Active and expressive teacher's training: messing up the class to stimulate inclusion

Abstract

The teacher may have technology at his disposal, may arrange chairs in circles or know various intervention tools but, without a deep personal development connected to Inclusion, his actions will tend to be far from an equitable education, with high quality and for all. This article analyzes the teacher education course "Expressive Pedagogies in Inclusive Education", held in Portugal over the last 3 years. The course was designed with two intentions: to encourage trainees to use Expressive Pedagogies in their educational practices and to use Expressive Pedagogies to give participants a personal formation with an impact on their educational practices for Inclusion. The analysis of the reports presented by the trainees was divided into three categories: reflections on self-recognition, reflections on recognition of and interaction with one another, and reflections on professional practice. The results, above all, shows that the trainees consider essential to "look within themselves" in order to better integrate personal and professional development; second, they assume that the role reversal with the various actors in the educational process allows a better knowledge of them and leads to greater empathy, which is fundamental for a professional practice more inclusive; and, finally, the trainees identify that the strong impact of this course on their professional performance lies in the fact that it use a methodology that promotes the reflection about the personal dimension, transforming it into a course that, in certain way, "incites Inclusion".