L’inclusione degli alunni con ‘bisogni educativi speciali’ «BES» nella scuola primaria: un percorso di ricerca nel contesto nazionale

The research path documented in the present PhD thesis in Humanities Studies (XXXI cycle), curriculum in Human Sciences, belonging to the Department of Humanities Studies of the University of Urbino C. Bo, presents as an object of study the inclusive processes in primary school and pupils with «BES (SEN)» and was conducted in the three-year period related to academic years 2015-2016, 2016-2017, 2017-2018. The thesis entitled “The inclusion of pupils with ‘special educational needs’ «BES» in primary school: a research path in the national context” is divided into a first theoretical part consisting in three chapters. The second part is dedicated to the description and critical evaluation of the research path ending with the testimony of authoritative and distinguished “voices” including some of the major Italian special pedagogists: A. Canevaro, R. Caldin, L. de Anna, P. Gaspari. In developing this project, reference was essentially made to the inclusive paradigm embraced by Pedagogy and Special Education not only focused on the person with disabilities and/or other vulnerable groups, but on the transformation of the “specialist” response into an “ordinary” one, within a condition of “special normality” able to positively activate all teachers, both specialized and curricular, in reducing the handicap. The inclusive perspective promoted by the Pedagogy and by the Special Didactics leads to reflect, to become aware and to rethink new languages, tools, attitudes, ideas to “read” the differences and diversities of each and every one as singular and “special” ways of placing oneself within the social and scholastic cultural contexts and to encourage the sense of belonging and active participation of all people, including those with disabilities, to curb possible forms of discrimination and exclusion, to build truly inclusive contexts and counter or reduce the disabling barriers that characterize the times and spaces of everyday life today. The theoretical framework and the exploratory research have been oriented to investigate pupils with “special educational needs” attending the three comprehensive state institutes (one of the Province of Rome and two of the Province of Pesaro-Urbino) in order to detect, through careful observation, detailed analysis. Subsequently the qualitative and quantitative data were collected, as well as the indices of school inclusion present and/or lacking in the primary school classes sampled, essentially referring to some fundamental issues: socialisation, communication, accessibility, obstacles, barriers, and existing resources, learning processes, class dynamics, didactic models, working tools, evaluation and monitoring criteria following an educational-didactic approach not unbalanced in the psychological-medicalistic dimension. The results of the research, although not generalisable or exhaustive, can represent a valid starting point and critical reflection on the status of inclusive processes in place in the schools examined and therefore assumes heuristic value for the development of subsequent field surveys. The research project, related to the epistemological territory of Pedagogy and the Special Didactics of Inclusion, is configured as a comparative work based on a methodological path, above all, on the ecological-systemic and phenomenological-hermeneutical approaches that focus attention on the understanding of the described phenomena, using paradigms of investigation and mixed working tools, of a quantitative and qualitative nature, able to grasp the complexity, the significance that experience assumes for the subjects of the research, beyond any prejudices or cultural superstructures.