How could our School accept that even a single student might be excluded from access to education? Aren’t we, as teachers and educators, expected to distance ourselves from such an ignominy? Can’t School – as quoted in article 34 of the Italian Constitution – be an institution which includes and welcomes by definition?
Inclusion is a popular recurring theme in current educational standards. It is not limited to welcoming and planning individual educational paths for disabled students, but specifically, to raise inner awareness which has to be nurtured in earliest childhood. If we teach our students to exclude a schoolmate, for whatever reason, we must realize that these they will grow up in a society based on isolation and division. Should we give up teaching open-mindedness, inclusion and acceptance of diversity? Should we resign to a world founded on separation and segregation in the name of a supposed higher benefit?
The School That Welcomes (La Scuola Che Accoglie) is not: an association, a syndicate. The School That Welcomes involves everyone. As a matter of fact, it reminds us that it’s our duty to safeguard the very identity of School as a public institution open to everyone, where legality and privacy are promoted. The primary objective of School is to set an example of constitutional legality.
School is meant to support everyone’s rights and it represents a place where ideas and opinions are shared and encouraged. School must provide the critical tools to shape the personality of students based on the assumption that every opinion deserves respect.
No absolute truth can be imposed in the educational process.
The School That Welcomes is us: Principals, Teachers, Secretaries, Technicians who work in the school system throughout the country.
The very integrity of Italian School is at risk. If we deny the principles which are the foundations of our Educational System, we will erode the basis of our society as well as our professional dignity.
The School that welcomes is all of us. And it is our duty defend it.
La Scuola Che Accoglie
