Integration of an inclusive model in the area of foreign languages for the improvement of educational quality through the use of ICT in an under-performing school

Resumen

This doctoral dissertation is framed within a longitudinal action-research oriented methodology, and an educational innovation project carried out with a group of students at an under-performing bilingual primary education school. After an initial needs analysis and diagnosis of the participant students’ learning habits, an innovative instructional approach with the use of ICTs was designed and implemented. Its main goal was to integrate an inclusive education model in the CLIL English and Arts & Craft subjects. For this purpose, an innovative instructional approach with the use of ICTs was designed and implemented to integrate an inclusive education model in the CLIL English and Arts & Craft subjects. This approach involves all the members and stakeholders of the educational community to ensure that all students, regardless of their race, gender, origin, socioeconomic status, or ethnicity, may have access to quality and equitable education. In a society where information and communications technologies play a crucial role, students need to be offered access to these tools, ensuring an inclusive model to allow the same opportunities and rights for all. This study has been conducted for a period of four years in an under-performing bilingual primary education state-funded school with a low socioeconomic income. Its multicultural context has made it possible for mutual enrichment when it comes to putting these aims into practice, integrating the entire educational community. It has also proved to be an optimal environment in which educational values have prevailed and prospered remarkably in the area of English within a CLIL approach. Only in this way have students learned every day, enjoying the teaching and learning process, and have managed to improve both their linguistic and digital skills. This progress is reflected in the academic results obtained through the integration of the full range of resources and innovative methodological strategies on offer in the classroom daily. The outcome of this doctoral thesis provides relevant evidence of the positive impact of applying an inclusive model of education in a challenging context. The research findings are also indicative of a significant improvement in the students’ linguistic and digital competences, achieving higher academic grades than in the initial study conducted.