This text is part of the special booklet 90th Acfas Congress
As part of the 90e Acfas Congress, a symposium on inclusive education will bring together researchers from French-speaking countries in the purpose of making an inventory progress both in the province and elsewhere. But above all, how this concept defined?
Inclusive education is both a “research posture” and a “way of life”, according to researcher Nathalie Trépanier. “It can be as much a process as an end. According to the proposed definition, what you put around will give it a different meaning. For me, it’s a process,” says the full professor in the Department of Psychopedagogy and Andragogy at the Université de Montréal.
In addition to “developing educated and happy beings”, the ultimate objective of this process is to make academic success accessible to all types of students enrolled in continuing or initial education, whether they are in a situation of success, difficulty or failure, according to the co-director of the symposium on inclusive education. There are different approaches to achieve this. “For some students, it’s putting them in a situation of success and giving them goals to achieve. […] For others, visual support is important. It can also be important for a student who does not have a problem. The goal is to make it accessible without stigmatizing anyone, ”she illustrates.
A miracle cure?
Although M.me Trépanier gives several examples of inclusive pedagogy, she argues that the “pedagogical pill” does not exist. “In education, we would tend to want to treat everything equally. We have a solution, so we’re going to apply it everywhere or, worse than that, we’re going to say how effective a means is by treating it as evidence. But for students, it is less obvious, depending on several factors. […] Two children with the same problems do not necessarily have the same needs,” she points out. We must take into account variable parameters which can be, for example, family, social or personal, specifies Nathalie Trépanier.
Even if a student is “in a situation of academic handicap” and has not received a diagnosis, his inclusion is still possible. “You have to understand what puts a young person in this situation. It doesn’t stop at a trouble [diagnostiqué]. What causes a young person to be in a recurring situation of failure? There are clues, ”thinks the professor of education. While a diagnosis isn’t the only indicator that a student is struggling, a “label” is still needed to get them the resources they need in today’s school system, he concedes. She.
Solidarity to move forward
It is for this reason that teachers must be supported in order to introduce measures. “A teacher is trained to do what he does, but sometimes he just doesn’t know what to do. It is therefore necessary to put measures in place, whether around the teacher, the students or the family. The type of leadership exercised in schools or the way services are organized are examples of this, ”explains Ms.me Trepanier.
With additional help to support teachers, the inclusion of those who are struggling to succeed in school does not come at the expense of that of other students who are better off in the classroom. The researcher believes that it can happen that a teacher does not know how to intervene with a student who gets angry, “but once she knows what to do, with support, [l’élève] will take responsibility.”
As for research on inclusive education, what can we expect for the future? “Research in education is scary. It’s never the end because society evolves. We continue to think about the development of the human beings we educate and to see how politicians will recover [les résultats de nos recherches] “says Nathalie Trépanier.
This special content was produced by the Special Publications team of the Duty, pertaining to marketing. The drafting of Duty did not take part.