Quale inclusione scolastica e sociale? Esistono i Bisogni Educativi Speciali?
Alain Goussot
This article offers some thoughts regarding the ongoing debate in the world of schools and pedagogy on so-called Special Educational Needs (SEN), which was explicitly formalised in the directives issued by the MIUR (Ministry of Education, Universities and Research) in December 2012 and March 2013. The issue is extremely delicate and complex but at the same time important, as it is the consequence of a conception of school and of a vision of managing differences in terms of learning and individual and collective growth. Ultimately it is the model of society we wish to create in educating future generations and thus our idea of democracy which is at stake. In this paper a series of observations are made and questions posed, which the world of schools and education in general should seriously reflect on. Because educational needs are never special and always universal for all (the need to gain access to knowledge; the need to be educated, to be recognised, to realise one’s potential, to be and to become oneself; the need to feel appreciated and accepted…); yet particular needs do exist that require a modified teaching method taking into account specificity.
