Inclusive pedagogy and child development in disabilities: a critical review of current approaches and strategies

Educational inclusion, supported by international frameworks such as the CRPD and SDG 4, poses the challenge of transforming school practices to guarantee the right to equitable, quality education for students with disabilities. This narrative review, using a qualitative and hermeneutic-critical approach, analyzed literature published between 2018 and 2025 on inclusive pedagogical strategies and their impact on child development. Peer-reviewed studies that addressed at least one dimension of development (cognitive, socio-emotional, or communicative) were selected, with special attention to the Ibero-American context. The findings show that strategies such as Universal Design for Learning, curricular diversification, and cooperative learning are widely supported and contribute to student integration. The relevance of factors such as empathy, self-regulation, and ongoing teacher training was also identified. However, tensions persist between inclusive discourse and its actual implementation, especially due to training and institutional limitations. The conclusion is that inclusion requires more than resources or methodologies: it implies a sustained political and pedagogical transformation. It is necessary to strengthen teacher training, develop policies with an intersectional approach, and foster collaborative research. Only in this way will it be possible to move toward sustainable, contextualized, and socially just inclusive practices.