Integration and Inclusion in Italy: Towards a special pedagogy for Inclusion

Access to knowledge is a citizenship right that all individuals can exercise irrespective of their physical, psychic, relational and social condition (UN Convention, 2006). Considering this right as a starting point, this paper intends to examine the ways in which Special Didactics may ensure educational success for individuals with a deficit. The basic assumption is that pupils with disabilities are full members of the class group and that with adequate support on the part of capable teachers, their presence can constitute an educational opportunity for all. These didactics promote cultural and civil growth within the school community and, in an environment marked by a special normality (Ianes, 2005) and through the individualization and personalization of educational pathways, they make it possible to guide pupils towards the acquisition of significant knowledge (Ausubel, 1968) on the basis of deutero-learning (Bateson, 1972) and metacognition and help them focus on the emotional/relational dimension of the school experience and on exercising conscious and supportive citizenship.