A escola de hoje

: organização educativa para os alunos com DID? Um estudo de caso

Abstract

Schools have been changing their procedures in order to give an adequate answer to the educational needs of their students. This answer nevertheless differs according to reality and is not always the most efficient. The concept of inclusion, as far as education goes, is based on the presupposition that the right of every child and young adult to education will be assured in the regular schools in their communities, independently of their characteristics or difficulties. The implementation of an inclusive model requires a systematic and flexible, collaborative planning, supported, among others, by a series of parameters, such as the culture of the school, the nature of the leaders, the participation of those involved, the resources and back up available and the intervention and evaluation strategies. In this perspective, our study involves a comprehensive approach as to the organization of the process of the students with Intellectual Disability (ID), under the rules of Specific Individual Curriculum (SIC) attending the 7th, 8th and 9th school years in a School Department. In search of a few answers going beyond the analysis of some documents, we assembled the opinion of the school community, namely the representatives of the Provisional Administrative Commission, the group of teachers of students with special needs and the Psychology and Guidance Services, as well as the various interveners in the process mentioned above, namely regular teachers, special needs teachers, operational assistants, class fellows, parents and the students themselves. With this our study and considering the present guidelines and the educational politics of an inclusive school of everyone for everyone, the Law nr 3/08 of January 7th and the analysis of the specific reality, we conclude that, in spite of all the legal presuppositions supporting its organization, we can still find contradictions with the effective practice in our schools. Questions like differentiation, adequacy, adaptation, are still far from being considered a priority in the organization of ID students.

Date of Award	8 Nov 2013
Original language	Portuguese
Awarding Institution	Universidade Católica Portuguesa
Supervisor	Célia Ribeiro (Supervisor) & Maria Cristina Marques Ferreira Simões (Co-Supervisor)