'Inclusive. From school to life, there and back': new tools and good practices for teachers and educators

More than 1,000 students under 18, in 5 Italian regions from north to south (Campania, Lazio, Marche, Lombardy, Trentino-Alto Adige), are involved in the national project 'INCLUSI. From school to life, there and back" that started in 2021 to build innovative and inclusive paths for children with disabilities and special educational needs. Now the project sees its conclusion, after 3 years of activities and proposals implemented in and out of school, thanks to the network of 70 Third Sector organisations that have fostered inclusion and self-determination to promote a fair and accessible school and territory for all. In detail, 37 schools were involved, with 1,041 students - 81% attending secondary school and 41% with certified fragility - and 549 adults, including teachers (42%), educators (23%) and parents (35%).

The INCLUSI project - selected by 'Con i Bambini' in the framework of the 'Fund for the fight against child educational poverty' - was set up to promote access to quality education for all and real inclusion of children and young people with disabilities in the community and school. "The school," the partners emphasise, "is a social place where individual paths intertwine in a collective dimension, the first where relationships are trained and the foundations of citizenship are laid. But there must be no separation between 'inside and outside' the school: inclusion is a collective responsibility that is achieved through collaboration between the school, families and the territory, and in the territory a powerful and competent ally of teachers and school personnel is the Third Sector, in particular the social cooperation with its educators and pedagogues. We have worked with schools so that inclusion is not only 'support for those with a fragility', but is also 'education of all students' to differences, to mutual respect and care, to a welcoming citizenship'.

The final event of the project is organised in Trento on 25 and 26 October, involving 500 local students in workshops and games designed to build on the actions developed over the three years of the project to define and continue to promote a true 'inclusive school'. In fact, INCLUSI bequeaths to teachers, educators and parents the tools and methodologies to promote a school and a community where everyone can express their potential and dreams, and can actively participate in building a more equitable and inclusive society.

Among the innovative actions produced: publications with guidelines for inclusive communication, the podcast series, the video campaign against bullying, the new educational function of the Mentor, the educational game. Access to information and communication are indispensable conditions for children and young people with disabilities to exercise their rights like their peers: the right to learn, to be with others, to decide and actively participate in school life and beyond. From this consideration a number of publications were born that are guidelines on the rights of children with disabilities, useful for teachers, operators, family members and children with and without disabilities, based on the acquisition of alternative methods of communication such as CAA (Alternative Augmentative Communication) and ETR (Easy to Read).

"Inclusi" is also the name given to the podcast, which includes five episodes dedicated to telling "everyday stories, everyone's stories, stories of commitment for a world that is more and more like each one of us". Each episode is dedicated to a specific topic, supported by a testimony and an expert, as in the case of "Inclusive narration" with the voice of Alessandro, Matteo's younger brother, a young man with neurodivergent disabilities, and Fabio Filofosi, a researcher in special pedagogy at the University of Trento, who explains how words and gestures influence the perception of disability and how communicating differences can bring people closer together instead of pushing them apart. "Sport and Integration" is the title of the episode involving Nunzio, a young member of the Paralympic football team Academy calcio Sant'Anastasia in Naples, together with coach Alessandro Guadagno and Mario Sicignano, president of the Prodoos and Neapolis cooperatives, who tell how football is not only about goals and success, but also a tool for breaking stereotypes and offering new opportunities for integration and growth.