DEVELOPING INCLUSIVE LEARNING COMMUNITIES THROUGH PARTICIPATION AND RELATIONSHIP

The dynamics of participation in school contexts can be supported through educational opportunities and resources that schools can implement, in order to create conditions that reduce barriers to learning. The course of students’ study journeys are strongly influenced by the quality of the experiences and interactions that occur in everyday school life. Participation and the quality of social relationships are highly connected, and constitute a possible protective factor against educational risk. This paper undertakes an exploratory inquiry to investigate the network of relationships present within two school classrooms, with the aim of monitoring their evolution following the introduction of a design experiment. The activity aimed to stimulate student participation and inclusion in the classroom, encourage discussion, interaction and empathic and reflective thinking. Our results reveal a positive evolution in relationships between students, as well as the importance of introducing activities that stimulate them to reflect on others’ mental states and employ an empathic perspective in order to improve the quality and cohesiveness of relationships in the classroom.