INCLUSIVE EDUCATION IN RURAL MULTIGRADE CLASSROOMS: TENSIONS BETWEEN EDUCATIONAL POLICIES AND TERRITORIAL REALITIES IN COLOMBIA

Abstract

The consolidation of inclusive education constitutes one of the most significant challenges in contemporary education, particularly in rural contexts, where social and territorial inequalities affect access to, retention in, and the quality of educational processes. This essay aimed to analyze inclusive education processes in multigrade classrooms in rural areas by examining the tensions between educational policies and territorial realities in Colombia.to achieve this objective, a critical review of policy documents, academic research, and specialized literature related to inclusive education, rurality, and multigrade education was conducted. The analysis revealed that, although Colombia has made progress in developing a regulatory framework to guarantee the right to education and strengthen attention to diversity, significant barriers to educational access, retention, and relevance still persist. The barriers include the geographical dispersion of the population, limited infrastructure and connectivity, restricted access to specialized health services, and the socioeconomic conditions of families. Nevertheless, multigrade classrooms also emerge as educational settings with considerable potential to promote collaborative learning, foster student autonomy, and value diversity as a pedagogical opportunity. The essay concludes that the consolidation of inclusive education in rural Colombia requires advancing toward territorially responsive approaches that effectively connect educational policies with the specific characteristics and realities of rural contexts.