Collaborative Counseling in Municipal Schools: Positions and Challenges of the Role of Critical Friend in an Inclusive School Development Project

Abstract

This paper presents an experience of counseling in a group of schools from the Metropolitan Region of Chile for the design and implementation of an inclusive development plan, based on the proposal of the Index for Inclusion. This plan sought to identify and address barriers to inclusion, detected by the collective with the support of an external consultant called critical friend. The article points out in the understanding of this role, as an important piece of a collaborative counseling strategy. This study use a case study design with qualitative analysis, in order to identify the several positions and strategies deployed by these advisors, based on the identification of two central axes: control/autonomy and reflexive/instrumental focuses. The results problematize about the conditions, implications and challenges for collaborative counseling work, from an inclusive approach in the context of municipal education in Chile.