Presentation: Researching inclusion: moving towards the consolidation of collaborative enquiry communities

Abstract

The idea of dedicating a thematic section to current research on inclusive education arose after one of the meetings of the Chilean Network of Researchers in Inclusive Education, which was created last year by a group of academics from Chilean universities and which pursues similar aims to the issue we are now presenting. In both cases, the aim is to make the work visible and stimulate dialogue between researchers committed to moving towards education systems and schools that contribute to the task of guaranteeing the right to education for all children and young people based on the principles of justice and equity.

On that hot November afternoon, Cynthia Duk and I talked about how much interest and work has grown in the Ibero-American sphere in the work of numerous teams dedicated to understanding the complex web of exclusion-inclusion phenomena and seeking ways to contribute to the thinking and practice of inclusive education. The publication of a thematic section of the journal was a good opportunity to get to know and disseminate the work of colleagues from other universities but above all to discuss and move towards a common frame of reference for sharing research advances and exploring new directions that after some years of growth might be emerging in the field. On this point we agree with Parrilla (2009) when he argues that the creation of inclusive research communities is one of the most relevant challenges facing the academic community in this area. This journal is undoubtedly an important step forward in this task.