THEATER AS A TOOL TO DEVELOP SOCIAL SKILLS AND EDUCATIONAL INCLUSION

Educational inclusion is one of the basic quality criteria of any social and educational system. Being a complex phenomenon, its objective is to address differences from a global perspective, promoting equitable relationships through joint actions regardless of the differences between individuals. Faced with the many possibilities for its promotion, this study analyzes the potential of theatre as a tool for developing the social skills of children and young people, as well as for the educational inclusion of people with specific educational support needs. To this end, a bibliographic study of the scientific literature of the last decade is carried out in several databases of recognized prestige, that give a holistic perspective on this phenomenon. The results show that the different studies are based on the use of the theatrical discipline for attention of diverse characteristics and needs, that most experiences are contextualized on the scholar field and that the theatre is an effective tool both for the development of social skills and for the promotion of educational inclusion. In the future, there is a challenge to optimize the benefits of theatre for the holistic attention of the different characteristics and needs, being necessary for his purpose specific teacher training and attitude of acceptance of diversity as element that enriches school and society, and guidance actions that promote equity in the different contexts of development.