Gender-Sexuality Alliance Experiences and LGBTQ+ Inclusive School Policies and Practices Predict Youth's School Belonging.

Gender-Sexuality Alliances (GSAs) and inclusive school policies and practices that affirm youth with minoritized sexual orientations or gender identities (e.g., lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer youth; LGBTQ+ youth) are two sources of support for LGBTQ+ youth that could promote school belonging. The current study tested a three-level multilevel model in which youth's GSA experiences and the degree to which their schools implemented LGBTQ+ inclusive policies and practices predicted their school belonging over a six-month period. Participants included 627 youth (87% LGBQ+ youth, 45% transgender or nonbinary youth, 48% youth of color) ages 11-22 (Mage = 15.13) in 51 GSAs. At the within-individual level, youth reported greater school belonging on occasions following months when they felt their peers and advisors were more responsive to their needs and when they had taken on more leadership in the GSA. At the between-individual level, youth who generally felt their peers were more responsive over the study period reported greater school belonging than others. At the between-GSA level, GSA members in schools that more thoroughly implemented LGBTQ+ inclusive policies and practices reported greater school belonging over the study period. These findings underscore the relevance of GSAs and inclusive policies and practices in establishing welcoming school environments.

In Sync: Inclusive school communities supporting students with anxiety.

This study aimed to investigate the experiences of educators (working in inclusive schools) supporting students with anxiety and anxiety-related disorders. Method: A qualitative refractive phenomenological case study was used to collect data from 44 participants (educators in various roles) in six Australian primary and secondary schools, which previous research identified as using inclusive practices to support a diverse range of students. Results: Educators shared that they supported what they saw as learning needs using intrinsic, intuitive, and inclusive (3I's) ways of working. Interestingly, all educators reported that students felt supported despite a lack of explicit strategies focused on reducing anxiety. The 3I's were a way of working educators used to support all students, even though they experienced difficulties in recognising anxiety as behaviours were often internalised. This was particularly the case where disability and anxiety disorders co-occurred. Furthermore, educators did not identify evidence to support any one type of intervention being effective in mitigating anxiety. Conclusions: The data suggests that there is a culture of inclusion reducing student anxiety, even though teachers and support staff may not have recognise the student's anxiety. Parents were mostly the first identifier of anxiety in their child. This research highlights the need for educators to engage in professional development around recognising anxiety and, secondly, in the implementation of specific strategies to support students with anxiety or anxiety-related disorders.

A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Moderate-to-Vigorous Physical Activity Levels in Children and Adolescents With and Without ASD in Inclusive Schools.

Background: The health benefits of physical activity (PA) participation are well-documented. Little was known about the PA levels of students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and their typically developing (TD) peers in inclusive schools. This study aimed to synthesize available studies examining PA levels of children and adolescents with and without ASD and its associated factors that affected their PA participation during inclusive schools applying the social-relational model of disability (SRMD). Methods: Eight databases were searched including CINAHL Complete, SPORTDiscus with Full Text, PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, Eric, APA PsycINFO, and Scopus from inception through May 2021 to identify related studies. Two researchers independently screened studies, assessed methodological quality, and summarized relevant data. The McMaster Critical Reviewer Form for quantitative studies was used to evaluate the methodological quality of the included articles. Results: A total of seven articles were included in this systematic review. Overall, meta-analysis results indicated that children and adolescents with ASD had a moderately decreased PA levels compared with their TD peers [SMD = -0.585, 95% CI (-0.774, -0.425), p < 0.01]. Individual-, social-, and environmental-level factors that influence PA levels in children and adolescents with ASD were identified from the perspective of SRMD. Conclusion: This review indicates that children and adolescents with ASD have lower PA levels than their TD peers in inclusive schools and multilevel factors affect their PA.

Key elements of disaster mitigation education in inclusive school setting in the Indonesian context.

Children with special needs are one of the most vulnerable groups when disasters occur. They are often excluded from any risk reduction conducted during such situations; therefore, introducing disaster mitigation education at the early stage has numerous benefits. This study aims to explore the critical elements of disaster mitigation education, limiting the scope to primary schools in an inclusive setting in Yogyakarta. A qualitative methodology involving focus group discussions and interviews was applied for in-depth exploration and insight into stakeholders' perspectives on education. This study identified six key elements of inclusive disaster mitigation education in schools: (1) strong initiative to conduct self-initiated disaster risk reduction (DRR) education for all students; (2) modification of infrastructure and learning environment to accommodate children with special needs and other students; (3) broadening learning methods in DRR; (4) child empowerment and meaningful participation; (5) school management awareness and strategies for conducting DRR; (6) extensive stakeholder involvement within disaster mitigation education. These elements are expected to improve implementation of such programmes, thereby increasing the quality and accessibility of children's disaster mitigation education, as well as increasing their capacity in the risk reduction process through teacher support.

Stress and burnout in teaching. Study in an inclusive school workplace.

BACKGROUND: Teaching is a profession associated with high levels of stress and burnout, affecting teachers' performance in the workplace. The main goal of the current study is to investigate stress and burnout conditions of teachers working presently in inclusive schools and the corresponding influence of personal variables. PARTICIPANTS AND PROCEDURE: Participants were 7086 regular teachers, or non-specialists, and 442 special education teachers, or specialists (N = 7528). RESULTS: Non-specialist teachers showed higher levels of burnout than specialist teachers in inclusive schools. Additionally, the results showed that higher levels of burnout are correlated with vulnerability to stress (perfectionism, inhibition, lack of social support, adverse living conditions, dramatization of existence and subjugation), in both groups of teachers. Non-specialists with more professional experience showed a high global score on burnout. In both groups, teachers with a higher level of training (academic degree and specialization) showed lesser vulnerability to stress, especially lower dependence. Concerning the predictors of burnout, vulnerability to stress played an important role as a predictor in both groups, suggesting that more vulnerable teachers are more prone to develop burnout, fatigue and exhaustion. CONCLUSIONS: Stress emerges as an important predictor of burnout. Non-specialist teachers are more exposed to burnout and stress in an inclusive workplace, because they have to deal with new demands, requiring new resources, especially new professional skills. On the other hand, teachers with more academic and professional training show higher resilience to stress and more independence, suggesting the crucial value of training to improve an inclusive school workplace. Training can have an important impact on stress/burnout and consequently on the professional performance and efficacy of teachers in inclusive schools.

Strategies for Attention to Diversity: Perceptions of Secondary School Teaching Staff.

(1) Background: Attention to diversity constitutes an aspect that influences system quality and offers a perspective of the capacity of educational centres to respond to educational needs. The present study carried out an examination of the perceptions held by secondary school teachers and the level of importance conferred by them to the variables that should be integrated into plans and will influence the degree of compliance. (2) Methods: Quantitative descriptive research was performed using a survey to collect data from teachers at schools that had a Quality Management System available. (3) Results: Interaction with families is necessary to agree upon the centre's objectives to address diversity and to define an optimisation strategy for resources in virtue of their availability within the centre. It is key to establish an appropriate teacher-student ratio to encourage compliance. (4) Conclusions: Teachers are the great pillars of quality education. Their perceptions are the route through which deficient aspects and the dimensions that must be improved when formulating these strategies can be recognised with attention to diversity.

Necessidades formativas para a ação docente inclusiva de professores de Educação Física escolar / Training needs for the inclusive teaching action of school Physical Education teachers / Necesidades formativas para la acción docente inclusiva de profesores de Educación Física escolar

O objetivo da pesquisa foi analisar de que forma os Jogos Escolares Inclusivos contribuíram para a ação docente inclusiva dos professores de Educação Física Escolar do município de Itanhaém e identificar as barreiras enfrentadas pelos professores para participação nesse evento. Participaram 20 professores de Educação Física. A coleta de informações ocorreu com o uso de entrevista semi dirigida e a análise foi por meio da análise de conteúdo proposta por Bardin (2011), o que configurou quatro categorias para discussão. Concluímos que um conjunto de fatores interfere de forma negativa na ação docente inclusiva, porém, ao atuar como agentes transformadores,os professores têm conseguido atingir a comunidade escolar e a família dos alunos, mostrando o potencial da criança e o quanto ela é capaz de evoluir no pro-cesso ensino/aprendizado.

The objective of the research was to analyze how the Inclusive School Games contributed to the inclusive educational action of the teachers of Physical School Education of the munici-pality of Itanhaém and to identify the barriers faced by the teachers to participate in this event. Twenty teachers of Physical Education participated. The information collection took place through the use of asemi-directed interview and the analysis was through the content analysis proposed by Bardin (2011) that configured four categories for discussion. We conclude that a set of factors interferes in a negative way in the inclusive teaching action, but, acting as trans-forming agents teachers have been able to reach the school community and the students' fami-ly, showing the potential of the child and how much it is able to evolve in the teaching / learn-ing process.

El objetivo de la investigación fue analizar de qué forma los Juegos Escolares Inclusivos con-tribuyeron a la acción docente inclusiva de los profesores de Educación Física Escolar del municipio de Itanhaém e identificar las barreras enfrentadas por los profesores para participar en ese evento. Participaron 20 profesores de Educación Física. La recolección de informacio-nes ocurrió con el uso de entrevista semi-dirigida y el análisis fue por medio del análisis de contenido propuesto por Bardin (2011) que configuró cuatro categorías para discusión. Con-cluimos que un conjunto de factores interfiere de forma negativa enla acción docente inclusi-va, sin embargo, al actuar como agentes transformadores los profesores han logrado alcanzar la comunidad escolar y la familia de los alumnos, mostrando el potencial del niño y cuanto es capaz de evolucionar en el mismo proceso de enseñanza / aprendizaje.

Preventing Transphobic Bullying and Promoting Inclusive Educational Environments: Literature Review and Implementing Recommendations.

BACKGROUND: Transgender individuals are often targets of abuse, bullying, harassment, discrimination and violence at school, which causes significant personal suffering and serious consequences for their education process. Research suggests that structural interventions and changes are needed to reduce these phenomena and ensure that schools function as protective and secure learning environments for sexual minorities. AIM: This study presents a review of international interventions/programs focused on reducing bullying and promoting inclusive educational environments for transgender youths. METHODS: An extensive literature search in English and Spanish was undertaken using the electronic database of MEDLINE, PsycINFO, SCOPUS, SciELO and LILACS (1990-2018). RESULTS: Several international programs, guidelines and projects aimed at preventing bullying against sexual minorities (including the transgender population) in school environments were described. Recommendations and barriers to consider in the development and implementation of bullying prevention interventions in a range of school settings are discussed. CONCLUSIONS: Evidence suggest important positive benefits associated with attending schools that have anti-bullying or inclusive policies for gender minorities, such as the improvement of school wellbeing, more positive school climate, decreasing truancy, lower levels of victimization, decreased school harassment and increased feelings of safety. However, more research is needed to follow up on the various programs and interventions described in this study, to determine whether they have been implemented and what their actual long-term impact has been. The normalization of transphobia and tolerance for sexual minorities requires the attention of public policies in education strategies designed to deconstruct gender stereotypes and eradicate transphobia among adolescents.

A inclusão nas escolas de 1º ciclo de ensino básico de Lisboa: algumas considerações / Inclusion in schools in the first years of elementary education in Lisbon: some considerations

A inclusão nas escolas regulares de pessoas consideradas com necessidades educativas especiais tem sido contemplada nas políticas educacionais de vários países. Os estudos mostram que, no Brasil, as iniciativas acontecem de forma lenta e gradual, devido às mais variadas questões, como a ausência de condições físicas, materiais e humanas das escolas e a indefinição do papel da educação especial nesse processo. A partir dessa problemática, buscamos conhecer outra realidade - a portuguesa -, na expectativa de contribuir com reflexões mais amplas sobre o tema. Assim, desenvolvemos uma investigação, visando a analisar a materialidade das políticas de inclusão em algumas escolas públicas de 1º Ciclo do Ensino Básico da cidade de Lisboa/Portugal, a partir de informações prestadas pelos gestores, coordenadores e professores de ensino especial. Os dados mostraram que as escolas inclusivas de Lisboa, embora contem com a presença de professores de ensino especial em seus quadros, ainda não possuem, em termos físico e material, as condições ideais e, sobretudo, carecem de uma visão de educação e de inclusão mais ampla, que permita revisitar antigos conceitos, presentes na educação especial. No entanto, se, por um lado, a presença dos profissionais do ensino especial pode ser vista como a permanência, em novos espaços, de antigas práticas clínicas e de compartimentalização do fazer educacional; por outro, pode apresentar-se como uma possibilidade de dar visibilidade às diferenças, de enfrentamento de conflitos e de busca de alternativas aos desafios, colocados por uma nova realidade escolar.

Admission in regular schools of students with special needs has been part of several educational policies in various countries. Studies have shown that in Brazil, this initiative has occurred slowly and gradually due to several problems, such as the lack of physical, material and human conditions in schools, as well as the non definition of the role of special education in this process. Based on this drawback, we endeavored to understand another reality - in Portugal -, hoping to contribute with further reflections on the theme. We conducted the investigation aiming to analyz material evidence of inclusion policies related to elementary education in public schools in Lisbon, Portugal. We based our investigation on information provided by managers, supervisors and teachers involved with special education. The data showed that although special education teachers are part of the staff in inclusive schools in Lisbon, conditions for inclusion are not as yet ideal in physical and material terms, mainly because schools lack a broader view of education and inclusion to enable them to review old concepts related to special education. Nevertheless, if on the one hand, the presence of special education professionals can be seen as a form of maintaining old clinical practices in new environments and compartmentalizing educational practices, on the other hand, it can present new possibilities for visualizing differences, for facing conflicts and searching for alternate ways of coping with the challenges presented by a new reality in schools.

A escola e as "dificuldades de aprendizagem" / School and "learning difficulties" / La escuela y "las dificultades de aprendizaje

A construção da escola de massas e a "explosão escolar" coincidem com o crescimento exponencial dos alunos ditos com "dificuldades de aprendizagem". Esta estigmatização remete para o domínio da patologia individual um fenómeno social que é selectivo, massivo e precoce. Por outro lado, confunde-o com um outro fenómeno, de âmbito muito restrito, relacionado com atributos individuais de alunos que apelam a um atendimento específico, sob a forma do que se designa por "educação especial". Ambos os fenómenos têm vindo a ser "lidos" à luz do conceito de "exclusão". Neste artigo pretende-se, por um lado, criticar a pertinência do uso generalizado do conceito de "exclusão", bem como, naturalmente, da sua transposição para a realidade educativa e escolar, o que está na origem de raciocínios simplistas e de uma oposição redutora entre "escola exclusiva" e "escola inclusiva". Pretende-se, por outro lado, esclarecer o efeito negativo da associação do tipo "amálgama", de um conjunto de conceitos que têm vindo a ser objecto de um alargamento abusivo do seu âmbito. Refiro-me em particular aos conceitos de "Educação Especial", "Necessidades Educativas Especiais" e "Dificuldades de Aprendizagem".

The growing of school population was followed by an amplification of the number of students labeled as having "learning difficulties". This stigma brings to the context of individual pathology a phenomenon which nature is social. At the same time mix it with a more restrictive idea related to individual characteristcs which call for a specific consideration under the name of "special education". Both phenomena have been included under the concept of "exclusion". The article intends, for one side, to criticize the generalized use of the concept "exclusion", as well as its transposition to the educacional context. The result is a simple and reductive opposition between "exclusive school" and "inclusive school". It has also the intent of clarifyng the negative effects of the application of a group of concepts such as "special education", "special education needs "and" learning difficulties." to different contexts.

La construcción de la escuela de masas y la "explosión escolar" coinciden con el crescimiento exponencial de los alumnos denominados con "dificultades de aprendizaje". Esta estigmatización nos remite al dominio de la patología individual un fenómeno social que es selectivo, masivo y precoz. Por otro lado, lo confunde con otro fenómeno de ámbito muy restricto, relacionado con atributos individuales de alumnos que necesitan un atendimiento específico bajo la forma que se denomina "educación especial". Ambos fenómenos han sido interpretados bajo la luz del concepto de exclusión. En este artículo se pretende por un lado criticar la pertinencia del uso generalizado de este concepto de "exclusión", así como naturalmente, si su transposición a la realidad educativa y escolar, está en el origen de raciocinios simplistas y de una oposición reductora entre "escuela exclusiva" y "escuela inclusiva"; por otro lado se pretende aclarar el efecto negativo de la asociación del tipo amálgama de un conjunto de conceptos que ha devenido a ser objeto de un alargamiento abusivo de su ámbito. Me refiero en particular a los conceptos de "Educación Especial", "Necesidades Educativas Especiales" y "Dificultades de Aprendizaje".