Inclusive education
According to data from UNESCO , the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, almost 1 billion people in the world have a disability. The entity also highlights that children represent about 10% of this contingent. In this article we will provide you information about inclusive education.
This was seen as normal, after all, segregation was considered the best way to provide personalized service.
The question that remained was: how would society be prepared to contribute to the development of these future adults if they had never had contact with their daily needs and challenges ?
Worldwide, not only UNESCO, but other entities, such as the UN and UNICEF, have been working on international treaties and conventions for inclusion in education since the 1940s, with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
It is worth noting that this is a global movement, which works from political, cultural and social aspects to the pedagogical field.
Do you want to know more about this subject, which is so important for us to have a more inclusive society ?
What Is Inclusive Education?
To include is to integrate, to cover everyone, without exception.
Inclusive education integrates students with special needs into regular schools through a humanistic approach.
This view understands that each student has their particularities and that they should be considered as diversity and not as a problem.
Therefore, students with special educational needs (SEN) are part of the routine of schools .
It is even considered a crime not to accept them or even serve them in a separate classroom or school.
UNESCO extends this concept to ethnic-racial relations and indigenous peoples.
In inclusive education, spaces are adapted for everyone to live together , as are the materials used in activities.
But she is not limited to that.
It is an education that seeks to identify any and all obstacles that the student may face and eliminate barriers.
How Important Is Inclusive Education?
School often represents children’s first social contact after family .
The differences of opinions, beliefs and values found there are rich enough to form the character of each one from an early age.
By including students with different needs, these pillars will be further worked on in children’s daily lives.
Each one will gradually perceive something that is very much in demand today: the uniqueness of the human being .
Therefore, in the current context, this type of approach is essential to encourage interpersonal and socio-emotional skills.
That is, knowing how to deal with others , with their diversity, being more adaptable and flexible to situations.
Develop self-management of your emotions, using them to your advantage.
All this contributes to forming young people and adults who are better resolved and, probably, more empathetic towards others.
The issue of diversity and uniqueness, when incorporated in schools, also allows bullying to be addressed at its root cause.
Thus, an education with an inclusive character offers a different view of the world , causing the student to get out of his bubble and become more aware of those around him.
What Are The Five Principles Of Inclusive Education?
The basic principle of inclusive education derives from the right of access to education .
It is guaranteed in the Federal Constitution of 1988 and reaffirmed in the ECA (Child and Adolescent Statute).
Regardless of any limitations, the child must attend school and have access to everything regularly available to other children.
The second principle of this education considers that every person is capable of learning.
This does not happen at the same pace from individual to individual, nor using the same materials, but this plurality makes each human being unique.
Therefore, to include is to recognize the diversity of learning and, therefore, to be tireless in the search for alternatives that favor learning in multiple ways.
In this sense, a blind person, for example, can learn perfectly, using his other senses, which are more developed.
Of course, in addition to the material in Braille, it will be necessary to offer them different activities that stimulate their development.
This should always happen in view of well-defined learning objectives that can be monitored to assess whether they are being effective.
Everything represents a huge challenge in schools.
The learning process must be constantly worked on, being dynamic and at the same time integrated to ensure the development of each student.
After all, every child learns in a different way , regardless of any disability.
And this is another one of the principles of inclusive education.
Some can learn more through music, others by writing, living an experience, in short, there are several ways.
Some teachers, even without training, already instinctively act in this personalized way, obtaining very positive results with their classes.
Therefore, the benefits of inclusion are many.
Those who were considered special and marginalized in educational institutions begin to integrate with the community , having the same possibilities, not only in studies, but, later, in the job market .
And those who live with diversity change their worldview: barriers get smaller and respect and empathy grow, which impacts everyone – teachers, students, employees and family members.
Gradually, this vision is gaining more followers, configuring a historical paradigm break in our society.
To reinforce what we have seen so far, we will individually highlight each of the principles of inclusive education.
1. Every Person Has The Right Of Access To Education
Article 26 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights ( UDHR ) is quite clear on the topic:
“Every human being has the right to education. Instruction will be free, at least in the elementary and fundamental grades. Elementary instruction will be mandatory. Technical-professional education will be accessible to all, as will higher education, which is based on merit”.
In this sense, education needs to be inclusive and include all people , regardless of whether they have special educational needs or not.
This means that everyone should have access to the education system without obstacles or restrictions due to their learning demands.
2. Everyone Learns
The second principle concerns the recognition of the cognitive abilities that students have.
It is necessary to recognize that there is diversity in the way students learn; however, it does not represent a reason to underestimate the evolution of any person.
Inclusion-oriented education needs to understand the particular issues related to intellectual, sensory and physical terms in order to develop pedagogical strategies that are able to meet the demands of students with SEN.
3. Each Person’s Learning Process Is Unique
Despite any disability, every student is unique .
Above all, education with an inclusive character must be able to understand the singularities of the individual learning process.
The development of each person needs to be respected and, thus, the school must create the conditions for everyone, without exception, to fully develop.
4. Living Together In The Common School Environment Benefits Everyone
The school is one of the first and most important spaces for human socialization.
Therefore, it must be an environment of reception and humanization of individuals.
In this sense, students with special educational needs need to feel integrated into the school and respected in their particularities .
The proper inclusion process brings benefits to everyone, since it is able to promote the socialization of both students with SEN and those who do not have specific learning demands.
5. Inclusive Education Concerns Everyone
When we talk about inclusion, it’s not just about including a person in a restricted group.
The concept encompasses the membership of all who are involved in teaching.
In this way, family, community, educators, school managers and other related people need to be part of this process.
Where And When Did Inclusive Education Emerge?
Worldwide, diversity and inclusion in schools was marked by the Salamanca Declaration in 1994.
Previous UN documents spoke of equality and the right of access, but this declaration addressed the issue of special educational needs in detail .
In summary, the document demanded that states ensure that the education of people with disabilities was integrated into the education system.
The document also brings the notion of the individual’s uniqueness by stating that “every child has unique characteristics, interests, skills and learning needs”.
That year, the National Education Plan (PNE) highlighted that “the great advance that the decade of education should produce would be the construction of an inclusive school that guarantees the attendance to human diversity”.
Since then, several advances have been made, such as:
- Training of teachers focused on diversity
- Recognition of the Sign Language (Libras) as a legal means of communication and expression
- Teaching and Diffusion of Braille.
In 2003, the MEC officially implemented the Inclusive Education Program .
The following year, he presented the document “Access for Students with Disabilities to Schools and Common Classes of the Regular Network”, published by the Federal Public Ministry.
What Is Special Education?
When you get here, you may already be asking yourself: what are the differences between special and inclusive education?
The inclusive encompasses the special, but is not limited to it .
For years, governments were only concerned with special education, children with special needs went to specialized institutions (such as APAEs).
In special education, they received treatment according to their needs, but did not socialize with children in regular education.
Inclusive education, as seen so far, expands this universe of possibilities.
Children with special needs are part of the regular school environment .
Their needs, which require special care, continue to be met with differentiated spaces and tools, but it goes beyond that.
It is about instilling values referring to diversity and respect for individuality in people’s culture.
What Are Special Needs?
Below, you can see the specifics of each one in more detail.
Deafness And Hearing Impairment
It is necessary to clarify that there are differences between people with deafness and those who are hearing impaired.
Deaf people have no hearing in one or both ears.
Therefore, they can communicate using the Sign Language, better known as “Libras”.
Individuals with hearing impairment are considered partially deaf , having some hearing capacity.
Thus, they have a mild or moderate level of deafness.
People who have a hearing impairment can correct it, in some cases, with hearing aids.
Thus, the needs related to hearing need to be understood in their particularities so that education can develop inclusion strategies, such as the use of Libras .
Blindness And Low Vision
The same reasoning used above can be applied to blindness and low vision.
People who have total absence of vision or can only have some light perception are affected by blindness .
In this case, the use of Braille instruction (a raised dot writing system) or text reading systems may be required during learning.
Low vision is a significant reduction in visual abilities , which can be corrected to a certain degree by glasses and contact lenses.
So, students with SEN related to total or partial loss of vision need their own approaches so that learning can take place in the best possible way.
Intellectual Deficit Or Cognitive Delay
Limitations of intellectual functioning, learning difficulties, as well as problems in communicative tasks, related to personal care and social relationships can be signs of intellectual deficit .
There are several causes for cognitive delay, such as: genetic conditions and problems during pregnancy, birth or health, for example.
The school must understand the degree of intellectual deficit of the student and study ways to develop their social skills, routine and exploration of the world around them.
Autism
Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) manifests itself , according to the Ministry of Health, through:
- atypical development
- behavioral manifestations
- Deficits in communication and social interaction
- Repetitive and stereotyped behavior patterns.
Currently, there is a bill in the Chamber of Deputies that deals with topics directly related to inclusive education for autistic people.
Among the ideas is the interdisciplinary performance of students with this SEN.
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)
ADHD is characterized by the lack of attention, restlessness and impulsiveness of individuals who have the neurological disorder, whose causes are genetic.
It can appear in childhood and last a lifetime.
According to Bruna Eduarda Rocha , Master’s student in Education:
“ Children with ADHD have their own rhythm of learning and the teacher must know how to respect this rhythm, but, for that, they need to be qualified and trained to deal with this different factor”.
Dyslexia
Dyslexia is related to specific reading difficulties .
It is characterized by inability to decode and spell, in addition to disfluency when the individual tries to read.
For specialists , it is a deficit in phonological processing .
In this sense, education with an inclusive bias must understand the special educational needs of dyslexic students, seeking methods to compensate for their difficulties .
In addition, it is important to generate actions to improve their reading, social and behavioral skills.
High Abilities / Giftedness
People with high abilities or giftedness also need special attention from inclusion-oriented education.
Among its features are:
In general, they may have a faster pace of learning than other students.
Therefore, the school needs to create learning tactics that are capable of respecting the learning specificities of these students.
Neuromotor Physical Disability
People with neuromotor physical disabilities have suffered, at some point in their lives, injuries to the nerve centers and pathways that command the muscles.
In this way, they present problems related to muscle control such as weakness, paralysis or lack of coordination .
Some of the most common neuromotor physical disabilities are:
- Brain injury: cerebral palsy or neuromotor impairment;
- Spinal cord injury: paraplegia and quadriplegias;
- Neuromuscular deficiencies: myopathies, such as muscular dystrophies.
So, the education of these students with SEN needs to find ways to fully integrate these people into school activities and always respecting their individuality.
Some alternatives to this are access ramps, handrails and non-slip floors .
Slowness In Learning
Finally, students who have a slower pace during the learning process also need a closer look at inclusive education.
In this case, they do not have other characteristics that define a disability or dyslexia, for example.
However, these individuals learn more slowly than their peers and, therefore, need strategies that catch up with their pace .
What Are Inclusive Practices?
To adopt any inclusive practice, it is first necessary to have a pedagogical project aimed at this audience.
The objective is to direct the school towards the promotion of diversity and equalization of opportunities.
This means thinking about the pedagogical process in a broader way, anticipating barriers and preparing the structure and professionals to act in the best way.
See examples of inclusive practices adopted in schools:
- accessible environments
- Availability of specialized resources and technologies
- Multifunctional rooms or breakout rooms
- Development of active classes that allow collaboration and cooperation between those involved
- Curriculum flexibility and adaptation in favor of learning
- Assessments that consider the process and skills developed and not just the content.
Obviously, to put all this into practice, investments are needed , in addition to the continuous training of teachers and the entire support network of schools.
