We explain what a good school is like, what aspects should be taken into account, and what are the main characteristics. The inclusive good school implies that all children / as a community learn together in the same environment, regardless of their personal characteristics, socio-economic or cultural. This is the basis for educating tolerant, respectful and empathetic people where some learn from others.

All the teaching practices that want to direct their gaze towards inclusion, must first start with the needs of families and the needs of the child, and second, take into account the three dimensions that define the inclusive school; presence, participation, and learning.

Good schools have to eliminate barriers to presence, participation, and learning, not only of children but also of their families; they must be present in the centers, participate as part of the educational community, in the center activities and in the programs of their children, as well as in the teaching-learning processes.

What is a School?

The word school comes from the ancient Greek word sinkhole and the Latin scholar , whose original meaning alluded to tranquility and free time. Later it would acquire its sense of place of study, when initiating the philosophical schools during the Hellenistic period. Currently the term refers to the different centers of academic, physical and moral education to which the citizens of a nation dedicate their first years of life.

The importance of the school in the constitution of the societies has been key and widely recognized by the students of the area since through it the models of citizenship and the ethical, moral and native values indispensable for the perpetuation of the social system are constituted.

Hence, also, that it was one of the main territories disputed by the revolutionary ideologies of the 20th century and that theoreticians like Louis Husserl called it one of the “ideological apparatuses” available to the State to establish cultural hegemony.

At the same time, the tendency in the current educational sciences is too problematical the traditional model of school education as a way of attacking at its root the different evils that afflict modern societies.

Characteristics of a good school

Integral formation

An ideal educational center, according to contemporary trends, undertakes the training of students from many more perspectives than the purely academic one; understanding the school space as much more than a site that is attended only to receive a set of techniques and knowledge.

A good school, in that sense, pursues the academic, moral, ethical, physical and spiritual constitution of its students, through different spaces and strategies conducive to the stimulation of said learning.

Teachers committed

At the same time, a good school must bet on a quality academic education, for which it requires a teaching staff committed to their work, with their own growth and the updating of the knowledge they handle.

This also implies the training in extracurricular pedagogical areas, in order to have a variety of tools for teaching that will address the specific and varied difficulties that the students may present in time.

The attention of special needs

Given that not all students will present similar learning facilities, nor come from homogeneously  constituted homes, nor offer the same social and emotional concerns, a good school would have to contemplate its students from the plurality, tolerance, and assistance specialized that could be required, in areas such as psychological, spiritual and nutritional, among other possible.

The collaboration between family and institution

One of the most critical points of contemporary schooling is usually the role of parents in the training of students. A good school has to foster dialogue and cooperation between the family and the academic environment since these are the two areas of greatest learning in early life and will necessarily be reflected in each other.

Technological education

Although certain contemporary technologies can interfere in a disruptive way in the classroom environment (mobile phones, for example), the ideal school cannot keep its back to the growing technological career started at the beginning of the 21st century.

New technologies and the Internet must take their place in the school context, precisely because it is the best possible opportunity to learn to deal with them in a positive way and to use them as a coadjutor in the work of academic growth.

Social and sports training

A good school should have the necessary spaces outside the classroom for exercise and sports, essential during the early stages of the individual’s life, as well as areas that freely encourage social exchange, the pursuit of artistic interests (musical, literary, etc.) and merely recreational interests.

The conducive learning climate

A good school satisfies the requirements in terms of infrastructure, human resources and operational climate that guarantee the happy permanence of the students in their facilities and that the learning process is carried out without deficiencies and with the least possible setbacks. It is impossible to learn happily in a ruined school, without enough teachers or in overcrowded conditions.

The school project is known and shared

Since there are different forms of teaching, the one undertaken in a good school should be public and notorious, that is, of knowledge for the whole community. In this way, the specific focus of education undertaken in the school will have the validation and participation of the interested parties.

Something particularly valuable in open classroom teaching methodologies, holistic or alternative approaches to the educational subject or even schools for students with special needs.

The methods of selection and encouragement to students

The ideal school cannot take place with its back to the community and its needs, so it has to think of an admission method that is consistent with its operational needs but at the same time as least discriminatory as possible.

No student would have to feel segregated in school because of their racial, cultural, sexual or economic condition, and the school would have to fight such prejudices in their community.

In addition, it would have to have programs of scholarships or stimuli to the student body that make of the overcoming, the commitment, and the effort the vital guidelines of the students.

The administration of the discipline

Few things are so important in a good school as the fair and equitable management of the discipline, so as not to foment impunity and resentment among the students. Limits and clear rules, as well as fair and exemplary sanctions, always according to the fault committed, are indispensable for this.