ESPECIAL EDUCATION VERSUS INCLUSIVE EDUCATION

Abstract

Versus is a preposition that in Latin meant 'towards', but already in the fifteenth century it acquired in the English legal language the value of 'against', and with this meaning it is frequently used in today's Spanish. This is what this is really about, to elucidate whether special education should be oriented “towards” inclusive education; or if both models should face each other, or if, on the contrary, special education and inclusive education are models that must converge and be integrated into a school that accepts as a paradigm any educational need’s type. The goal of this call for papers is to develop a space for reflect on these two school models that, in recent times, have come to foster a debate on whether one should should take priority over the other. Special education refers to a set of scientific knowledge and educational, psychological, social and medical interventions focuses on optimizing the possibilities of exceptional subjects. European countries are adapting special education in accordance with the principles of normalization, integration and inclusion, and with the conception of education as a service provided to citizens. The concept of Special Educational Needs´concept focuses on the student's issues, not starting from their limitations, but focusing on the provision of means to achieve equal capacities for all. The World Declaration on Education for All (Jomtien, Jomtien, 1990) is the basis for inclusive education and it goes from the concept of normalization of differences in ordinary schools to the concept of inclusive school, which accepts all students as basically different regardless of their personal and social circumstances. The World Conference on Special Needs Education (Unesco, 1994) held in Salamanca, Spain, represents the beginning of an Inclusive Education Movement, with one of the principles with special educational needs people., they should have access to ordinary schools and be integrated through a child-centered pedagogy capable of meeting those needs. The real challenge of inclusive education involves a work that starts from the recognition of human diversity, the uniqueness of each individual and their belonging to a culture. The Inclusive School is an ethical and social requirement where the learning of all students is guaranteed, with special emphasis on those who are excluded, marginalized or at risk of being so, through the implementation of a set of actions aimed at minimizing barriers to student learning and participation.

Keywords

• diversity; inclusion; training; teacher