SpInLAB: progettazione inclusiva e partecipata per promuovere l’inclusione nelle scuole

Istat reports 3,8% of students with disabilities, 5% more than last year. Many students (8%) present Special Educational Needs, which are increasing quickly (+23% in the last 4 years). Italian schools (60%) still have physical barriers and only a few have adopted sensory-perceptive facilities. Inclusion in the school setting increases social interaction, integration and understanding. It is the “genuine opportunity to participate in the whole life of the school to the best of pupils’ abilities” (Mcallister e Hadjri, 2013). An inclusive space is safe, supportive, caring, and promotes pupils’ sense of belonging (Jebril, Chen, 2021). Innovative spaces for “21st century learning” are mobile, agile and flexible (Cardellino e Woolner, 2020). Design should be a social practice and should create knowledge exchanges to renew schools and learning methods and promote community involvement (Fianchini, 2021). This paper is presenting SpInLAB: a pilot of inclusive spaces for innovative learning models in primary school. Specific needs have been considered by a co-design process which involved students, teachers and school psychologists, to promote inclusion by the configuration of flexible multisensory spaces for all. SpInLAB will support active and participatory learning by spaces where pupils can move freely, make choices, work in groups or individually, self-build the space by adaptable furniture, participate in low or high stimulus activities, learn from the environment by senses.