Title: Classroom support staff for secondary education

Members: Xènia Garcia, Oscar Mas, Josep M. Sanahuja

Collaborating entity: Education department

Summary: This innovative proposal is based on the relationship between the Rovira-Forns Institute of Santa Perpètua de la Mogoda (due to it being considered a centre of practical classes) and the UAB’s Psychopedagogy Master’s Degree.

During this relationship, the Rovira-Forns Institute has shown interest in improving the attention of students with specific educational needs (SEN) in the context of the ordinary classroom. The Unit for Special Education Support (USEE) of the Institute considers improvement strategies that can be introduced to facilitate collaboration between the USEE and teaching staff of ordinary classroom subjects with students that attend the USEE. In addition, the Department of Education of the Generalitat of Catalonia supports the initiative that aims to develop new ways of addressing diversity in secondary education.

From this perspective, the intention of this study is to integrate the collaborative work between teaching staff and USEE teachers in the usual dynamics of the Institute and begin to develop an inclusive culture based on good inclusive practices starting from the analysis of three key axes: inclusion, attitudes and beliefs towards inclusion and shared teaching. From a quantitative and qualitative methodological point of view, this case study has been carried out in order to evaluate the role of the teaching staff of the USEE in ordinary classrooms and thus to find out about their functions and tasks. In this way, the cooperative work of the classroom teacher and support teacher (CT-ST) is to be enhanced in the ordinary classroom context in order to develop effective methodological strategies that improve the teaching-learning process.