From the Paradigm of Integration to Inclusion

The structural transformation of the educational system

To manage diversity effectively, it is imperative to understand the conceptual and practical evolution that separates integration from inclusion.

Under the integration model, the education system allows students with difficulties or disabilities to enter, but expects them to be the ones who rehabilitate or adapt to the normal classroom. It is like inviting someone to a party, but asking them to bring their own chair.

The focus is on the student's deficit and how to "normalize" it through external supports, while the curriculum remains rigid and unchanged for the rest of the group. In contrast, inclusion represents a radical change in architecture.

This paradigm assumes that diversity is not the exception, but the rule. The educational system is redesigned from the ground up to welcome everyone, removing barriers before the student arrives.

It is not the student who must fit into the mold of the school, but the school that flexes to respond to the needs of each individual.

In an inclusive classroom, difference is perceived as a value that enriches collective learning, not as a technical problem to be solved.

This approach requires teachers to stop planning for the "average student" (who does not really exist) and start designing universal learning experiences.

Guiding Principles of Universal Design for Learning (UDL)

The most powerful technical tool for operationalizing inclusion is Universal Design for Learning (UDL).

This didactic framework is based on neuroscience and proposes that, to ensure equity, the curriculum should offer multiple pathways of access from the start, avoiding the need for constant subsequent adaptations.

The SAD is structured on three fundamental principles that address the affective, recognition and strategic networks of the brain.

The first principle is to provide multiple forms of engagement (the "why" of learning).

Since motivation varies greatly among students, options should be offered that capture the interest of different profiles, allowing a choice between individual or group work, or selecting topics linked to their passions.

The second principle is to offer multiple forms of representation (the "what"). Information cannot be limited to written text; it must be presented through audio, video, tactile graphics and simulations so that everyone, regardless of their preferred sensory channel, can access the content.

Finally, the third principle requires multiple forms of action and expression (the "how").

The assessment system should be flexi