Abstract:

The inclusion of the diversity of students in the school, that is intended for all, is not a new goal. Portugal has already taken important steps by electing this goal for its educational policies. There is a need to continue developing organisational and professional practices that respond to the need to build an inclusive school, in particular for children and young people from ethnic minorities, migrant populations with different nationalities, origin and belonging to differents social classes and cultures, territories of origin and/or religions. There is recognition, at national and international level, of the need for educational policies aimed at the inclusion of each and every student, so that they feel valued and respected and develop a real sense of belonging. Inclusion is a dynamic process which is achieved by recognising and valuing differences, and aims to promote quality education for all, respecting their diversity, needs and expectations, eliminating all forms of exclusion. If there is progress in the practice of Portuguese schools, the school inclusion of all is still a long-term process, subject to successive adjustments, given the increasing social and cultural diversity of students. The student population consists of highly heterogeneous groups in their cultural heritage, some of them being subject to various forms of discrimination and identity crises as they try to reconcile their culture with the culture chosen by the school. The great challenge facing the school is to respect the principle that "each student matters and matters equally" and that he or she has a potential which it is the school's responsibility to develop. Many are the challenges that arise in the school context in order to combat the exclusion mechanisms that go through discrimination, stereotypes and marginalisation of certain social categories of children and young people. Even because when adopting an intersectional approach goes beyond the simple recognition of the multiplicity of the systems of oppression, exclusion and marginalisation that operate from these categories, evidencing their interaction in the production and reproduction of social inequalities in the school context, the difficulty of building an inclusive school is perceived. Intercultural education introduces the importance of interaction and dialogue between cultures, having contributed to the recognition of diversity and to the implementation of more inclusive educational policies. Multidisciplinary teams, where social workers are included, are highlighted as fundamental pillars for the implementation of these policies. Using a qualitative methodology, based on content analysis of legal documents and semi-structured interviews with social workers working in school clusters, we intend to get to know their perceptions regarding their cultural competence in the implementation of practices for diversity, equity and inclusion, fighting the (re)production of inequalities. By attending to the intersection of multiple inequalities, showing that they not only coexist, but also interconnect and influence each other in the school context, "multiplying" themselves and generating new situations that reinforce the existing ones, the intervention of culturally sensitive social workers with cultural competences is crucial to combat them.

Keywords:

Social Work, Inclusive education, Cultural Competences, Diversity, Inequalities.