Rural schools have always been inclusive: the meanings rural teachers construct about inclusion in Chile

Abstract

ABSTRACT We analyse the meanings that rural schoolteachers construct about inclusion, following the entry into force of the School Inclusion Law in Chile in 2015. Rural schools are more than half of the schools in Chile. This is a qualitative study involving six rural schools in the north, centre and south of the country, with a basis in action research and ethnography. The results show that inclusion has different meanings for different teachers, indicating that passage of the law has not been accompanied by a policy providing clear meanings to guide teaching practices. However, one meaning commonly shared is that inclusion, understood as the acceptance of everyone, is a duty of rural schools, a cultural feature that apparently distinguishes them from their urban counterparts.