O processo de inclusão de estudantes com deficiência nos cursos de licenciatura de uma universidade pública no contexto amazônico

Abstract

The present thesis resulted from a qualitative and participative field research, with a critical-dialectic approach, which had as its general objective analyze the inclusion process of students with disabilities in the Teachers Formation Courses of a public university in the Amazonian context. Specifically we aimed: 1) to evidence, based on testimonies of students with disabilities, the demands and barriers found in undergraduate courses at an academic unit of the Amazonas State University, located in the interior of the state; 2) to problematize, based on testimonies of teachers of undergraduate courses, the pedagogical demands of the inclusion process of students with disabilities from that institution; 3) to verify the physical and pedagogical accessibility of the institution to receive students with disabilities. For data construction and analysis, we worked with biographical survey of authors that discuss inclusion on the University level, as well as with legal documents that refer to inclusive education policy. As data collection procedures were conducted semi-structured interviews with students with disabilities and their teachers, and observation in classroom and other academic spaces. Among the main data obtained, we highlight that the inclusion process of students with disabilities in the university has been expanding in relation to access, however, there is a contradiction between what is established in Brazilian educational policies and what materializes in academic daily life. In the case of the institution locus of this research, there is not a preparation to receive students with disabilities in the undergraduate courses; professors and students recognize the need of changes in pedagogical practice. Several participants claim that the University inclusion policies do not exist. The institution’s physical accessibility does not correspond to the legal determinations. Support for students and teachers need to be expanded with the creation of accessibility departments or other pedagogical-administrative sectors that meet this demand. We also highlight that the professors considered as one of their priority claims continued education programs that enables them to better serve the specific needs of students with disabilities.