Challenges of the educational inclusion of students with SA in public elementary schools in Mexico

Current educational systems promote the educational inclusion of students with special needs in regular schools. Students diagnosed with Asperger syndrome (AS) represent a challenge for educational institutions because, currently, very little is known about the effects of strategies and challenges to achieve inclusive education. The Mexican educational system requires progress towards inclusion through the study of everyday situations that arise in classrooms. The purpose of this research is to provide a new understanding of the processes of educational inclusion. More specifically, the research sought to examine how the processes of educational inclusion are constructed in elementary schools in Chihuahua, Mexico through: (1) the educational interactions between teachers-students with AS; and (2) teaching-learning strategies in the classroom. The methodological perspective that was followed in this study was qualitative, through case studies. The research was carried out in the January-July 2019 school period, in two groups of 3rd grade of basic level and a group of 1st grade of preschool, which included three students with AS. Data was obtained by observing teacher-student interactions and academic activities in the classroom, and analyzed manually, using the constant comparison method developed by Glaser and Strauss (1967). Some challenges were identified, such as the lack of strategies for the development of social skills in students with AS. The analysis of the teacher-student interactions with AS allows us to interpret that the classrooms are fundamentally, in the cases studied, spaces oriented towards the achievement of academic objectives and the cognitive development of students, rather than the development of their social and personal skills.