Resource Management and Networking

Mapping the external support ecosystem

Effective diversity management goes beyond the physical boundaries of the school. The teacher and the counselor must know and activate the map of external resources available in the community.

This map is divided into three main areas: the health sector (mental health centers, neuropediatrics, early care), the social sector (municipal social services, juvenile prosecutor's office) and the third sector (family associations, NGOs, specialized foundations).

Ignoring these resources leads to saturation of the teacher, who tries to solve clinical or social problems with purely pedagogical tools.

For example, when faced with a student with severe reading difficulties, the school can offer reinforcement, but the specialized intervention of a dyslexia association can provide specific therapies and emotional support to the family that the school cannot cover.

Knowing which doors to knock on and which services are available in the neighborhood or city is a strategic competence of the inclusive educator.

The educational center must function as a connecting node that facilitates families' access to these specialized services.

From isolated referral to community networking

There are different models for managing the relationship with these external agents. The most basic and least effective model is the referral model, where the school detects the problem and "sends" the child to the specialist, disengaging itself from the process. This creates watertight compartments where information does not flow.

A superior model is that of coordination, where there are periodic meetings to unify criteria, as when the psychiatrist adjusts the medication and the tutor reports on the changes observed in the attention in class. However, the ideal to be achieved is the model of networking or community work.

Here, the school, family, health services and social entities collaborate horizontally and proactively, not only to deal with cases ("putting out fires"), but also to create joint preventive projects.

Let's imagine a local work table where the high school, the city council and the health center design a unified mental health campaign for adolescents.

In this approach, a