Inclusive education in Italy: Historical steps, positive developments, and challenges
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Inclusive education in Italy: Historical steps, positive developments, and challenges Dario Ianes1 · Heidrun Demo2 · Silvia Dell’Anna1
Accepted: 29 August 2020 © The Author(s) 2020
Abstract The Italian school system has a long tradition of inclusive education, starting in the 1970s with the first experiences of integrating students with disabilities into regular schools. Since then, legislation has developed to guarantee students with disabilities and other special educational needs the right to individualization and personalization. This article presents the main developments in Italian inclusive education, documenting both positive outcomes and ongoing challenges, especially those which could be of interest for international readers. The article is structured around three relevant themes: the persistent influence of an individual-medical model of disability on school practices; support opportunities and additional resources for inclusion; and monitoring and evaluation mechanisms and their role in the improvement of the quality of inclusion. Keywords Inclusive education · Italy · Disability · Teacher competences In this article, we investigate the main developments and challenges of inclusive education in the Italian school system, utilizing the available research data to present positive innovations, critical challenges, and potential developments. Specifically, we highlight issues of both national and potential international interest, based on the main trends emerging in legislation, research, and practice. In each section of the article, we consider the continuous interplay of innovative and systemically inclusive policies and practices with a traditional (and narrower) understanding of inclusion, one based on the medical model of disability in entitlement and special education perspective in provisions.
* Dario Ianes [email protected] 1
Faculty of Education, Free University of Bozen-Bolzano, Viale Ratisbona, 16, 39042 Bressanone, BZ, Italy
2
Competence Centre of School Inclusion, Free University of Bozen-Bolzano, Viale Ratisbona, 16, 39042 Bressanone, BZ, Italy
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D. Ianes et al.
Research data and evidence on the benefits of Italian inclusive school system The normative foundations of the Italian school system are based on its Constitution, which attributes great importance to the role of the public state in removing all barriers that may limit personal development or the opportunity to participate in social activities (Art. 3). The Italian school system was conceived of as free and compulsory for everyone (Art. 34). Up until the 1970s, students with disabilities were excluded from this “school for all”, but in conjunction with the development of the Basaglia de-institutionalization movement (Basaglia 1968), schools began to welcome pupils with disabilities. Legislatively, this development was supported by laws on “Integrazione Scolastica” (school integration) (Law 118/1971; Law 517/1977). Being included in school for all had a strong impact on persons with disabilit
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