Participants: Andrea Jardí¹; Juan Pablo Calle²; Gabriela Gómez-Zepeda³; Cristina Petreñas⁴.

¹University of Barcelona; ²University of Mayor (Santiago de Chile); ³University of

Guadalajara (Mexico); ⁴University of Lleida

Symposium Summary

Every day we have more research confirming the strong influence that family-school ties have on the academic success of students at all educational levels. More specifically, this correlation can be clearly seen when families and schools are connected with each other in their perception of the value of education and its objectives. But it is not always easy to achieve this harmony. The complexity of our societies means that families with different values and cultural references live together in the same educational community, with the school then being able to promote meetings based on this diversity. Neither can we avoid the prejudices that teachers may have about certain families or cultural groups, nor those that the latter may have about the school, which may also feel incapable of having a positive influence on improving the educational quality of the school.

Based on different investigations of its components, the symposium proposes to reflect on the convenience of forming networks to convey these encounters, taking as a reference to European and Latin American experiences. The objective is to promote a debate on the effects of family involvement in these networks, without avoiding the analysis of the difficulties that slow down their construction and the actions that allow them to be overcome. Firstly, we will analyse the role of students, families and staff, both teachers and non-teaching staff, in the formation of these networks. We will also analyse the changes in the role of families in the school, driven by recent inclusive policies in Chile. We will also have the opportunity to learn about a high school experience in rural communities in Mexico and its impact on families belonging to vulnerable communities. And we will end up reflecting on recent research aimed at studying the role of the family in the formation of identity among students from immigrant families in Catalonia.

Short CV

Educator and teacher in different institutions linked to special education since 1972. He is a professor at the University of Barcelona since 1978. Graduated in Philosophy and Literature in 1976, with the Extraordinary Award of the Degree. Diploma in Therapeutic Pedagogy that same year. His doctoral thesis, which dealt with the educational integration of students with disabilities of different origin and intensity, was read in 1993 when he acquired his Doctorate degree and received the Extraordinary Doctorate Award from the University's Governing Board. He is currently a Professor in the Department of Didactics and Educational Organization of the above-mentioned University where he has been Dean of the Teacher Training Faculty. He has been awarded the "Hermini Tudela" Pedagogy Prize by the Catalan Private Foundation for Haemophilia, and as an Honorary Professor by the National University of Piura (Peru).

He is a professor of "Inclusive Education" in the official master’s degree Research in Didactics, Training and Educational Assessment and a research tutor in the Doctorate Education and Society of the Faculty of Education. Between 1998 and 2006 he was a member of the Governing Council of the University of Barcelona. He is a reviewer of scientific journals published in Spain and Latin America.

He was part of the Joint Project of Special Education of the ATTE (European Teacher Training Association), developing his work mainly in the Netherlands, United Kingdom, Greece and Spain. Between 1997 and 2001 he advised the Educational Integration Project developed in Mexico with the support of the Mixed Fund of Technical and Scientific Cooperation Mexico-Spain, which in 2002 was converted into a National Program.  He has collaborated in training and advisory tasks in countries such as Bolivia, Venezuela, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Argentina and Peru.

He is a researcher at the University of Barcelona's Learning, Media and Social Interactions (LMI), where he coordinates the "Working Group on Educational Support in Inclusive Schools", with support from the ICE. He currently directs the Master's Degree in Inclusive Education. Policies, practices and support for an Education for All, aimed at Support and Attention to Diversity teachers. Among his publications are highlighted, besides the more than 60 articles published in specialized and dissemination journals, the books Necessitats Educatives Especials (1992), Programación de aula y adecuación curricular (1993), Estratègies d'Integració (1995), Learning Communities. Transforming Education (2002), The Inclusive School: Practices and Reflections (2004), the last two in collaboration; Special Education in the Integrated School (2007; seventh revised and expanded edition in 2005) and Support Strategies in the Inclusive School (2019).