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FROM EQUITY TO DIFFERENCE: Educational legal frames and inclusive ractices in !rgentina Carlos "#liar In$s Dussel

Introduction

This chapter sets to analyze the dimensions in which equity issues are played out in Argentinas education, and to discuss how these deployments affect the foundations, practices, and realities of inclusive education in Argentina. We analyze in the first place what we call as the legal frame, ta ing as a reference point the !ational "aw of #ducation $!o. %&.'%&(%''&) and some city regulations. We then move to the consideration of some quantitative and qualitive data from the World *eport of +!, The right to education of people with disa-ilities ., that give a portrait of the educational situation of children with disa-ilities. /n the third place, we -ring in additional evidence provided -y teachers statements in focus groups that discussed the images circulating in educational settings a-out students who are different, a-out diversity and difference, and the value attri-uted to living together in schools. % 0ur main interest is to esta-lish which ind of perceptions emerge out of the programs and e1periences of inclusive education that have tried to transform highly unequal educational environments into more equita-le settings in the last decade.

%& "etting t'e frame: (egal constructions around ine)uities

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Application of the Resolution 60/251 of the General Assembly of the United Nations Or ani!ation" #arch 15th" 2006$ %El derecho a la educacin de las personas con discapacidades & 'nforme del Relator (special sobre el derecho a la educaci)n" *ernor #u+o!, -.he ri ht to education of persons /ith disabilities& Report by the 0pecial (ditor *ernor #u+o!1& 2 .hese acti2ities are inscribed in the 3ro4ect$ 5'ma es and discourses on difference in schools," directed by 6arlos 07liar" National 6ouncil for 0cientific and .echnical Research -6ON'6(.1" 200682009&

The discourse and practices for integration and inclusion are relatively recent in Argentina, and have -een influenced -y technical assistance 2 and academic literature from !orthern countries $particularly 3pain, and most recently, +4 and the +nited 3tates). They can -e dated at the -eginnings of the .55's, a time signalled -y the application of neo6li-eral policies. These policies, while -ringing a-out a phenomenal e1pansion of scholing, specially at the secondary level, talso had the effect of producing new e1clusions. The reform had some -asic principles that are well $3chram, %'''), nown, as they spread as a contagious discourse decentralization, accounta-ility, managerialism,

professionalization, national standards. They depicted an old6fashioned system, caught -etween struggles of interests and conservative tendencies. The rhetoric promised to put Argentina in the %. st century and in the 7irst World, and an imagery of computers, #nglish, and highly6dynamic teachers and principals networ ing colla-oratively was offered to picture the school of the future. 8 What interests us particularly is the priority attention given in these .55's reforms to diversity, which was read in terms of social deficiency or deprivation. "eaving -ehind the idea that universal policies needed to -e effected, many compensatory programs were developed at that time that received the name of Attention to diversity, understanding -y this mostly the education of the poor, -ut also the disa-led or recent immigrants. /nterestingly, poverty was to -e considered a sign of a diverse, pluralistic society, and not the effect of in9ustice or inequality. : And, in contrast with the e1perience of affirmative action or positive discrimination policies run -y other countries, which targeted specific marginalized groups that had -een systematically e1cluded from the university or school system, in Argentina the compensatory
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;y technical assistance" /e mean the /or7 done by consulants /ho /ere hired to produce documents and recommendations for local o2ernments& Also" trips to 0pain and other (uropean countries /ere usual in the 1<<0s not nly for o2ernment officers but also for particular roups of teachers" partly fa2ored by a ood e=chan e rate that made it accessible& > 0ee$ ?ussel" '&" (ducational Restructurin and the Reshapin of 0chool Go2ernance in Ar entina," en$ 3op7e/it!" .&0& @ Aindblad" 0& -eds&1" (ducation Restructurin $ 'nternational 3erspecti2es on .ra2ellin 3olicies" 'nformation A e 3ublishin " Green/ich" 6. " 200>" pp& :820& 5 Bomi ;habha ar ues compellin ly a ainst the notion of 5cultural di2ersity,$ 56ultural di2ersity is the rco nition of pre8 i2en cultural contents and customsC held in a time8frame of relati2ism it i2es rise to liberal notions of multiculturalism" cultural e=chan e or the culture of humanity& 6ultural di2ersity is also the representation of a radical rhetoric o the separation of totali!ed cultures that li2e unsullied by the interte=tuality of their historical locationsD, -;habha" 1<<>$:>1&

: programs did not challenge the institutional or social conditions that produced e1clusion and did not go -eyond a pre6political charity or political clientelism $Auyero, %'''). The ways in which inequalities and diversity were thought, and how the relationships with the unequal people were asserted, had longlasting effects, that still need to -e revised. At that time, the discourse on inclusive education -egan to spread -etween educators. And even though there is a lac of deeper studies on the influence that pedagogical innovation lin ed to inclusive education had in Argentina $with the e1ception of ;e <ega, %''=) &, it can -e said that the te1ts produced -y the World Conference on Education for All in >omtien $+!#3?0, .55'), the Convention on the Rights of the Child $.55'), and the Declaration of Salamanca $.558) provided the language and ideas for designing proposals for inclusive education. The influence of this literature and assistance consisted, -asically, in the availa-ility of a series of materials and resources for teacher education, documents and informative meetings, that resulted in the insistence on the attention to the diversity of students population, first from an integrationist perspective $focusing on the traits of the su-9ects to -e integrated) and later from an inclusivist perspective, still current, which focuses on the transformations that need to -e done in educational settings. @rogress has -een slow -ut steady. Aovernment offices such as the Binistries of #ducation at the national $federal) and provincial $state) levels have -egun to adhere to the international education trends to solve inequality pro-lems, guarantee inclusive education, design strategies for diversity and living together, among others. /n %''&, a legal frame was esta-lished that -rought off a new educational thought organized around two inclusion. /n fact, the new "aw of !ational #ducation enacted in %''& pronounces that, The !ation 3tate, the provinces and the Autonomous ?ity of Cuenos Aires have the principal and undeclina-le responsi-ility to provide an integral, permanent, and quality education for all the inha-itants of the nation,
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ey words, equity and

?e la *e a" (duardo& Las trampas de la escuela integradora& ;uenos Aires" No2educ" 2009&

> guaranteeing equality, free education and equity in the e1ercise of this right, with the participation of social organizations and families. * /f this first formula puts the 3tate as responsi-le for educational equality and equity, more details are provided throughout the succeeding articles. Article .., for e1ample, declares that the ends and o-9ectives of education are to assure equal opportunities and posi-ilities in education, without regional or social im-alances. /n this respect, it indicates that equity has to -e translated into an equal distri-ution of resources. Article 8= includes gender equity and cultural diversity as part of the -asic contents of, and approach to, education. /t is clear that, in the rhetoric of the 9uridical language of the new "aw of !ational #ducation, the notion of equity(inequity is closely lin ed to that of equality(inequality, and that the 3tate is held responsi-le for mitigating the historical and cultural effects of inequities, -e them regional, economic, or else. What has happened with inclusion in the te1t of this new "awD The concept is permanently referenced as the action, universal and particular, that has to solve inequity pro-lems -ut, as it will -e shown, it is a formula that does not ma e clear, yet, neither the pedagogical processes involved in the achievement of inclusion nor the essential guidelines for teacher education programs. ;igital inclusion is also mentioned as part of the new requirements for citizenship in the information society. 0n the other hand, even though the notion of equity is framed in glo-al and unspecified terms, inclusion seems to -e address particular priority populations, the disenfranchised groups, unschooled young people, homeless children, freedom6deprived persons, and people with disa-ilities. "ets ta e a closer loo to how disa-ilities are presented in this new "aw.

Article 8% defines that, 3pecial #ducation is the modality of the educational system that has to ensure the education right to persons with disa-ilities, either
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't is /orth underscorin that the Aa/ /as the result of a lon and heated debate amon educational a ents$ teachers" members of the parliament and of the ministries" families" unions" that had place all o2er the country for t/o years&

5 temporary or permanent, at all levels and modalities of the educational system. 3pecial #ducation is ruled -y the principle of educational inclusion $...) 3pecial #ducation provides educational attention to all those pro-lematics that can not -e approached through common education. A little further, in Article 82, it specifies that, The @rovinces and the Autonomous ?ity of Cuenos Aires, see ing to articulate -oth the management and function of its governing organs, will esta-lish the apropriate procedures and resources for an early identification of educational needs derived from disa-ilities or developmental disorders, with the aim of providing an interdisciplinary attention that will help to achieve their inclusion since pre6school education. The legal frame at the national level is very clear, there is an initial situation of educational inequity, inclusion has to -e a resounding and effective answer to this degraded conte1t, and a particular attention has to -e given to the unschooled population and to people with disa-ilities. A call to interdisciplinary care and to the articulation of different systems of schooling is also remar a-le. /n April %''5, the ?ity of Cuenos Aires has issued a new legislation in reference to educational inclusion, that sanctions the integration of students with special educational needs in common schools through an interdisciplinary approach. This has to -e done at all leves and modalities, as long as it is possi-le. The decree suggests that educational inclusion is a process that has to -e managed through a networ of agreements and interventions to the -enefit of its adressees, and constitutes a ?entral ?a-inet for ma ing the ultimate decisions=. What conclusions can -e s etched in relation to the concept of educational equity and inclusion as they emerge in the legal de-ateD #quity emerges as a concept that runs out of an educational diagnosis of failure and is associated to the will to a deep transformation of material structures, and to a desire oriented
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't needs to be said that" accordin to the NGO 5Acceso ya, -///&accesoya& o2&ar1" in the 6ity of ;uenos Aires there are 21&000 children /ith motor disabilities /ho are school a e but ha2e no access to public schools& .he same or ani!ation has denounced that in 2006" <5F of pri2ate schools and E5F of public schools did not pro2ide adeGuate access to the populations that needed it

6 to the future $-ecause, as there is inequity, the horizon must -e, -y force, equity). /nclusion ta es the form of a remedy, the configuration of an action6 transit -etween inequity and equity. There are no dou-ts a-out the seriousness and enthusiasm that have steered the wor done in the last years to reverse a situation that has -een historically mar ed -y inequalities and a-sence of educational 9ustice. What we have called as the legal frame has -een the result of a long process of construction and mo-ilization done -y different agents. @art of the enthusiasm seems to have focused, particularly, in the search for alternative teacher training, which are at the -asis of inclusive practice at schools. 0n the other hand, the strong presence of the !A0s that promote the right to education of children and of people with disa-ilities has -een very influential, as they have -een very active $however, their reach and impact has not -een yet sufficiently studied) 5. /t can also -e stressed that the universities have -een increasingly interested in studying and theorizing inclusive education, although most of the times it has -een related to the displacement of the su-9ect 3pecial #ducation to more vaguely defined studies on Attention to ;iversity, and -y studies who have focused on secondary schooling. The perspectives that have -een adopted -y studies coming from the field of special education $renewed, or not, in its epistemology and practices), have derived on some research studies on classroom practices, or centered on individual cases, or -ased on teachers narratives on their e1periences with inclusion $for e1ample, ;u-rovs y et al, %'':).'. Ta en all together, the action done -y the ministries and the organization of a legal frame, the !A0s and the university production, have not yet reversed a pro-lematic situation which is still characterized -y educational inequality and e1clusion from schooling. Eowever, there is an open de-ate on to what e1tent the legal frame, official policies and academic research have a real impact on educational practices, or if the latter are dependent on other varia-les such as
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0ee" for e=ample" the eneral approach to NGOs in the last 10 years in Ar entina$ Acu+a" 6& and *acchieri" A& -eds&1" La incidencia poltica de la sociedad civil" ;uenos Aires" 0i lo HH'" 2009& 10 ?ubro2s7y" 0& et al& La integracin escolar como problemtica profesional& ;uenos Aires" No2educ" 2005&

E teachers wor ing conditions, possi-ilities for colla-orative action in schools, pedagogical training that is aware of the transformations of students and nowledge.., the conceptions on diversity that are held in particular cultures, discourses on disa-ilities and difference in school conte1ts, among other factors. As it will -e shown in the ne1t sections, despite these efforts and de-ates, inequity still holds its way in Argentinean education. #ducational inclusion, most of all in what relates to secondary schools and people with disa-ilities, is still an unresolved matter. +& T'e educational situation of eo le ,it' disa-ilities ?onsidering the data collected -y the last World *eport on the right to education -y children and young people with disa-ilities, that gathered information from pu-lic authorities and !A0s, it should -e said that the situation of inclusive education in Argentina is, to say the least, dramatically similar to other "atin American countries $e1ception made of ?osta *ica and ?u-a, though for different reasons) and to most African countries as well. The first point to -e made has to do with the scarcity or lac of data concerning this issue. This a-sence can -e interpreted in different ways, -ut what it points to is to a remar a-le apathy or even indolence on the part of pu-lic authorities a-out nowing with precision and detail the tra9ectories and sufferings of children and young people with disa-ilities and of their families. !ot to now what is going on with a particular population in the educational setting is already part of the diagnosis of the situation we are facing. The answers to the +! questionnaire upon which the a-ovementioned report is -ased are eloquent in terms of their political dimension, although it has to -e said that they were provided months -efore the passing of the !ational "aw of #ducation.
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7or e1ample, the empoverishment of middle classes, the transformation of power relations -etween adults and young people, the dis6 and re6organization of nowledge due to the impact of new technologies, among others.

*egarding the item Availa-ility for inclusion, the authorities and the !A0s in Argentina responded that There is a lac of a national program for inclusive education that promotes educational policies for all leves of schooling. @arents should have a very active role, even with 9udicial petitions. /n some provinces, there are interdisciplinary travelling teams, whose efficacy and continuity is dependent on the availa-ility of resources for transportation, which were dramatically cut since the economic emergency of %''.. There is no information on the percentage of schools attended, the quantity of specialized schools, and the presence of educational alternatives for this population in particular. The item Accesi-ility was answered in a similar vein. The testimonies state that #ven today, F'G of school -uildings do not have installations of any ind for people with motor disa-ilities, and the -arriers are higher in secondary schools. The delivery of the certification of disa-ility, which grants free access to pu-lic transportation, is considera-ly slow. There is a remar a-le trend towards segregated education, and there is no research done on the comparative drop6 out rate $-etween children with(without disa-ilities), and the comparative school success or failure $considering school regimes, special education and common schooling). The answers related to the item Accepta-ility can -e synthesized in the following way, The @riority "earning ?ore sanction tolerance and respect for difference. There are evaluations on the performance of students in common schools, -ut not in special education conte1ts. Teacher education does not include this su-9ect. 7inally, regarding the item Adapta-ility, the information is the following, The 7ederal "aw of #ducation foresees the participation in the design of educational policy guidelines, and the right of parents to participate in the support organizations of school management. The incorporation of children with disa-ilities in schools depends, to a great e1tent, on the local decisions ta en -y school principals and teachers.

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Eow to read the data, when most of the educational situation is ignored or un nown, and when what is at the -asis of these descriptions are loose legal pronouncementsD 0n the first hand, as one of us has already mentioned in previous wor
.%

, there

is a dissociation -etween the legal language and the ethical responsi-ility associated to inclusive education. Whereas there have -een changes that started with the formal6legal regimes lin ed to education for all and inclusive education, it can -e o-served that this legal and formal recognition does not translate itself in actual practices that ensure quality education for children and young people who suffer from some disa-ility. And the main pro-lem in this respect is related, pro-a-ly, to not nowing where this population is, who are -eing schooled in special settings, who are in common schools, and most of all, who are left out of any ind of school. When -oth languages, legal and ethical, are turned into irreconcila-le poles, or when the legal language is the only way to e1press a policy of non6 discrimination, acceptance and recognition of differences, it may happen that inclusion is seen as a non desira-le effort, which is either inappropriate or impossi-le for the common school system. That is why the language of ethics cannot -e su-ordinated easily into the legal language, as there is first and foremost a universal responsi-ility towards the other, a "aw with capital letters that is enunciated as a concern on any-ody, -e he or she disa-led or not. With this discussion, we do not intend to deny that much progress has -een made in the 9udicial recognition and even in the very e1istence of a legal system that is adapted and 9ust to the people with disa-ilities. Eowever, if we were to draw a tra9ectory involving the four main questions posed -y the World *eport in Argentina $/s there an appropriate legal conte1tD The financial suport for pu-lic policies is adequate to this conte1tD What percentage of the people with disa-ilities is includedD Are there follow6up programsD), it is important to state the following remar s,
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7or e1ample, 3 liar $%''F)H 3 liar I TJllez $%''5).

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.. The legal system that guarantees the educational rights of people with disa-ilities has reached its -est in legal termsH %. There have -een relatively adequate financial support -ut it is li ely that it does not correlate to the content and aims of the legal te1ts relevant to inclusion. /t is clear that the -udget issues for educational policies have to -e carefully scrutinized. Eowever, it can -e said that in most cases the support has -een used almost e1clusively to implement partial and insufficient mechanisms for teacher training, and there has -een no funding for research or for promoting -etter life conditions for people with disa-ilities, or even to improve the wor ing conditions of their teachers. 2. There is a low percentage $.G6:G) of people with disa-ilities in their school age and who effectively attend schools, independently of whether they do it in special schools or common schools. 8. There are not, at least not from the information gathered -y the report, follow up or monitoring programs that -ring support to pro9ects that promote the inclusion of persons with disa-ilities in the educational system. 3ummarizing, it is posi-le to say that the rights are legally esta-lished, there is some ind of financial support, the percentage of inclusion of this population ranges from .G to :G, and there is no monitoring policy to evaluate not only the presence -ut, more fundamentally, the e1istence of students with disa-ilities in the educational system $3 liar, 3tu-rin I Aentili, %''F). .& Cultural considerations on inclusive education: Reconsidering

teac'ers/ narratives& As it has -een said -efore, it is important to consider teachers practices and -eliefs to have a deeper understanding of the way in which equity and equality are played out. Cetween %''F and %''5, one of us has conducted a series of group conversations with teachers in the ?ity of Cuenos Aires. The teachers wor at three different types of institutions, special education schools,

11 recuperating schools.2 and common schools. The conversations too place every two wee s. They were taped, and the video of each conversation was -rought to the ne1t meeting for continuing the conversation. The aim of this research strategy has not -een primarily to descri-e with more precision the nature of teachers discourse or narrative, or their social representations, -ut to understand the tone with which inclusion is spo en a-out, and how diversity and living together appear in their speeches. That is, our concern is with how the issue of difference is alluded in the conversation, and what the emphasis are when what is at sta e is feeling and thin ing a-out the meaning of words, and when different pespectives, coincidences and dissent among colleagues, arise in the conversation. 7or promoting and understanding conversation, we have followed here the theoretical framewor provided -y "arrosa $%'':) .8 and Borey $%''F).:. Coth authors are concerned -y the costumes that have covered the ideas and words that surround them, and see the evasive filiation -etween the what, the who, and the how in the conversation. They loo deeper into the institutional mas s that intend to regulate, administer, and thus destroy conversation, and assume their discomfort with the simulacra of conversation that ta es place, daily, in some academic language. The authors remar that any conversation should for-id words such as -ecause / say so and so what, in order to -e, precisely, conversations. A conversatoin has to do with giving up the idea that to have a conversation is nothing -ut a monologue with two selves that are always in parallel lines and never touch themselves, that is, never get to -e affected -y each other. 3ome of the initial questions that started the group and the content of the conversations were, which paths or tra9ectories, which stories have -een given to you to thin a-out inclusive education and living with othersD Which te1ts,
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.he 5recuperatin schools, are defined as the ones that are temporary options for children /ho need a different teachin pace" or /ho suffer from temporary illnesses& 1> Ior e Aarrosa& Una len ua para la con2ersaci)n& 'n Ior e Aarrosa @ 6arlos 07liar -eds&1$ Entre pedagoga y literatura$ ;uenos Aires$ (ditorial #i+o y ?J2ila" 2006" pp& 258>0& 15 #i uel #orey& ?e la con2ersaci)n ideal& ?ecJlo o pro2isional& 'n$ Pequeas doctrinas de la soledad & #K=ico$ (ditorial 0e=to 3iso" 200E" pp& >1:8>:0&

12 which references, which materials have appeared as specific to these issues, and have they -een availa-le to youD Eow is educational change thought a-out, and with what words, reforms, traditions, paradigms, transformation of the self, transformation of othersD Which decisions and responsi-ilities are at sta e when tal ing a-out inclusive educationD These questions changed quic ly, and different ones emerged. As some teachers e1pressed it, they as ed themselves whether the need to thin a-out inclusion came from the outside, from a disciplinary configuration that put pressure for -eing adopted as the novelty. 3hould we say, instead, that this approach to educational inclusion and the idea of living with others spea s for itself of a certain pro1imity that is determined -y the educational scene itselfD /snt that scene the place where encounters and disagreements, conflicts and passions, uncertainties, affection and indolence, care for the other as well as lac of care for the other, are producedD /snt it there where singularity, alterity, difference, diversity and the multiplicity of learning, the need for a relation that is played among us, hospitality and hostility, the place where something we call nowledge and educational e1perience ta es placeD Thus, is the side6 section of inclusion really neededD ;o we need the words and the themes of inclusion and living with othersD Eow do we include the $notion, idea, e1perience, them, definition, presentation, discussion, intention, materiality, policy, politics, practice of) inclusion in educationD What we intend to portrait here focuses on the transformations of the initial questions into something different, that shows the deployment of the notion of inclusion into four related questions, a) the pro-lem of the emergence of the idea of inclusion and living together(living with others, considered as pure e1teriority or as an immanent questionH -) the relational dimension of pedagogical processesH c) the staging quality with which teachers loo at their own pedagogical e1periencesH and most of all, d) the transformation of an initial question such as what happens with inclusionD into something altogether different, what happens to us with inclusionD

1: This shift in emphasis is, without any dou-t, a change in the position held in the conversation, as it does not interest itself on a given category, or concept or a1iomH instead, it loo s for, and wants to now something a-out, our relationship to all these issues. The question compels us to listen to intimacy and interiority, to now how it resonates $if it resonates), which echoes it finds $if it finds any), what does it provo e in others $if it provo es anything at all). /n the conversations, these issues emerged as images of inclusion, diversity, and living together, that were associated to different ways of conceiving gates or doors. The image(metaphor of the gate is not new and shows something pretty o-vious, a closed door implies the inaccesi-ility or the impossi-ility $or denial) of entranceH an open door suggests the opening towards those who are not here yet, who are outside our institutions. 7rom the point of view of a particular understanding of ethics.&, the idea of opening has its relevance, it assumes an opening of the self towards the other, towards what comes from the other, towards the very e1istence of the other. The three images of inclusion and opening that came up in the conversations are the following, the image of inclusion with open doorsH the image of inclusion with revolving doorsH the image of inclusion with doors with metal detectors. They refer to three different e1periences of inclusion. The first one comes from those institutions that have their gates open, and who do not request or demand anything to the one who arrives $close to the idea of unconditional hospitality advanced -y >acques ;errida.F). The second refers to the institutions that let outside someone in particular, and e1clude or e1pel her or him in their lac of specific pro9ects for their special needs. The third one relates to institutions that, -efore letting someone in, ma e all inds of questions to have a diagnosis of the recently arrived, who are youD Which language do you spea D What is your nameD Eow do you learnD What do you haveD What do you want from usD We have mentioned earlier the idea of hospitality. /n our conversations with teachers, the idea of inclusion shifted from a formula loaded with pre6conditions
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3ee, in this respect, >oan6?arles BKlich $%''.)H CLrcena $%''.). ;errida, >., De la hospitalidad, Cuenos Aires, #diciones de la 7lor, %''..

1> $generally lin ed to personal and family traits), to a notion lin ed to attention, availa-ility, receptivity, in -rief, hospitality. This change in perception is transcendent, not only -ecause it refers to an individual and institutional ethics, that should welcome any -ody.=, -ut also -ecause it involves a ma9or responsi-ility and not simply an apparently personal virtue or a legal formula. /n this respect, one of the teachers -rought a-out a thought -y Baurice Clanchot that phrases the pro-lem in this way, *esponsi-ility or o-ligation toward our fellow that does not come from the "aw, -ut the "aw would come from them in what it ma es it irreduci-le to any form of legality through which it is sought to regularize $this responsi-ility or o-ligation), claiming it entirely as an e1ception or as something e1traordinary that is not e1pressed in any language yet formulated. .5 0ther topic that came to the conversation was the education coha-itation, or living together with others, something that has -een a hot issue in educational de-ates in Argentina due to a perceived increase in indiscipline and school violence, and a feeling of failure at esta-lishing new community orders for schools.%' /n the conversation groups, we organized a collective reading of +!#3?0s title,"earning to "ive Together, have we failedD %.. At first sight, the title tal s a-out a su-stantial issue. Cut it is associated to a rhetorical question that can -e answered only am-iguously, -ecause it involves an us $we have failed) that is difficult to attri-ute to any particular su-9ect. The central issue, learning to live together, is a direct reference to the *eport ;elors $.55&) where a necessary utopia for the %. st century is defined, -ased on four pillars, learning to now, learning to do, learning to -e, and learning to live together(to live with others. This last pillar is presented in the following way, $...) it means the development of an understanding of others in a spirit of tolerance, pluralism, respect for difference, and peace. /ts main point is the
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As it is e1pressed -y >osJ AarcMa Bolina in his -oo , /mLgenes de la distancia, Carcelona, "aertes, %''=. 1< Baurice Clanchot $.555). La comunidad inconfesable, Badrid, Arena "i-ros, .555, p. .'8. 20 0ee$ ?ussel" '&" 5L0e renue2a el orden disciplinario escolar escolarM Una lectura de los re lamentos de con2i2encia en la Ar entina de la post8crisis," Revista Me icana de !nvestigacin Educativa" *ol 10" nNmero 2E" oct8dec& 2005" pp& 110<81121& 21 +!#3?0 $%''.) Aprender a vivir untos! hemos fracasado" 8&N /nternational #ducation ?onference, Aeneva, :6= de septiem-re.

15 awareness Othan s to activities such as common pro9ects or conflict management6 of increasing interdependence $ecologic, economic, social) of persons, communities, and nations, in a world that is increasingly smaller, more fragile, and interconnected.%% Eow do teachers react to this paragraph in particularD The language of the te1t is well nown -ecause it has -een tirelessly reproduced in other reports and in pretentious academic discourses, it is not a-out living together, -ut a-out learning how to do it. /t is true that the living together is asserted, -ut the focus is put on others. And while it spea s a-out living with others, the primary action is tolerance. The report spea s a-out living together, -ut we can live with others as long as differences are respected $the difference of the others or own differenceD We will come -ac to that later). That is why the main part of the su-stantial issues is evaporated in the duality us6themH and it vanishes precisely -ecause even when it alludes to others, it is the us who is the only su-9ect capa-le to designate and descri-e the social world, who is conscious a-out her or his own discourse, or who is even capa-le of a discourse. The introduction to the report gives yet another title that includes other rhetorics, #ducation for all to learn how to live together in the %. st century, need, hypocrisy, or utopiaD /n our collective reading, teachers attention is called to the fact that, after the initial invitation that can only -e answered -y a -lunt no, the rest of the te1t opens an am-ivalent opposition -etween need, hypocrisy or utopia. The teachers formulated some questions in the conversation that followed this reading, Eas the need to live together failed, that is, is it no longer necessary that we live togetherD Eas it failed -ecause it is a hypocrisy to say that it is possi-leD Eas utopia failed -ecause, in the end, it is no more than a utopiaD Eas the school failed -ecause all will never -e includedD 0r has education failed, -ecause it didnt create the need, it didnt erase the hypocrisy, and it didnt eep the utopia of living together aliveD

22

/-Mdem, pp. %=6%5.

16 /n response to these questions, the group decided to go deeper into the meanings implied in the notions of inclusion and living together. Te1ts -y >ean6"uc !ancy, >acques ;errida and !uria @Jrez de "ara were -rought to the discussion. The te1t chosen -y !ancy defines that, Ceing in common, or -eing together, and even more simply or directly, -eing among various people, is -eing in the affect, to -e affected and affect. $...) To -e touched and to touch. The contact Opro1imity, friction, encounter, collision6 is the fundamental modality of affect. %2 The te1t that teachers selected -y ;errida as s, ?an we teach how to liveD ?an we teach how to live and to live withD ?an we learn how to liveD ?an it -e taughtD ?an we learn, through discipline or instruction, through e1perience or e1perimentation, to accept, or -etter, to assert lifeD %8. 7inally, the te1t that was chosen -y !uria @Jrez de "ara suggests that, And this is or has -een for me inclusion, the daily practice of mutual un6recognition of oneself and of the otherH the mutual un6recognition -etween men and women, deaf and hearing, a-led and disa-led, those from here and those from there $...) ?an there -e another way of includingD ?an we thin of the inclusion of differences in a way that does not involve un6recognitionD #$ The three quotes, all together, provo ed the following commentaries in the conversation group with teachers, .. There is no inclusion nor living together without affection, without affecting and letting oneself to -e affectedH %. Affection is not only empathy, harmony and lac of conflict, which are the images that are permanently associated to it. /nclusion and living together have to do, a-ove all other things, with friction and conflictivity. 2. /t is posi-le to teach how to live together, not in some sort of naPve formula or recipeH what is at sta e is to assert the life of others, of any other.
2:

>ean6"uc !ancy $%''.). La comunidad enfrentada. Cuenos Aires, #diciones "a ?e-ra, pag. :.. 2> >acques ;errida $%''F). Aprender %por fin& a vivir, Cuenos Aires, Amorrortu #ditores, pLg. .%. 25 !uria @Jrez de "ara $%''5). ;e la primera diferencia a las diferencias otras. /n 3 liar, ?arlos I "arrosa, >orge $#ds). E'periencia y alteridad en educaci(n. *osario, Eomo 3apiens, pLg. F=.

1E 8. /nclusion has nothing to do with nowing some-ody -eforehand, -y using technical or rational devices already esta-lished to formulate a diagnosis, -ut it is related to entering or opening into an educational relationship of mutual un6 recognition. The cultural narratives, then, were deeply transformed -y the act of conversation which affected the way we thought of inclusion, the educators. 0& Concluding remar#s& Throughout the chapter, it is evident that there are many contradictions -etween legal documents and real practices. A long 9ourney will -e needed -efore we can say that there is something li e an equita-le and inclusive educational system in Argentina. There are many paths to -e undone in teacher training and in the sensitivities and thought of school agents, that will pro-a-ly ta e years of conversations li e the ones we have -een having these last two years. There is also an e1cessive confidence on the legal reasoning and the efficacy of the legal frame, that sometimes prevents people from putting more energy into the institutional and pedagogical transformations that are needed. Cut there is also something else that is at sta e, and that one of us has called differentialism $3 liar, %''2), that has to -e -rought to the analysis. We have -een alluding to this throughut the chapter, and now it is time to define it more precisely as a point that needs to -e challenged. There are two questions that appear with insistence in pedagogical de-ates in Argentina, educational inclusion has to do with equity, equality A!; with differencesD 0r has it got to do with equity, equality, 0* with differencesD /t is timely, and politically relevant, to descri-e and ma e clear a certain confussion that derives from the use of the term differences in relation to a similar term, the different. The different ones are su-9ects who are pointed out as such, as a result of a long process of construction and invention of their ind of questions that could -e posed, and the ethical and political positions of

19 difference. We called this process differentialism, that is, a form of categorization, separation, and reduction of some identity mar s in relation to the vast and chaotic set of human differences. ;ifferences, whatever they might -e, can never -e descri-ed as -etter or worse, superior or inferior, good or -ad, normal and a-normal. The fact that some identities or identity mar s are considered different is suggestive of the production of a certain type of differentialism. /n other words, these mar s are considered as negative traits and are opposed to a given idea of the normal or the good. ;ifferentialism, -esides -eing a political and historical process, is a cultural and educational trap, that causes that, for e1ample, women are considered as the different ones in the gender dimension, -lac people are the different ones in the race dimension, children and older people as the different in terms of age, disa-led as the different in terms of -ody normality, learning normality, etc.. /t is worth insisting once again on this, the idea of difference as a value can and should -e mo-ilized, -ut very often the term different is used as an indication of a-normal people. There is another ethical position that we would li e to posit, among the differences, there are no different su-9ects. And if we spea of -ody differences, all -odies form part of itH if we spea of learning differences, all ways of learning are includedH if we spea of language differences, all the modes of producing speech and understanding are there. Eowever, there has always -een a su-tle shift from difference to the different ones, as if we were not capa-le of mentioning difference -y itself and needed a-normal su-9ects, o-9ects of permanent correction. /n many educational settings in Argentina, inclusion has -een set forth, -ut in many of them this process has -een steered -y a strong o-session with the different. Difference) though) is in the relation *etween su* ects) not in the intrinsic nature of su* ects+ And this is a paradigm change that) from our hindsight) has not yet *een made! an ethical transformation that shifts the loo, from those pointed out as different) to an inner search in ourselves) in everything pedagogical that happens *etween us) for e'ample in our unfinished -uest for educational inclusion+

1<

References& AcuQa, ?. and <acchieri, A. $eds.) $%''=). La incidencia pol.tica de la sociedad civil, Cuenos Aires, 3iglo RR/. Auyero, >. $.55F), #vita como performance. BediaciSn y resoluciSn de pro-lemas entre los po-res ur-anos del Aran Cuenos Aires. /n, >. Auyero $ed.), /avores por votos" Estudios so*re el clientelismo politico contempor0neo . Cuenos Aires, #d. "osada pp. .&F6%22. CLrcena, 7ernando $%''.). La esfinge muda+ El aprendi1a e del dolor despu2s de Auschwit1. Carcelona, Anthropos. Cha-ha, E. $.558). 3he Location of Culture. "ondon I !ew Tor , *outledge. Clanchot, Baurice $.555). La comunidad inconfesa*le, Badrid, Arena "i-ros, .555. ;e la <ega, #duardo $%''=). Las trampas de la escuela integradora. Cuenos Aires, !oveduc. ;errida, >acques $%''.). De la hospitalidad, Cuenos Aires, #diciones de la 7lor. ;errida, >acques $%''F). Aprender $por fin) a vivir, Cuenos Aires, Amorrortu #ditores. ;u-rovs y, 3ilvia et al $%'':). La integraci(n escolar como pro*lem0tica profesional. Cuenos Aires, !oveduc. ;ussel, /., 1#ducational *estructuring and the *eshaping of 3chool Aovernance in Argentina, in, @op ewitz, T.3. I "ind-lad, 3. $eds.), #ducation *estructuring, /nternational @erspectives on Travelling @olicies, /nformation Age @u-lishing, Areenwich, ?T , %''8, pp. 26%'. ;ussel, /., U3e renueva el orden disciplinario escolar escolarD +na lectura de los reglamentos de convivencia en la Argentina de la post6crisis, *evista Be1icana de /nvestigaciSn #ducativa, <ol .', nVmero %F, octu-re6diciem-re de %'':, pp. ..'56..%.. AarcMa Bolina, >osJ $%''=). 4m0genes de la distancia. Carcelona, "aertes. "arrosa, >orge $%''&). +na lengua para la conversaciSn. /n >orge "arrosa I ?arlos 3 liar $?oord.), Entre pedagog.a y literatura, Cuenos Aires, #ditorial BiQo y ;Lvila, pp. %:68'. BJlich, >oan6?arles $%''.). La ausencia de testimonio+ 5tica y pedagog.a en los relatos del 6olocausto+ Carcelona, Anthropos.

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Borey, Biguel $%''F). ;e la conversaciSn ideal. ;ecLlogo provisional. #n, 7e-ue8as doctrinas de la soledad. BJ1ico, #ditorial 3e1to @iso, pp. 8.2682'. !ancy, >ean6"uc $%''.). "a comunidad enfrentada. Cuenos Aires, #diciones "a ?e-ra @Jrez de "ara, !uria $%''5). ;e la primera diferencia a las diferencias otras. /n ?. 3 liar I >. "arrosa. E'periencia y Alteridad en Educaci(n . *osario, Eomo 3apiens, pp. 3chram, 3. $%'''). After Welfare+ 3he Culture of 7ostindustrial Social 7olicy . !ew Tor , !ew Tor +niversity @ress. 3 liar, ?arlos $%''2). 9 si el otro no estuviera ah." :otas para una pedagog.a %impro*a*le& de la diferencia. Cuenos Aires, BiQo y ;Lvila. 3 liar, ?arlos $%''F). La educaci(n %-ue es& del otro+ Argumentos y desiertos de argumentos en educaci(n. Cuenos Aires, !oveduc. 3 liar, ?arlos I TJllez, Bagaldy $%''=). Conmover la educaci(n+ Ensayos para una pedagog.a de la diferencia. Cuenos Aires, !oveduc. 3 liar, ?arlos, @a-lo Aentili I 7lorencia 3tu-rin. "a inclusiSn, la responsa-ilidad y la Jtica educativa. *evista ;oces de la alteridad de las diferencias , +niversidad !acional AutSnoma de BJ1ico, noviem-re de %''=, pp. 26%F.