Appropriation of a collaborative model in multicultural schools with students in a situation of social exclusion

This paper presents part of a research-action oriented to developing interinstitutional collaboration between primary school teachers and a university team for the development of activities based on collaborative learning supported by ICT. The starting points are, both, the daily practice in schools which concentrates pupils from different ethnics' settings in situation of social exclusion risk, and a model of collaborative learning (Fifth Dimension) designed originally as an afterschool activity for the Laboratory of Comparative Human Cognition, and thus developed also by the team involved in this research. For the justification of the chosen model, we put forth the goals of an inclusive education: access to a shared meaning, tool appropriation and central participation, and analyse to what extent these characteristic are promoted with the intervention. Medium-term results of developing a Fifth Dimension type of activity in four primary schools show deep changes in teachers and students modes of participation during the activity.