Discovery and appreciation of talent For the citizenship of the student with disabilities

Abstract

Since 1977, in Italy, classes for disabled pupils and almost all special schools have been cancelled and the children and youth with disabilities attend mainstream schools. The students follow an individualized education plan, mostly devoid of connections with the curriculum of the class. Paradoxically, with this individualization we’re running a double risk of exclusion (this time institutionalized): social exclusion for disabled students and professional exclusion for learning supporting teacher.
How to promote then educational inclusion? We must start from what has a value to the student, i.e. his motivation and the sense that he gives to his existence, not from what is exceptional compared to others, but from what he does well and likes to do well. We start from the talent because it is present in all of us,
not only in the genius that is the prerogative of few.
With an action-research “Discovery and development of talent”, over 2500 secondary teachers have sought to develop learning potential existence of the boy that they would follow in their training.
This article starts with a wide analysis of the data, underlying two questions: 1) Who are they, how and where are supposed to be today’s students with disabilities?
2) In which environments, situations and contexts does talent occur?