School management team and inclusion: the perspective of families and teachers in the Spanish context

Abstract

ABSTRACT School leaders play a key role in improving inclusion in schools. However, information on the practices promoted by headteachers to promote inclusion in their institutions is still scarce. The article analyses the degree of implementation of actions undertaken by principals to favor inclusion in compulsory education schools from the perspective of families and teaching teams. 631 families and 420 teachers from the city of Granada (Spain) participated in the research. It is a quantitative study and follows a comparative design based on survey. In order to collect information the questionnaire Leading Inclusive Education in Compulsory Education Schools was used in its two versions (LIE-Q-Teaching Team and LIE-Q-Families). The data obtained were subjected to both descriptive and inferential analysis. The results reveal that, in the opinion of teachers and families, most actions implemented by school headteachers to favor inclusion, are those that favor the opening of the school to the community and its surroundings. The study has made it possible to verify, among other things, that there are differences in the perception of the inclusion practices of school leaders in compulsory education depending on the group analyzed (family or teaching teams).