Inclusive education in Spain: how do skills, resources, and supports affect regular education teachers’ perceptions of inclusion?

This study examined regular education teachers’ perceptions of inclusion in elementary and secondary schools in Spain and how these perceptions may differ depending on teaching experience, skills, and the availability of resources and supports. Stratified random sampling procedures were used to draw a representative sample of 336 general education teachers (68 kindergarten, 133 elementary, and 135 secondary teachers) from the province of Alicante. The results indicated the acceptance of the principles of inclusion, although teacher skills, time, material resources, and personal supports for inclusion were deemed insufficient. Kindergarten and elementary teachers showed more positive perceptions of inclusion than secondary education teachers, and so did teachers with more personal supports and material resources than those with less supports and resources. The results are discussed in terms of its implications for practice in order to promote more inclusive classrooms in Spain.

Teachers’ Use of Inclusive Practices in Spain

The aim of this study was to examine the extent to which teachers use inclusive practices to respond to students’ special needs in their classrooms and to determine whether grade level taught, training, and availability of resources and support affect the implementation of these practices. A research survey was designed for this purpose with the participation of a representative sample of 336 general education teachers (68 kindergarten, 133 elementary, and 135 secondary education teachers) in the province of Alicante, Spain. Findings reflected a moderate use of inclusive practices, with teachers more frequently implementing general adaptations rather than substantial ones. Statistically significant differences in use of inclusive practices were found as a function of the grade level taught, training received, and availability of material resources. Results are discussed in terms of their implication for teacher education reform and training programs.

Alumnado con necesidades específicas de apoyo educativo de Educación Secundaria Obligatoria y el consumo de las TIC en la Región de Murcia

Este artículo tiene como objetivo abordar la dimensión formativa y comunicativa entre las Tecnologías dela Información y la Comunicación (TIC) y el alumnado de Educación Secundaria Obligatoria para establecer un mayor conocimiento sobre qué y cómo estos jóvenes las usan, acceden a sus formatos e interaccionan con sus contenidos. Así se presentan los resultados de una investigación, realizada en 15 centros educativos de titularidad pública y concertada dela Comunidad Autónoma de la Región de Murcia (España), en la que se ha pretendido conocer el equipamiento, uso y consumo de medios digitales (Internet, redes sociales, teléfono móvil, consola de videojuegos y televisión) del alumnado con necesidad específica de apoyo educativo, según la LOE (2006), escolarizado en 3º y 4º de Educación Secundaria Obligatoria (ESO) y la existencia de diferencias respecto del alumnado sin dichas necesidades educativas. Para ello, 2734 alumnos, de los que 487 tenían necesidad específica de apoyo educativo, participaron a través de un cuestionario de 73 ítems con cuatro opciones de respuesta. Los datos fueron analizados con el paquete estadístico SPSS for Windows 15.0, utilizando estadísticos descriptivos. De los resultados conseguidos en esta investigación destacamos que en todas las dimensiones analizadas no existen grandes diferencias entre los dos grupos de alumnos que hemos establecido, pues se aprecia que determinados medios digitales usuales, como Internet, teléfono móvil, consola de videojuegos y televisión, son utilizados por todo el alumnado participante. No obstante, existen matices importantes que marcan diferencias entre ellos.

Management of social networks in the educational process

The research developed in this work consists in proposing a set of techniques for management of social networks and their integration into the educational process. The proposals made are based on assumptions that have been proven with simple examples in a real scenario of university teaching. The results show that social networks have more capacity to spread information than educational web platforms. Moreover, educational social networks are developed in a context of freedom of expression intrinsically linked to Internet freedom. In that context, users can write opinions or comments which are not liked by the staff of schools. However, this feature can be exploited to enrich the educational process and improve the quality of their achievement. The network has covered needs and created new ones. So, the figure of the Community Manager is proposed as agent in educational context for monitoring network and aims to channel the opinions and to provide a rapid response to an academic problem.