Narratives Committed to Inclusive Education from the Students, Voices. Inequalities, Resistance, and Collective Action

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.4067/S0718-73782025000200017

Keywords:

Inclusive education, Student voice, Educational inequalities, Resistance, Collective action

Abstract

The project to make schools inclusive did not arise on a whim or as a passing fad. It was born in response to the collective desire for education systems around the world to accommodate all children, without exception, something that was addressed at the well-known World Conference held in Jomtien (UNESCO, 1990). A few years later, inclusive education emerged at the World Conference in Salamanca as the best way to achieve this goal (UNESCO, 1994). A decade later, inclusive education would be considered a fundamental human right (UN, 2006).
These three milestones have been fundamental, yes. However, the revolutionary project of making our schools inclusive has been devalued over time. Today, inclusive education is even used to refer to exclusionary practices, far removed from that desire. In many places, language is perverted, twisted to the point of robbing the project of its human value. In others, the use of certain words that link human diversity to the fight against inequality is even prohibited. Our differences become the target to be knocked down by the ultra-conservative agenda here and there, which highlights their transformative potential.

Author Biographies

Ignacio Calderón-Almendros, Universidad de Málaga

Professor of Education Theory at the University of Malaga and visiting researcher at Ritsumeikan University (Japan). His research, conceived as a form of activism, aims to unravel the processes of exclusion that occur in schools and promote inclusive education, all in collaboration with educational communities. He has worked as a consultant for international organisations and institutions such as the Organisation of American States (OAS) and UNESCO, and has been invited to give lectures on several continents. He has published numerous articles in international journals and written a dozen books. His research has been recognised by scientific societies such as the International Association of Qualitative Inquiry (IAQI) and the American Educational Research Association (AERA), and by social entities such as the Spanish Committee of Representatives of Persons with Disabilities (CERMI) and Down Syndrome International (DSI). Among the books he has written are Education, Disability and Inclusion (Octaedro, 2012), Education and Hope on the Frontiers of Disability (Cinca, 2014), No Luck, but a Warrior to the Death (Octaedro, 2015), School Failure and Sociocultural Disadvantage (UOC, 2016), Recognising Diversity (Octaedro, 2018) and Transcultural Education (Síntesis, 2025).

María Teresa Rascón Gómez, Universidad de Málaga

Professor in the Department of Theory and History of Education, Social Pedagogy and M.I.D.E. at the University of Malaga (Spain). Her main lines of research focus on inclusive education and exclusion processes in schools, intercultural education and attention to diversity. She has carried out various research stays at internationally renowned institutions, including the Open University and the University of Chester (England), the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (United States) and the Escola Superior de Educação of the Polytechnic Institute of Coimbra (Portugal). She has extensive research experience, reflected in her coordination and authorship of numerous books, book chapters and articles published in national and international scientific journals. Her main publications include: The construction of cultural identity from a gender perspective: the case of Moroccan women (SPICUM, 2007); The construction of identity in the children of Moroccan immigrants (Revista Española de Pedagogía, 2008); From the identity of being to the pedagogy of difference (Interuniversity Journal of Education Theory); Analysis and proposals for a new Education Law (Octaedro, 2020); Disability, stigma and suffering in schools. Emerging narratives for the right to inclusive education (Education XX1 Journal, 2024); and The role of the university in the construction of inclusive education systems: difficulties, proposals and challenges (Octaedro, 2024).

References

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Soldevila, J., Calderón, I. y Echeita, G. (2024). Mi vida (escolar) es prescindible: radicalizar un discurso contra las miserias del sistema escolar. En J. Collet, M. Naranjo y J. Soldevila (Eds.), Educación inclusiva global (pp. 41-62). Octaedro. http://doi.org/10.36006/09627-1

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Published

2025-12-30

How to Cite

Calderón-Almendros, I., & Rascón Gómez, M. T. (2025). Narratives Committed to Inclusive Education from the Students, Voices. Inequalities, Resistance, and Collective Action. Revista Latinoamericana De Educación Inclusiva, 19(2), 17–23. https://doi.org/10.4067/S0718-73782025000200017