Overcoming Inequalities in Schools and Learning Communities: Innovative Education for a New Century

Book excerpt: Educational inequalities have strongly impacted disadvantaged and underservedpopulations such us indigenous, Roma, migrant children, students with disabilities,and those affected by poverty. A wide array of research has contributed toexplaining the mechanisms and effects of inequalities in the achievement patterns,dropout rates, disengagement in the school experiences of children and youthtraditionally excluded. Research also suggests the negative consequences for childdevelopment – including cognitive, language, and social–emotional functioning – ofpoverty and lack of quality education in the early years. Consequently, the currentunequal access to optimal learning environments for every single child to succeedin education and to have a better life perpetuates the exclusion and neglects theright to education for those minorities. This Research Topic aims at moving beyondcauses and shed light upon effective solutions by providing successful pathways forintegration and inclusion of the learners most heavily affected. Scholars worldwide are looking for successful actions with children, youth, andcommunities of learners historically underserved to overcome educational andsocial exclusion. These transformative approaches go beyond the deficit thinkingand are grounded in theories, empirical evidence, and multidisciplinary interventionsoriented towards achieving social impact, which refers to the extent to which thoseactions have contributed to improve a societal challenge. The international networkof “Schools as Learning Communities” is advancing knowledge on deepening andexpanding the impact of what has been defined as Successful Educational Actions(SEAs); that is, those interventions that improve students’ achievement and socialcohesion and inclusion in many diverse contexts, regardless the socioeconomic,national, and cultural environment of schools. Drawing on the evidence generated by this network of researchers to address the globalchallenge of inequality by studying educational actions oriented towards achievingsocial impact and potentially transferrable to other contexts, this Research Topic aimsat deepening on this approach. In short, our purpose is that the contributions includedin this Research Topic contribute to reduce educational and social inequalities andespecially benefit those populations most in need.