Initial training of educational professionals: A look at inclusion?

Abstract

In a diverse society, inclusion emerges as a fundamental value and an inescapable social responsibility. Educational professionals need to be trained to promote inclusion, understood as the process of addressing the diverse needs of all students. With a descriptive-interpretive design, this study analyses university students' perceptions of inclusion and their understanding of inclusion in higher education institutions. An ad hoc questionnaire was used to collect data from 471 students from different educational programmes in four Catalan universities. The results show that, in general, students understand inclusion as an integrated process that encompasses equity and diversity, although this understanding varies between programmes. Furthermore, students recognise the importance of inclusive principles (recognition of diversity as universal, inclusion as the only response to students, personalised learning, equity and equal opportunities, participation and shared responsibility, and teacher training), but perceive a discrepancy in how these principles are understood, which varies according to gender, academic year and the presence of special educational needs (SEN). In particular, students in higher years show a more sophisticated understanding of inclusion, while those with SEN are more aware of barriers at university. These data highlight a gap between inclusion theory and its actual application in universities and suggest new lines of research to better understand the causes of this gap and to improve institutional policies and initial teacher training in inclusion for future educational professionals.