SCHOOL AS A WELCOME SPACE: CHALLENGES AND GAPS IN THE INCLUSION OF VENEZUELAN REFUGEE STUDENTS IN A PUBLIC SCHOOL IN SÃO PAULO
Keywords:
Education, Refugees, School Inclusion, Interculturality, Paulo FreireAbstract
This article aims to analyze the role of public schools as spaces for welcoming and including Venezuelan refugee students in the city of São Paulo, with an emphasis on the challenges faced by teachers and the structural and pedagogical gaps in the school system. The research, using a qualitative approach, was developed through interviews with teachers and observation of pedagogical practices in a municipal public school. Based on the assumptions of Freirean critical education, the investigation shows that, although there are individual welcoming efforts on the part of teachers, educational policies are still insufficient to guarantee full inclusion. Linguistic, cultural, and institutional barriers continue to limit the effective integration of these students, revealing the need for teacher training focused on interculturality and public policies that recognize the specificities of refuge. It concludes that the school still reproduces exclusionary practices, demanding an ethical and political repositioning of educational institutions in the face of contemporary diversity.
