INCLUSIVE EDUCATION: HISTORY, CHALLENGES AND PEDAGOGICAL PRACTICES

Abstract

This study aimed to understand the historical trajectory of Inclusive Education in Brazil, analyzing the challenges and advances of current policies and legislation, as well as their implications for the guarantee of educational rights and the strengthening of inclusive pedagogical practices. To this end, a bibliographic and documentary review was carried out, based on the survey of publications and documents directly related to Inclusive Education and Special Education in Brazil, in the period from 1988, the year of publication of the Federal Constitution of Brazil, to 2023. The search for the materials was carried out in recognized academic databases, such as the CAPES Journal Portal and SciELO, using terms such as "Inclusive Education", "Special Education" and "Public Inclusion Policies". The qualitative analysis of the data was conducted through content analysis, structuring the materials into three thematic categories: "historical trajectory", "schooling process" and "pedagogical practices". As a result, it was evidenced that for a long time the schooling of People with Disabilities was non-existent, leaving students on the margins of the educational system. The advances in public policies regarding the inclusion process have expanded the access of students with disabilities to regular education, however, there are difficulties in schools to achieve their learning, which may be related, among other factors, to the special educational diversity of these students, combined with the lack of knowledge of teachers about the characteristics of the EESEE, in identifying the potentialities of these students,  the relative scarcity of pedagogical strategies and resources that can contribute to their teaching/learning process, the lack of teacher training, both initial and continued, the limited dissemination of the results of research already carried out and the report of the difficulty in the applicability of existing evidence for the formulation of inclusive practices. Such needs require actions that permeate the teaching performance in the classroom, such as the implementation in practice of legislation and public policies on school inclusion; democratic management; valuing pedagogical work; performance of specialized teams in partnership with the common education teacher;  initial and continuing training of teachers for basic education and other educational agents involved in the teaching and learning process; a culture of valuing collaborative work between regular classroom and Special Education teachers; in addition to policies for better remuneration and better working conditions for education professionals.