Inclusión y capacidades diversas: una investigación-acción en la Implementación de un proceso de sensibilización durante el aprendizaje del Inglés con estudiantes de undécimo grado

Abstract

Inclusion in education is understood as the integration of people with “disabilities” inside a classroom of “mainstream” students. This implies a non-fully attendance of their needs and perpetuates a “normalization” goal these students have to reach. Also, a misunderstanding of what inclusion, diversity, and differences entail in the classroom might trigger exclusionary practices and social interactions. The purpose of this investigation is to transform this belief and determine the way students developed an understanding of inclusion and diverse capabilities during a sensitization process in an EFL context. The participants of this study were Eleventh graders from a public school in Bogotá. An exploratory qualitative study in a grounded theory analysis of students’ logs, questionnaires, and pre-service teachers’ journals determined the way students conceived inclusion and diverse capabilities in a non-language centered context. The findings are related to the development of both concepts from inclusive practices, experiences, and perspectives shown inside the EFL classroom. Besides, they acknowledge the other as different and capable with attitudes towards diversity, along with reflections about EFL learning. Concluding, this study remarks on the importance of raising awareness towards diversity and the influence of addressing diverse capabilities. In the EFL field, the reflection on the way English is taught nowadays and the importance of developing inclusion-related projects in EFL contexts, which allow us to ponder about methodologies that may promote a better understanding of the other to enhance our educational communities and our society.