Good practices of educational inclusion: criteria and strategies for teachers’ professional development

Abstract

This paper provides evidence on how a school is able to offer a quality education to all students, while taking into account the diversity of their personal and contextual characteristics. From the analysis of the processes, it can be concluded that the key factor for the achievement of inclusive education lies in the good practices of teachers, and that the study of these practices should be implemented as a professional development project. The data presented here are part of a broader research project, and show the perceptions of teachers and families from four selected schools, focusing on the characteristics of good practices of coordination between the family and the school. These findings can contribute to greater educational attention being paid to students with Specific Needs of Educational Support (SENS). Within the framework of qualitative research, a multiple case study was carried out, using interviews as the main instrument for data collection. After an in-depth analysis of the data, some conclusions are drawn to show the educational community the educational actions that define professional and institutional development, which would be capable of effectively serving diverse students, therefore making the inclusive school a reality.