Formação inicial de pedagogia para a inclusão: acepções das metodologias ativas e do desenho universal para a aprendizagem

Abstract

The inclusion issue in education systems has been debated for decades, and despite being guaranteed by law (Brasil, 2015), it is still poorly implemented, which prevents students from having access to education with equal conditions and having their specificities respected. Among the many obstacles that permeate the inclusion process, school teachers’ accounts on not feeling capable of practicing inclusive education prompted this study through the following question: “How do Pedagogy students perceive their initial training with regard to the development of inclusive pedagogical practices?” In order to answer this question, the general objective was to analyze the initial training of Pedagogy undergraduates at Uerj, Maracanã campus, and foster reflection and inclusive pedagogical practices. And, as specific objectives: a) to analyze the current Pedagogy curriculum at Uerj, Maracanã campus, with regard to education from an inclusive perspective; b) to offer training for Pedagogy undergraduates at Uerj, Maracanã campus, that provides opportunities for applying the concepts of Active Methodologies (AMs), Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) in education and Universal Design for Learning (UDL) as strategies for inclusive pedagogical practices; c) to assess how prepared Pedagogy students feel about working with students with and without disabilities. In this sense, the study was concerned with getting to know some of the specificities of these subjects’ training in order to investigate actions and resources that could benefit them in their educational development. This was a qualitative study whose methodological proposals were documentary research and action research, based on theoretical premises on teacher training, inclusion in Brazilian education, and acceptations of AMs, ICTs and UDL, which can be potent tools for promoting inclusive education. The target audience consisted of twenty students in different semesters in Pedagogy at Uerj, Maracanã campus. They were invited to participate in the research through a formative meeting in which they answered two questionnaires and two tables entitled “How much do I know?”. They also performed workshop activities in the formative meeting, which took place at the university campus. The collected data were analyzed using the following techniques: thematic content analysis (Bardin, 2016) and quantitative descriptive analysis (Costa; Costa, 2009). It was found that most participants still do not feel confident in practicing education in terms of inclusive pedagogical practices. They highlighted the importance of having more opportunities for continuing training in their initial training processes and proposals to update the Pedagogy curriculum in order to bridge the gaps so that they feel prepared to face the demands of contemporary society with regard to inclusion. The participants also underlined that the interweaving of the various learning processes that continuing training promotes contributes to raise awareness of the responsive role that undergraduates play in their own training. Through the results of this research, it was also possible to notice that the Pedagogy course at Uerj, Maracanã campus, in its current version 5, is in line with current demands regarding inclusion. This research highlights the need to continue reflecting on and recognizing the importance of initial and continuing training, inclusive practices in and for teaching, as well as continuous efforts in fostering new curricular perspectives and public policies that can promote initial training that prepares future teachers to practice Inclusive Education in Basic Education.