School inclusion is a concept that is related to the access and permanence of citizens in schools. The main objective is to make education more inclusive and accessible to everyone, respecting their differences, particularities and specificities.
In this case, physical or motor deficiencies, high abilities, cognitive deficits, autism and other social, emotional and psychological conditions must be taken into account.
These particular conditions, which influence how students can be educated, are called "special educational needs" (SEN).
School inclusion and special educational needs
The Brazilian Constitution proposes the obligation of the State on education. It is not up to educational institutions to make any kind of distinction. Be it ethnicity, race, creed, gender, social status or any other forms of discrimination.
Therefore, the law also supports all people who have some type of special educational needs (SEN) such as:
- different physical, intellectual, social, emotional and sensory conditions;
- carriers of deficits and well endowed;
- working or living on the streets;
- distant or nomadic populations;
- linguistic, ethnic or cultural minorities;
- disadvantaged or marginalized groups.
School inclusion and special education
Special education is understood as a teaching modality and an instrument for the inclusion of students. Students with special needs can have access to services aimed at their specific needs.
However, studies show that the best way to integrate people with special needs is within regular education. Therefore, specialized care must take place in parallel with classes.
Challenges of school inclusion
There are many challenges for school inclusion. Thus, some tools are created to overcome the challenge of educating everyone in an integral and effective way and to reduce the number of people excluded and marginalized by education systems.
The idea is to enable everyone to live together equally, respecting the differences between individuals.
Thus, completely separate spaces that can serve as a form of segregation and exclusion of people with special needs should not be created.
For the pedagogue Maria Teresa Mantoan, to include is to share space, is to live together.
Being together is crowding with people we don't know. Inclusion is being with, it is interacting with the other. (Maria Teresa Mantoan)
Thus, all students participate in all activities, receiving, when necessary, attention focused on their questions.
In this way, School Inclusion becomes a challenge beyond the universality of access. It becomes a task to integrate and create conditions for everyone to remain in the educational system and promote their development and learning.
The complexity of school inclusion factors means that all perspectives are analyzed and the ways to overcome these challenges are the subject of studies and debates.
History of school inclusion in Brazil
In Brazil, the Constitution of 1824 considered that access to primary education should be free for all citizens. The relationship between education and citizenship is established. However, the designation of citizen excluded women and workers.
In 1879, in the municipality of Rio de Janeiro, education became mandatory for all young people, of both sexes, from seven to fourteen years old.
From the 1934 Constitution onwards, education came to be understood as a free and obligatory right, with its responsibility divided between the family and the State.
In 1961, the Law of Guidelines and Bases of Education (LDB 4024/61) dedicated its third chapter to the education of people with special needs:
Art. 88 - The education of exceptionals should, as far as possible, fit into the general education system, in order to integrate it into the community.
This measure sought to regulate some campaigns carried out in the late 1950s, namely, for the deaf, blind and people with mental issues.
For a long period, special education was developed in private institutions with government support.
Only with the promulgation of the 1988 Constitution, education came to be understood as a fundamental and universal right. This change obliges the State to provide everyone with access.
In 1996, the Law of Guidelines and Bases for National Education (LDB 9394/96) made education compulsory from the age of four. Education is mandatory for all children, without any type of discrimination.
Thus, the theme of school inclusion presented itself as a challenge for the Brazilian State and society as a whole, relating it to the democratization of rights and social justice.
Interested? See too:
- LDB (updated in 2019)
- education in Brazil