Multilateral Education: Key Words for Educational Quality and Professional Development

Abstract

This work seeks to describe and analyze challenges for teaching in multigrade classrooms and, from there, to suggest relevant keys for the educational quality and professional development of teachers working in these contexts, that are inspired by the inclusive education paradigm. From the observation of classes and conducting interviews with fourteen teachers in charge of such institutions, an emphasis was identified on a type of individualized teaching, stressed by the search for class designs that allow covering the curriculum, considering the large heterogeneity of levels of education that students who live in the same classroom. These pedagogical dynamics occur in a scenario characterized by the weakness of contextualized policies and support from the educational system. The keys to professional development that are presented based on the results seek to emphasize the contributions that the inclusive education paradigm can provide in this context, due to the emphasis that it makes regarding the role of pedagogy in the delivery of supports, the design of experiences that take into account the characteristics and specificities of students and that encourage and promote the development of their self-determination