Key Dimensions for the Inclusive Educational Development: Emancipatory Knowledge in a Collaborative Counselling Experience

Abstract

This article analyzes the keys for the implementation of an inclusive school development process from a set of collaborative counseling experiences, developed between 2014 and 2017 in the city of Santiago de Chile, using the materials of the Guide for Educational Inclusion. We proceeded by means of a qualitative study that systematizes a series of inquiries carried out from a participatory action research design in conjunction with educational communities, the information production techniques were field notes, work materials produced by the participants, interviews and records of meetings that were subjected to a content analysis and data triangulation. The results reveal five key dimensions, namely: collaborative cultures, participatory action research, inclusive leadership, comprehensive change vision, and collaborative mentoring. It is concluded that the dimensions are co-dependent and articulated to guide the coping of inclusive change processes. Finally, there is a set of situations in which collaborative counseling can overcome a complex scenario marked by the demands of quality standards and the valuation of diversity, through a process-centered approach.