Building inclusion and resilience in students with and without SEN through the implementation of narrative speech, role play and creative writing in the mainstream classroom of primary education

Based on the theory of inclusion, the present 3-year pilot program (2013-2016) deals with narrative speech, role-play and creative writing as a useful tool to build resilience in primary school students with and without SEN in the mainstream classroom. The specific aim of the program was to help students develop a series of fundamental psychosocial skills, such as a positive sense of inner-self and self-awareness, the ability to cooperate and relate to the others by familiarizing with them in recognizing and expressing the basic emotionsof joy, sadness,fear and anger. Under the systematic cooperation among the general education teacher, the special education teacher and the rest of the teaching staff- the concept was to involve the maximum of the school teachers in order to create a Community of Practice, Collaboration, Sharing Learning and Action. Using an action-based research approach including notes, observation and video analysis of the activities, interactions and attitudes towards the program, the data from the present work allowed the participating students to demonstrate a range of socio-emotional skills, including those necessary for self-awareness, respect to others, critical and creative thinking. Similarly, the 5 teachers (drama teacher, art teacher, the teachers of general and special education and the school director) involved in the project in each class, built positive relations with their students and the rest of the teachers as well, whom they encouraged to participate in various collaborative tasks through similar programs.