Places for difference: Understanding the space of special education educators in initial teacher training

Abstract

This research aimed to interpret the meanings surrounding places in the educational trajectory and professional projections of special education teachers in Chile. From a humanistic geography framework, place is conceived as a socio-spatial construction loaded with meanings, perceptions, values, and senses of belonging. A phenomenological-hermeneutic approach based on Ricoeur's theory of text was adopted, and comprehensive interviews were conducted with 16 trainee teachers from three universities. The results reveal that the understanding of places is articulated as follows: (i) the university emerges as a fundamental place, where social belonging, formative experiences and politics constitute the possibility of reflecting on normality; (ii) spaces of practice present a dichotomy: while special schools are experienced as places of professional recognition, regular schools with PIE are experienced as spaces of invisibility; (iii) the meanings attributed to places show four ways of appropriating places in the current education system, from ideal places to exclusionary ones. It is concluded that, despite the regulatory advances inspired by the Salamanca Declaration, initial teacher training and the Chilean school system perpetuate spatial tensions that hinder genuine inclusion.