Inclusion in the classroom: Casvi Educational Project

Facilitating student inclusion in the classroom is now an educational priority and a fundamental principle. Diversity cannot be left aside. Something that is not limited to students with special educational needs, but to the entire student body. A fact that is motivated by the cultural, social and economic changes that are taking place in today’s society. Each child has a unique way of being and thinking. There are children with different talents, nationalities, from disadvantaged contexts, with different types of learning…

International Baccalaureate and Inclusion in the Classroom

For the International Baccalaureate Organization, “inclusion is an ongoing process that aims to increase access to and participation in learning for all students by identifying and removing barriers”. For this reason, the educational community of Casvi International American School actively participates in developing strategies that promote that inclusion within its three programs (PYP, MYP and PD). It does so with:

Specific measures at Casvi for special educational needs

Personalized attention to all our students and families is a basic pillar in our educational model. That is why we take different measures of inclusion for students with special educational needs associated to:

1. Reading and writing delay and language barrier (we are an international school with an American curriculum). In both cases, the Head of Studies and the Guidance Department plan specific support reinforcements. These reinforcements are carried out by teachers of the center and within the school schedule, with a periodicity and planning that guarantees their effectiveness.
2. Articulatory language difficulties. The support for students who suffer from these difficulties will be organized at the center, within the school schedule and will be carried out by specialists in this field.
3. Learning difficulties: Specific Language Disorder (SLD), Attention Deficit Disorder with or without Hyperactivity (ADHD), Dyslexia, Non-Verbal Learning Disorder (NVDD), Coordination Disorder, Maturational Delay (infantile age) and Pervasive Developmental Disorder (PDD). In addition to medical conditions: Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD), anxiety, depression, hearing difficulties and visual difficulties. With students who present diagnosis, the methodological adaptations indicated in article 71.2 of the Organic Law 2/2006, of May 3, of Education, in its new wording given by the Organic Law 8/2013, of December 9, are carried out.
4. High Abilities. Once the student with special educational needs associated with High Intellectual Ability is identified, an appropriate, individualized and differentiated educational proposal is carried out, with monitoring and evaluation. The necessary measures are also applied to attend to diversity: organizational flexibility; activities that promote continuous motivation, that require active, creative and participative forms of work, while developing autonomy, curricular enrichment…

General benefits of inclusion in the classroom

Inclusion in classrooms fosters different strengths and skills. For example:

• It encourages early social interaction among students who are perceived to be different.
• It develops values learning.
• All students bring something to each other, which increases the sense of togetherness in the group.
• Self-esteem levels are increased.
• Social commitment is assimilated among each other.
• The exchange of emotions in class increases. This favors the understanding of oneself and others.
• It helps in the prevention of bullying.
• It sows the seeds of a more conscious, tolerant, collaborative, committed, mature and empathetic adult society.