Meanings of educational inclusion: challenges in the pedagogical practice of pre-service teachers

Abstract

This research aims to identify the challenges faced by fourth-year student teachers in developing inclusive pedagogical practices in the classroom. Future teachers gain exposure to primary schools throughout their training, allowing them to acquire their initial experiences with educational inclusion. A qualitative study was conducted to explore the participants' subjective perspectives; the phenomenological framework was chosen for this purpose, as it facilitates an understanding of their lived experiences. Interviews were designed and implemented to gather data, as they enable direct contact with the informants—in this case, five fourth-year students from the Primary Education degree program. The study concludes that preconceived notions regarding inclusion influence the decisions these student teachers make in the classroom; notably, when a formal diagnosis is unavailable, they do not halt their teaching but instead seek alternatives to support their students' learning. Furthermore, the findings reveal that their understanding leans more toward the concept of educational integration than inclusion, suggesting that—despite having taken courses on the latter—their shift in paradigm is still in a state of transformation.