Facilitators and barriers in the process of school inclusion of children with special educational needs: the perception of the educators

Abstract

The educational inclusion gained strength after the Salamanca Statement (1994). In this context, every child, regardless of their condition, became entitled to attend regular schools. Considering that it is the occupational therapist’s responsibility to contribute to the process of inclusion, the objective of this study was to know the teachers’ perception of the facilitators and barriers that are related to the process of school inclusion of children with special educational needs. The qualitative study was conducted between February and December 2011, in a childhood education public school of Belo Horizonte, with 10 educators who taught disabled children. The sample was selected by convenience, the participants responded to an open interview, and the data was subjected to content analysis. Three analytical categories were defined: “The inclusion in different views”, “It’s not because of me that the school inclusion does not happen”, and “I do my part”. The speech of the educators expose a diversity of concepts about school inclusion, about facts that act as hinderers, and about the strategies they use to contribute to this process. It was concluded that for there to be a transformation of the school and social reality, school inclusion needs to be understood as a philosophy in which everyone participates.