Special Education Needs in Spain: Evolution
Evolution of Special Education Needs in Spain
The concern of the state for special needs students was not born until the 1980s. The only solution so far was the disintegration of the regular system, grouping them into different classes in which students lived with the same or similar problems.
Attention to diversity means addressing the educational needs of all pupils in a school through curriculum and organizational proposals. Attention to diversity is addressed to students who require certain specific educational support and care resulting from their disability or severe behavioral disorders. It aims to achieve quality education, equity, and adaptability.
Key Milestones in Spanish Special Education Legislation
- Education Act 1970: Introduces the term “special education,” understood as a separate system from mainstream education, governed by its own standards and a specific curriculum.
- 1975: The National Institute of Special Education is established, an autonomous body under the Ministry of Education. Three years later, it produced the first state plan on the subject, assuming responsibility for special education.
- Spanish Constitution of 1978 (Article 49): Directs authorities to carry out a policy of prevention, treatment, rehabilitation, and integration for the physically, sensory, and mentally disabled. It provides specialized care and protects the enjoyment of human rights for all citizens.
- Law 13/1982 on Social Integration of the Disabled (LISMI): Establishes the basic principles of care for people with disabilities in all areas, including education: standardization, sectorization, and integration.
- Royal Decree 334/1985 (Management of Special Education): Marks another milestone by establishing that the special education curriculum must be based on the ordinary curriculum while considering individual differences. This decree marks the beginning of a pilot integration program in Spain. In 1986, the National Resource Center for Special Education was created under the Ministry of Education.
- Royal Decree 696/1995: States that schooling in special schools should be for pupils with special educational needs associated with intellectual, sensory, or motor disabilities, severe developmental disabilities, or multiple disabilities. These students require significant curriculum adaptations throughout their schooling, or the provision of personal and material means uncommon in mainstream schools, and where adaptation and social integration would be reduced.
- General Organization of the Education System Law (LOGSE): Enshrines the principles introduced by the Law on Social Integration of the Handicapped and listed in Royal Decree 334/1985. It states that the education system must have the resources needed for pupils with special educational needs, temporary or permanent, to achieve the objectives generally set for all students within the same system.
From the LOGSE (1990), we see how it places emphasis on attention to diversity by naming this concept as *pupils with special educational needs*.
Recent Developments
- The LOCE (2002) distinguishes between disabled people, foreigners, and gifted students (“Sobredotados”).
- 2003: Enactment of the Law on Equal Opportunities, Non-discrimination, and Universal Accessibility for Disabled People.
- The LOCE, appointed this section with new terminology: *pupils with special educational needs*.
- The LOE refers to this group as *pupils with special needs educational support* (Articles 71 to 83, Title II, Chapter I: Equity in Education).
Students require different attention than ordinary students for presenting special educational needs, high intellectual capacity, late entry into the education system, or because of personal or school history.