. 25 This broader concept of the learning community further strengthens the school’s possibilities of inclusiveness and the success of all pupils. Community involvement in schools, whether in the form of mixed committees or volunteer work (by families, other members of the community, higher-education students, teaching staff, etc.) enhances the schools’ harmonising role and significantly improves learning, incor- porating ways of doing things such as interactive groups and promoting the inclusion of all students in the same activities. In parallel with this, steps must be taken to further participation by students with spe- cial educational needs in activities in the surrounding community, taking advantage of the available cultural and leisure resources which may contribute to developing their potential, improving their quality of life and making their presence in general activi- ties something normal. 5.9. Interdepartmental coordination Individuals with disabilities often require support that goes beyond the school envi- ronment, necessitating coordination between institutions to ensure the effectiveness of services and that major measures are complementary to one another. To this end it is essential for the departments of Education, Health and Social Action and Citizenship to draw up between them an integrated plan to attend to the needs of individuals with disabilities. Coordination is also essential between the Department of Education and the Depart- ment of Employment to advance towards the integrated planning of training pro- grammes for people with disabilities, with due regard for their prospects for job place- ment. It is also important to coordinate the criteria of the various professional staff who ad- vise and guide families to ensure coherence throughout the process. 5.10. Students’ own views about their education Progressing toward inclusive education also means listening to the students’ opinions about school for all. Students, whether they have disabilities or not, should be able to express their views on the positive aspects and the limitations they perceive; only thus can ways truly be found to resolve the difficulties. Steps must be taken to fill the gap that has been revealed in this regard by research into the opinions of young people with personal disabilities and their classmates after they have completed school (Anderson and Clarke, cited by Marchesi, 2001b). Account must be taken in this respect of young people’s thoughts about the need to be informed about different aspects of their personal disabilities or specific ways of dea- ling with them. It is also important to promote their socialization and formation of relationships, in or- der to avoid the sense of isolation they may feel, particularly when they reach adoles- cence.
  • 26. 26 Appropriate steps must also be taken to prepare students for independence or the assumption of responsibility for commonplace aspects of daily life. Each person’s disability situation is unique, and so the rigid application of general educational criteria must be avoided, lest it cause dissatisfaction on the part of those who have not had the opportunity to have their voice heard. We must listen to the views of students with disabilities, be sensitive to them and understand them, seeking to make the adjustments that may be needed in each particular situation. Furthermore, we should continue to diversify the specific ways of providing education for students with personal disabilities, making the general criteria discussed so far compatible with other, more specific ones, in order to facilitate the process of learning and socialisation. Adolescents and young people with disabilities who attend the various schools have also from time to time expressed their desire to make their attendance at mainstream schools—which allows them to be with and learn with different classmates—compatible with the opportunity of periodically meeting other adolescents and young people who share with them expectations for the future and interests related to their personal disa- personal disa- bilities. The development of inclusive education must also be sensitive to the desires and aspi- rations of adolescents and young people with disabilities, trying out a variety of forms of social and community participation to enhance their quality of life.
  • 27. 27 6. Entering society and the workplace: the transition to adult life At the end of the period of school attendance, transition to adult life for people with personal disabilities calls for special attention if the goals of participation and learning for all that have been pursued throughout their inclusive education are to be achieved. Experience with students with major needs for educational support deriving from disability make it clear that attention must be paid to preparation for access to a job and the transition to adult life, before their time at school is over. Hence, experience and opportunities for work and in the community should be provided for them before they leave school. A plan for transition to adult life (Font and Giné, 2007) should have two goals: — For students to identify their abilities for learning and development before leaving — school so as to improve their autonomy and functionality. — To identify the services and support needed to help them obtain a proper job, a — suitable place to live and the opportunity to continue developing personal and social skills, as well as giving them the opportunity to form relationships and friendships. With these aims in view, personalised life projects can be drawn up as a background to the development of skills for transition to adult life, bearing in mind the conditions and possibilities in each area and the needs and possibilities of each individual, in or- der to reaffirm personal autonomy and social skills as well as work-related skills. Hence, at the end of the period of compulsory education it is indispensable to begin guiding students in this regard, and to this end personalised itineraries must be devised that are suited to the young people’s abilities and interests and to their possibilities in society and at work. In the development of personalised life projects the following have an important role to play: — the community work carried out in connection with inclusive education in the — zone, as well as the solidity of the networking that has taken place on social and work- related questions and the prospects for future job placement and participation within the community; — participation by the families of young people with disabilities and others close to — them. Collaboration between the families and the professional staff who advise them, and the support these are able to provide, are essential throughout the process. To facilitate this process, the Department of Education, in coordination with the De- partment of Employment, will: — promote the involvement and participation of companies in the processes of fin- — ding initial employment and the development of a variety of options, such as sheltered
  • 28. 28 employment, work teams, supported employment, self-employment and other forms of work activity; — encourage companies to offer work experience for school-leavers with disabilities — under the same terms as the others and procure that the IPQPs (Initial Professional Qualification Programmes) in each zone are coherent with the availability of jobs; — plan the availability of professional training to take account of the possibilities of — companies in the area as well as the interests, abilities and skills of people with perso- nal disabilities. People with personal disabilities very often need instruments to support them if they are to enter the world of work with equal opportunities. Supported employment is a system that provides a package of aids and measures to accompany people with disabilities as they seek work, start their job and hold it in an ordinary company. It suits all those individuals who need continual accompaniment or supervision as they begin work so that they can successfully do a real job in the long term. One of the key figures in this process is the job placement officer, who will offer assistance to workers with disabilities and who coordinates all related issues. Furthermore, the Department of Education, in coordination with the Department of Social Action and Citizenship, will promote the measures needed to facilitate transi- tion to adult life for people with disabilities under the best possible conditions, and hence the transition from attention in the school environment to attention on a daily basis (at present occupational centres and specialised attention centres).
  • 29. 29 7. The collaboration of families and professionals It is generally agreed that the family environment has a key role for the development and education of the individual, and this is even more so in the case of students with special educational needs in view of the greater dependence that often conditions their development and their access to learning and participation. Here in the Action Plan “Learning Together to Live Together”, we wish to give a pro- minent place to the cooperation between the family and the school and between the family and professional staff which is so necessary in order to deal with barriers to lear- ning and participation. For many years, those working in the fields of health and education tended to think of the role of the families of students with special educational needs more as an instru- mental one than as a collaborative one: they often sought the cooperation of parents to take part in programmes to stimulate their children, programmes drawn up by specia- lists in various aspects of education or by enablers. Progressively, staff in the Centres for Children’s Development and Early Care (CCDECs), schools and the education ser- vices have evolved toward a more global, interactive approach, in which the families begin to play a more relevant and active role. As various studies and research have stressed (Almirall, 2007; Giné, 2003; Leal, 1999; Planas, 2003; Paniagua, 1999), to move forward with inclusive education it is essential: • to improve communication between professional staff and families, • to improve avenues of participation by parents in decision-making, • to put greater emphasis on the work of professional staff to inform, support and advise the families of SEN students. 7.1. From the family with problems to the family with needs and a part to play In recent years the idea that families with a child with disabilities had to have problems or difficulties that were characteristic of their situation has gradually been left behind in favour of a view in which they are considered normal families in exceptional cir- cumstances (Seligman and Darling, 2007). The abandonment of this “pathologising” approach became possible when families be- gan to be analysed in their specific environment and as people with certain resources available, whether within the family itself or in their immediate setting. This change of perspective means that families are no longer thought of in terms of deficits and problems, but rather as having needs and possibilities, and also allows the differences between the characteristics of different families to be envisioned and attention to be paid to how their situation evolves.
  • 30. 30 7.2. Collaboration between families and professionals Improving avenues for parents’ participation in decision-making and in the process of educating their children involves a commitment to progress toward a model in which professional staff and families collaborate, and in which each party recognises the other’s mutually-necessary knowledge and expertise. This model is based on recognition by professional staff of the knowledge the parents have about their child. Parents are seen as protagonists in the adaptive process and in the response to their child’s needs, and a balance is sought between participation by families and professionals. The professionals can contribute information, offer options, open up alternatives and help interpret information, situations and reactions. This approach means that professionals, above and beyond their technical expertise as teachers or advisers in a certain field, need to have the ability to relate and a particular- ly empathic attitude to enable them to control and lead this collaboration. 7.3. Information, support and advice for families The growing presence of students with disabilities in mainstream schools, as proposed by educational inclusion, must be accompanied by the implementation of organisatio- nal measures and training for the staff that will enable adequate communication with students’ families. Furthermore, provision must be made to ensure the availability of whatever specific information, support and advice the families may need (Almirall, 2007; Giné, 2003; Paniagua, 1999) on specific aspects related to their particular needs. In general terms, the schools and education services should pay special attention to aspects such as the following with regard to information and advice: — Provide information and clarification on aspects of students’ progress and on — functional aspects connected with disability. — Cooperate with the family on students’ schooling and the adoption of measures to — facilitate their educational and social inclusion. — Provide information, and/or ways of obtaining it, on technical resources and so- — cial assistance. — Advise on strategies and ways of doing things that facilitate the control of beha- — viour and the setting of limits for their child. — Facilitate contact with associations of families or other organisations that may be — a source of mutual assistance. As for families’ emotional support needs, schools and education services must prioritise: — Appropriate treatment when disability is diagnosed and assistance to face up to the — feelings this may arouse within the family.
  • 31. 31 — Help for families in comprehending the disability, providing an accurate view of — the difficulties faced by a person with disabilities as well as their potential. — Help for families to find their own resources to cope. — — Support and advice in the situations of particular difficulty that occur in the — course of life and school (starting school, change in stage of education or the school attended, changes in a student’s capacity for autonomy, puberty and the onset of ado- lescence, etc.). — Support in the event of a communication block between the parents and their — child with disability.
  • 32. 32 8. Training for inclusive education To put this Action Plan “Learning Together to Live Together” into effect a specific trai- ning programme is necessary for all teaching staff, head teachers, professional staff in the education services and support personnel (educators and monitors). Even though the Framework Plan for Continuing Training 2005-2010 already provides for educa- tional inclusion as a priority topic for training, on the basis of this Action Plan a se- ries of specific measures will be taken that will take account of inclusion in classrooms and schools, at the same time setting it in a broader social and community context. To move firmly toward educational inclusion it is necessary, at the outset, to provide class teachers, other specialists in schools, professional staff in the education services and head teachers and senior teaching staff with an orientation and with strategies that smooth their task in a normal classroom or school setting. According to the Framework Plan for Continuing Training 2005-2010, the training plan for inclusive education will combine training in the school and in the local educa- tional zone (so as to facilitate the exchange of experiences and the optimisation of re- sources) with other, more general, measures addressed to all professional staff. 8.1. The objectives of training The objectives of training for inclusive education are evident from the very concept and ought to impregnate all informative and training actions that derive from the Action Plan. — To share the idea that underlies educational inclusion: the recognition that all stu- — dents can learn and that they should do so in an ordinary social and educational con- text, in equality of rights and duties and without barriers. — To move forward with the practice of inclusion as a set of actions in the class- — room, the school and the surrounding area, aimed at combating inequality and pro- moting the educational success of all pupils, placing special emphasis on the groups which are traditionally most vulnerable, amongst whom are students with disabilities. — To contribute to perceiving the process towards inclusive education as one of trans- — formation that requires commitment and which will bring with it improvement for everyone, emphasising the fact that equality and quality of education are not only not contradictory, but reinforce one another. — To sensitise the educational community about inclusion, so that it is perceived as — something positive that benefits everyone and contributes to creating more just, more cohesive communities. — To share inclusive practices as a means to achieve both basic transverse skills and — those specific to each area. — To pool and disseminate the strategies and resources needed by all those involved, —
  • 33. 33 so that they can offer all pupils the opportunity to learn and participate in the context of the classroom, the school and the ordinary environment. — To give teaching staff the tools and strategies they need to enter into inclusive — practices with enough confidence for positive, collaborative dynamics to be generated in the classroom and in the school. 8.2. The initial training of teaching staff Initial teacher training at university must include the theoretical underpinnings of educational inclusion as an option that promotes learning and the overall development of the student. Furthermore, this training must stress the content on strategies and ways of program- ming activities that facilitate inclusive education in schools and in classrooms. In specialised training, carried out at postgraduate and master’s level, priority must be given to enabling graduates to provide support and assessment on methods and re- sources that enhance educational attention to all students in mainstream environments. 8.3. Continuing training of teaching staff The backbone of this training is that given in-school or in the local educational zone. — In-school training is justified by the importance of the joint work of the professio- — nal staff who work there to facilitate processes of inclusion. This training necessarily involves a discussion centred on the school’s beliefs, policies and educational practice. It must cover the organisational and structural measures that must be taken in the school to facilitate inclusion; an analysis and a recognition of the most suitable class- room methodology; a discussion of the strategies for collaboration between the tea- ching staff involved in teaching the same group (tutorial teachers, specialist teachers and support teachers) to promote an inclusive dynamic, and of the consequent decisions on the role of specialists in schools (special education teachers, speech and hearing teachers, therapeutic education teachers, educators, educational psychologists, etc.). The leadership of the head teacher and the senior staff and the presence of external advisors are essential for the optimum development of training in the school. This proposal, furthermore, is coherent with the new Catalan Education Law, which pro- poses a greater degree of autonomy for schools. — As for training in the local area (educational zone or training plan zone), training — must ensure that inclusive good practice is known and shared, it must promote coope- rative networking between the schools, including the special schools, and provide spe- cific training for certain specialists. Initially, training actions will be organised directed at all the different staff involved in order to raise their awareness and encourage wor- king together, and subsequently there will be more focused training for specific groups of staff, according to their needs. In parallel with this and as a general rule, discussion will be stimulated on the teaching and learning methodologies that are most propitious for inclusion with respect to all types of didactic activity.
  • 34. 34 This proposal is also fully coherent with the desire of the Department of Education, manifested in the Education Law, to manage education on a local basis, as is the case of the educational zones. It is therefore incumbent on the zone director, in conjunction with the education ser- vices and the schools’ inspectorate, to take charge of this zonal training. — The centralised training provided by the Department of Education, directed at — head teachers, senior teachers and the teachers of particular segments of the curricu- lum, will include transversal guidelines and methodologies to facilitate the implemen- tation of inclusive education. — Specific training will focus on more detailed aspects of the educational needs and — potential of those with different disabilities. This training will be directed primarily at specialised teaching staff and the teaching staff at schools which have students with disabilities. 8.4. The basic content of training The content of training will be adapted to the various types of school, the local zone concerned and the staff and their requirements, but will basically cover the following topics: — General aspects: — • The underpinnings of inclusive education. Concept and models of inclusion. • Knowledge and use of the material: Índex per a la inclusió: guia per a l’avaluació i la millora de l’inclusive education (IC-UB 2005), to draw up and implement an improvement plan for the school. • Collaborative work with support teaching staff and other specialists. • Ways of organising support for and attention to diversity in the school. • Universal design of learning. • The evaluation of inclusive contexts: identifying the barriers to learning, partici- pation and success for all pupils. • Involving families and the surrounding area to promote inclusive practices. • Optimising resources. — Methodology and educational attention: — • Ways of organising the school and the classroom that are favourable to educatio- nal inclusion. • Classroom management strategies to optimise learning and participation for all pupils: strategies for the self-regulation of learning, cooperative work, multilevel teaching, etc. • Adaptation of textbooks and teaching material. • Forms and strategies of adaptation for different subject areas. • Use of technological resources. • Working with methodologies based on reflective practice.
  • 35. 35 8.5. Specific actions Training for inclusive education is directed at all professional staff in schools and the education services; it will take place in different settings: centralised, by region, by local educational zone, in schools or on an individual basis on-line. Teaching staff thus have access to generalised training to support the process of trans- formation in the school and the classroom, with the aim of achieving the participation of all pupils in mainstream environments, but they will also have at their disposal spe- cific training on different types of disability and specific strategies and resources to de- ploy. At the regional level, coordination seminars will be organised to cover cooperation be- tween the staff in special schools, those in mainstream schools with special education support units, and the education services.
  • 36. 36 9. Administration of the Plan Many experts and professionals have participated in the drafting of the Department of Education’s Action Plan, and together with them, priorities have been established, together with criteria and proposals for bringing its measures and aims into line with real educational needs. The Plan takes account of their suggestions and contributions. Various committees have been established to implement the process: Technical committees A technical committee was established in 2007. Representatives of the various directo- rates general of the Department of Education sit on this committee. The technical committee sits fortnightly to analyse proposals and actions and to iden- tify the ways forward. Territorial committees Within each of the territorial services a specific committee has been established to promote the Plan and to determine the map of resources and services in an ongoing manner. Those responsible for the planning units, school inspection and the educa- tion services sit on these committees to analyse the projections and existing resources and, on the basis of statistical data regarding the population of each zone, they propose how resources and services be distributed, and programmes implemented, with sights set on 2015. The territorial committees meet regularly, at least once every three months, to push for- ward the planning for resources and to coordinate actions associated with the imple- mentation of the Plan. In order to coordinate the actions of the various territorial areas, the meetings of the territorial committees are attended by members of staff from the Directorate General for Attention to the Educational Community. Group of experts The Department of Education is assisted through the collaboration of a group of ex- perts consisting of university teaching staff, members of school management teams, the education service’s staff, school inspectors, representatives of the Departments of Health, Employment, Social Action and Citizenship, representatives of organisations concerned with people with disabilities and members of the Directorate General for Innovation and the Directorate General for Attention to the Educational Community. The group of experts considers proposals and criteria, tracks the Plan’s implementation and decides on indicators to evaluate that implementation. Teacher-training experts committee A specific committee was established to design an educational inclusion teacher-trai- ning programme. Sitting on this committee were university teaching staff, experts on
  • 37. 37 inclusive education; members of the Directorate General for Innovation and members of the Directorate General for Attention to the Educational Community. The committee dealt with deeper issues regarding the aims, content and form of trai- ning to enable teaching staff with resources and strategies regarding all pupils’ school work within the ordinary classroom and school setting. Interdepartmental coordination The Department of Education has begun to hold coordination sessions with the De- partments of Health, Employment, Social Action and Citizenship the better to coordi- nate actions in which the various departments intervene and to make progress in the design of a plan for integrated attention for pupils with disabilities. A study has been set up, in this regard, about school pupils’ health needs, and into the incorporation of staff from the Department of Education during the months when job placement is being sought for people with disabilities. Furthermore, during the 2007-2008 academic year, presentation sessions by the schools inspectorate and the education services about the fundamentals of the Plan were held at each of the territorial services in order to better promote its implementation. The fundamentals of the Plan were also presented to head teachers at publicly-funded special education schools and to the central education directors’ boards for infant, pri- mary and secondary education. During the 2008-2009 academic year, various working sessions were held with the Fe- deració Catalana Pro Persones amb Discapacitat Intel·lectual - APPS (Catalan Federa- tion on behalf of People with Intellectual Disabilities), with the union representatives of private schools receiving support from public funds, and with the representatives of local authorities that have municipal special schools. In September 2008 an agreement was signed with the employers’ association for pri- vate, special education schools receiving support from public funds about the modifi- cation of accords concerning special schools deriving from the implementation of the Plan.