Made by:
Lilia Pinto Martins
The Workshop proposed that group discussions should be held, with the presentation at the plenary session of six case studies, to then be assessed and discussed in six working groups, formed with the objective of giving all the people at the event the opportunity to participate and have a say in the discussions.
The working groups met after the presentations of the inclusion cases presented, except on the afternoon of the final day, when the discussion took place in the plenary session itself.
The working groups all followed the same methodology for which two guiding questions were defined to direct the discussions on the case studies presented in the plenary session:
The working groups then set to work. First of all, each member of the group gave their views on the case, responding to the guiding questions. They answered firstly individually and then as part of pairs. After this, all the group members assembled for a full group discussion, ending with a presentation made by the consultants, summarising the discussions of each of the working groups that they coordinated.
In the working group that I coordinated, in the subject area “Family and Community”, the work proceeded without difficulties. The groups members were very participative, productive and all joined in the discussion and they got very involved in the subject. At the end, an analysis was made using several indicators for the understanding, planning and expansion of inclusive education in Brazil.
There were 19 people in the group, coming from the following places in Brazil and overseas: 3 from Distrito Federal, 1 from Espírito Santo, 4 from Rio de Janeiro, 1 from Minas Gerais, 1 from Rio Grande do Norte, 1 from Amazonas, 2 from São Paulo, 1 from Ceará, 1 from Roraima, 1 from Rio Grande do Sul, and 1 from Maranhão; with 1 from Portugal and 1 from Japan.
The proposed methodology was successful insofar as the group discussion was very lively but it was not successful in maintaining the focus of the discussion on the subject in question. The discussion veered off towards the question of inclusion itself and finally I had to intervene and get the group to discuss the main subject, namely, Family and Community.
As a model of the inclusive school, the group considered a School that is open to all, where differences can be taken account of, as a way of recognising the individuality of humans and the different ways of acting and interacting to meet individual demands.
As one member of the group said:
“the inclusive school is for everyone, not just for one specific pupil, it is for all pupils. What, from my point of view, does an inclusive school consist of? For me, it is looking at each of these pupils and understanding what is the potential of each of them, and developing to the maximum the potential of each of them, irrespective of whether the child has hearing problems, learning problems or family problems. In other words, the inclusive school is a right of all children. For some children I need to make changes to the curriculum, for other children I must modify the entrances. These are very different things”.
“The inclusive school brings excluded groups inside the system, transforming the system into something of quality for everyone”. (Fábio Adirón)
The main points of discussion led to the following considerations:
The cases studied spoke more about an inclusive process that is still being built, rather than a project that is concluded or finished. The inclusive process in Brazil is a recent experience with many positive results. This is in spite of the socio-economic difficulties of the country, that are reflected in the unsatisfactory quality of, mainly, the public teaching system, where the teachers are poorly paid, schools are lacking in resources, classes have very high numbers of pupils, and, consequently, pupils are considered in large groups without any necessary individual care. All this reinforces an exclusive culture that creates resistance to the new paradigm of inclusion.
The group discussion indicated that current matters are unfavourable with regards to resources in the area of Education. Some people spoke about the poor distribution of resources, with these not being distributed to all the municipalities in a homogeneous manner. They argued that the shortage of resources is worse in certain areas of Brazil than in others, with the larger cities being better off than the municipalities in the interior of the country. Even in the major capital cities, resources are not distributed evenly, in spite of what the authorities claim.
“....We know that in the urban centres the result is, let’s say, satisfactory, but in the far-off municipalities things are much worse. I am worried that, all of a sudden, each school might end up being held responsible for this. The educational system should be made responsible as a whole for this”.
Referring to one of the case studies, a participant said:
“....the special education sector needs directives for making the most of available resources, for ensuring that these reach the most distant areas. Minas Gerais is huge and there must be other places like Varginha out there that already carry out inclusion but do so out of the wish to do this. We have to help and encourage them do this. Just let me finish. The policy for special education has to be aware of and alert to this situation. There are lots of examples of this throughout Brazil but there are no records, no information is spread and, worse still, there is no technical monitoring of the situation”.
“.... I would like to make two points first of all. It is not just in the interior or outside the big cities that these things do not happen, I can speak about São Paulo, I don’t know if there is anyone else from São Paulo here in the group, but, unfortunately, we have in São Paulo one of the worst education systems in Brazil right now; at the municipal level, nothing happens at all. So when people say that things happen in the big cities while out in the small towns nothing happens, this is just not true..... there are some big cities where things work, but there are also some where absolutely nothing works”.
Part of the discussion was on the need to have resources for improving the general physical conditions and infra-structure of the School and for giving teachers good training.
“As teachers have access to information on curricular adaptation and on how to deal theoretically with the various disabilities, as already happens successfully in other places, this will mean that when a teacher gets a new pupil he/she won’t have to stop to get prepared, he/she will already be prepared. Information should not just be sent to a teacher with a special (needs) pupil or just to a school that has practice in dealing with such pupils, and has a good reputation for receiving these pupils, but information should be sent to all educators so they are prepared to work in all areas of disability. It is difficult, but it seems logical that..... It won’t solve everything, but, for sure, when everyone has information and the families (...) if they are partners like we have been speaking about here, (...) and the pupil has his/her place in all areas (...) and he/she says what he/she is feeling, what he/she needs, his/her voice will be heard irrespective of the level of disability that he/she has”.
The group made a recommendation that accessibility should be promoted to physical resources, to communications, and to pedagogic resources through assisting technology, with creative solutions that can be used as resources, undoing the myth that the School is never prepared for inclusion.
“This is justified because the system is not prepared to receive the disabled pupil in the regular class room.”
“More daringness in extinguishing special classes creating support systems inside the regular school that can give support to the pupils included in the ordinary classroom”.
Most experiences regarding inclusive education in Brazil have been positive. Such experiences must be encouraged, backing up initiatives that show the desire to invest in inclusion, without which the process cannot start, and where the emphasis is on the pupil as a person with individual characteristics and needs.
“(...) it is with the will to do things that this happens, that the school is changed and becomes a school for the community. The coordinator of the Varginha-MG school spoke a lot along these lines, I don’t want an ugly school, I want a newly painted school, I have all the resources. She did not paint the school walls because Yago was there, or because someone would notice. She is speaking to everyone, (...) she was making a school for everyone (...) she wants a school where all of them learn, where they are all considered worthy and seek out their potential for development”.
“(...) I have a school, the headmistress said, the school does not have an owner, everyone has the right to enrol in this school, we are going to receive all children (...) If in the course of work the school sees that this pupil really does need other forms of assistance that the school cannot offer, the support of a special education centre or another institution can be given, but in principle the school is prepared to receive the child. This is where we emphasize the involvement of the teachers. Currently all the teachers have a low level of self-esteem, everyone is complaining about low salaries. The school is trying to involve them (...) but first the school is concerned with what is does not have and not with what is has, (...) wanting to do things, wanting to create – this is fundamental”.
Although the experiences with inclusion were considered by the group to be positive, some pointed out the need for these to be evaluated better, in order to systematise feasible actions based on a more consistent theoretical support. The group raised the need to choose more precise indicators to evaluate what is being practiced as inclusion, in order to correct distortions and point the way towards more consistent actions with greater theoretical grounding. Starting from a firm diagnosis of the situation, we should seek to define pedagogical techniques to be put in place.
“Consider the way that evaluation is done and how the results of the inclusive process are measured from the start and avoid vague and inconsistent evaluations (it’s going well, etc.). Start from a diagnosis”.
Curricular Flexibility
There must be curricular flexibility as more and more it is found that pupils with disabilities or special needs do not need pedagogical approaches different to those used for other pupils but rather they need individualised strategies that take account of the uniqueness of that pupil in particular.
The school curriculum does not need to be differentiated but the way that it is presented does, taking into account the diverse nature of the pupils.
“I have already mentioned that this has been the difficulty that my son and I have faced at his school. The teachers believe that inclusion means João having the same activities as the others, even though he can’t do them. I tell them that sometimes João has to get activities that use another strategy, but which deal with the same matter, so that he can carry them out satisfactorily”.
As inclusion is a process that is being built, attention was drawn to the need for continuous training of the human resources involved, not just the professionals in the area, such as teachers and educators, but also the administrators and managers. These people should be trained from the perspective of inclusion and, in both cases, can involve disabled people working as professionals.
The teachers must be given skills to respond to specific questions but, above all, they must develop the skills for listening to the pupil and his/her family.
In the process of the transformation of the School, the group considered it was important to involve in the inclusive vision not just teachers and administrators but also other types of employees such as lunch ladies, doormen, guards, cleaning staff, etc.
In the training of these professionals, NGO representatives have suggested the inclusion of awareness raising processes regarding the vision of independent life with instructors with disabilities being in charge of this process, serving as facilitators to transmit a favourable perception in relation to disabilities, undoing distorted views brought about by poor information and prejudice and promoting changes in attitudes towards diversity.
In this transformation process it is essential to have the participation of the families and the pupils themselves so that those who know, people who are best able to speak about their needs and wishes, have a say.
“(...) the headmistress said that the school belongs to the pupils, our school is the pupils’. I think that is what other schools need to understand, the school isn’t the headmistress’s, it is not the coordinator’s, the school is the pupils’, they are there to serve the pupils (...) the inclusive school has to give parents the right to be inside the school working as real partners, not just painting the walls but working and building a pedagogic project of what they want for their children, what they want for that school. This has to be for everyone. Another reason is that parents of disabled children can meet and talk to discuss and raise issues they want to be taken care of”.
The group made recommendations regarding putting greater emphasis on the contributions made by non-governmental organisations, emphasizing their importance and giving them a more active role in education programmes.
In this regard, it is important to expand and deepen relations with the non-governmental organisations that represent the independent life movement on account of the innovative services that they provide, especially the model of relations between peers.
“My attention was drawn to some successful experiments on implementing Inclusive Education linked to actions of the Centro de Vida Independente (Independent Life Centre)”.
Within this model, the School must create discussion spaces where the pupils can talk among themselves, and for parents and family members, so that they can share common experiences (between peers) and have an active say in this process.
“Taking into account the services linked to the independent life movement, encouraging discussion groups between parents of disabled children and between disabled children themselves (peer support); creating spaces for sharing and reflection between peers (peer to peer) to look for solutions and seek out appropriate support”.
Make use of other successful NGO experiences that can be absorbed in the planning and implementation of the inclusive process.
Try to develop an understanding of disability from the perspective of skills that the person has and not from the perspective of lack of skills or abilities, as normally happens.
“(...) the school didn’t need to stop to get ready because Yago was going to arrive. Who is Yago, Yago has a hearing disability, that’s true, but Yago is Yago, irrespective of having a hearing disability. He was looked at as a person. After he arrived we looked for the best ways to adapt things for Yago. For that child who has a hearing disability, or even if he didn’t, we are not all equal, even those with hearing disabilities are not the same. I think there was a lot of intuition involved, but it worked with intuition. We think that so-and-so won’t do this and he ends up doing it much better than we imagine. These are the positive aspects”.
The family must be integrated with the School in a partnership that is of fundamental importance for the development of the inclusive process.
“(...) I think that the way the school brought Yago’s mother inside was very important, I think it was fundamentally important; if this work is done without the family it won’t get anywhere, if we don’t work in partnership with the families, inclusion just won’t happen. Yago’s mother is not the only one who feeds guilty like other mothers and the headmistress said something very interesting, she only discovered that she had a son when she saw what he was able to do and we only see this when we give people the opportunity to show who they are”.
It is important to strengthen the links between the School and the families, giving the latter the power to make decisions and choices for the children in relation to what the School wants for them, trying to undo linkages centred just on the School’s power. A struggle for power between the School and the families normally means the latter stay away from building a constructive partnership that is, in fact, essential.
“(...) schools complain if the father or mother do not get involved and don’t want to know about anything and they also complain if the parents are always giving their views and taking part in areas where they have not been asked to do so”.
“recognising the power of the family so there is no conflict between the school and the family, with a power dispute; the school doesn’t have an owner; the school belongs to all the community and not to the headmaster or the teachers”.
Including the families in general in discussions on the School they chose and not just the families involved with the question of disability, but also those who do not have disabled children, to overcome their objections and to include them in the ideology of inclusion, accepting diversity.
“(...) the fear of not making mistakes, they shouldn’t be afraid of making errors, and the work done in teams with the families, .... it was a two pronged approach, that is the deaf child’s family and the families of the other children were also dealt with: this was an inclusive process of the best possible quality”.
The responsibility that the family has of deciding and making choices for the child must be shared with the school’s responsibility for certain aspects otherwise there is a risk that the family is overloaded with tasks and responsibilities and this can cause undue additional tension. One of the people who discussed the “family” pointed out that the family must be involved in the educational process of the child, cooperating, creating alternatives to overcome the learning difficulties, guiding the school through their knowledge of the child, but on the other hand the school must be present in this process, sharing directions, solutions and responsibilities.
“I believe very much in the involvement of the family in the construction of the learning of any child and I am a mother who is present at the school, I try to cooperate so that the teaching - learning relationship is made easier. But as I said, this has not been easy. The school where my child is today believes that a child with Down’s Syndrome shouldn’t be taught to read with the others but should be taught individually...I ask myself why? And unfortunately the only answer I can see is that the school is trying to excuse itself from the obligation to teach. And yet again the responsibility is returned to the family. This is why we feel weary and this is also why many parents give up keeping their children in regular schools”.
To meet their need for direction and clarification regarding the pupil’s potential the family should receive correct information from the professionals and teams involved, but this should not exceed the limits of their comprehension and acceptance as there is a risk of generating resistance and isolation on the part of the actual pupil and family members. The way the approach is made to the pupil’s universe is important for gaining his/her confidence and for generating positive links between him/her and his/her family in relation to the school.
There must be interconnections between the School and the community in general, involving the various social players, to establish a partnership that puts the School in harmony with the community, so that it is not an isolated nucleus, without power to reflect on and expand the guiding principles of inclusion.
In its inclusive function the School must involve the community in order to achieve its transforming role.
In the same way, the community must be involved and integrated in the system to feed a source of services that can provide theoretical and technical support to the School in those areas where it cannot act.
The School – Community interaction is important as it puts aspects regarding the inclusive system back, so that the School can influence the community, generating a multiplying effect through its actions, while at the same time being able to be modified by the community.
The discussion list was an extension of the Workshop. Whereas the latter had a chosen number of participants, the objective of the list was to extend the participation to the largest possible number of people, democratising the information and the opportunity to discuss Inclusive Education in Brazil, in order that this discussion could be as broadly based as possible and so that a varied panel that was representative of Brazilian reality could be formed.
The discussion list for the subject “Family and Community” was open during the period 5 to 9 May, and when it closed there were a large number of interventions.
“Our own personal histories start in and with the family, developing to broader situations that represent our journey from the family to the community. As this change happens, we substitute rather primitive links restricted to the family circle with others that are progressively more extensive and representative of broader social contexts. This is a growth process in which, starting from a basic family nucleus, we create internal references that are fundamentally important for our future relationships.
For the child, the parents, and mainly the mother, or whoever exercises the maternal role, are the main figures for introducing the child into society, establishing identification models through which the child builds an ever widening network of relationships representing his/her insertion in more extensive and diverse social areas.
The School, being the first institution to be presented to the child, is an important space for breaking the child out of his/her family nucleus, leading to emotional growth and social expansion. If the child is isolated from this experience, he/she runs the risk of having his/her emotional development adversely affected, with primitive and backward links being maintained.
This is why it is important that the School should be a space open to all, where all children can benefit at this vital stage in their development and where they can form emotional and social links that lead to structuring and growth.
A child that does not go to school is a child marked by the lack of a basic element that is only surpassed in importance if there is a basic failure in the family circle.
When we examine this question we can understand its relevance by assessing the consequences that are implicit in a School that excludes some children.
Fortunately, great advances have already been made in promoting inclusion in Brazilian schools. This is a further opportunity that we have to advance in this process through the contributions that I am expecting from all of you, in the form of reports, statements, and personal and professional experiences, as well as support texts, reports and documents”.
From the large number of interventions that we received during the week that the list was open, we have tried to select those that were the most significant, reflecting the different directions from which the subject “Family and Community” was approached. In this way we hope we have set up a panel representing the diversity with which families can be constituted, with it being up to the Schools to deal with this diversity, and not just a single model, in their relations with families.
The attitude of the parents can be reflected in the School, as the way in which the School operates can be set up to reflect the parents’ vision.
“The parents’ movements and disabled people’s associations have been major forces for change in the inclusion process. Step by step they have shown many parents that having their child in a regular school is a right that he/she has and not a favour provided by the school. Indeed the latter has been the posture of many schools and teachers, "we are being good in accepting this type of child" (something that I have heard in many schools). I believe in School for all and I do not see inclusion as being just for disabled children as many schools see it”. (Débora Gaiad)
“....I have been analysing why many parents resist inclusion; we have exchanged views with many families during the establishment of the movement and we know that many prefer to leave their children in segregated education for various reasons. The main reason is the lack of information and training, but there are other reasons. All things considered, inclusion means lots of work for the family, I would even say it means a good dose of depression. In reality, if we want to keep our child in school today we have to pay constant attention to what is going on, running after the headmaster, the study director, the teachers, the pupils, the parents of other children, supporting the teacher in producing teaching materials, helping out at parties, going on the excursions, hanging up decorations, I do all of this at my son’s school. I am also using a fantastic strategy and tool – participation in the School Council. This year I was elected member of this council and I am carrying out some actions: such as talks, where I have already brought a public promoter to speak and I have had the privilege of bringing Cláudia Werneck to speak there; I am working with the teachers, having meeting with the pupils, the pupils’ parents and so on. I am sure that if I were not participating in the school in an effective way my son would have left a long time ago. It is worth pointing out that there are still only a few schools that favour family access of this type. Generally families are seen as "problems" and the knowledge of these important players in the inclusion process is put in the background. In reality, what should be an inalienable right ends up being a kind of favour, do you understand? But we will get there, we are working for coming generations”. (Maria Madalena Nobre)
There are numerous possibilities for relations between parents and children: the school should have its own view that puts it in harmony with this diversity.
"..... there is still not a social context that in fact suggests to parents that their children will have citizenship when they will not be with them....this makes these fathers and mothers subject to very different models from the standard father/mother that teachers are accustomed to interacting with."
“It is really very difficult to put children in the world in a social context that does not ensure full citizenship for disabled people. We can argue that the same happens with all parents, who have to come to terms with the perverse reality of the present day world where there is no security for anybody. But more important than this I consider an internal attitude on the part of the parents that allows the transfer of a vision of confidence in the potential of the child”.
“The fear that parents have in general regarding the future of their children can affect parents of disabled children more intensely. But it is important to consider the examples of parents who have trusted the capacity of their children and invested in helping them to become stronger as people. These are the most significant examples, resulting in people who are healthier from the emotional point of view, having broken out of the behaviour pattern that stigmatises them”.
Many parents are fearful of their child’s future. Some of them hold the same stereotypical vision as the rest of society, seeing disability as a handicap that immobilises the disabled person in all senses. As they see the child living in a situation with definite limits, be these physical, sensorial or mental, they transfer this limitation to the psychical level. In the view of these parents, their children are powerless and incapable of acting, deciding, seeking out paths on their own. They are incapable of looking after themselves. Such views weaken their children and makes them dependent, requiring continuous looking after. This attitude can be reflected in the School as the School takes its views and references from the parents’ vision of the child.
Another section concerns the relationship of the child’s parents with his disability. The report is interesting with regard to the openness of the family in relation to the matter of the disability, an openness that has "authorised" the child to have an independent and autonomous life. The internal space that his parents have been able to give him has certainly been very important for him, to have a space of confidence for himself, one in which he has "power" and the ability to search out his own life condition. This position of the family is definitely a very important element for the School to be able to take a much healthier stance regarding disabilities.
The family can be the School’s partner in the way it deal with disability
“And I think that the most difficult thing is to show the teacher how to exploit the capabilities of each pupil, how to really bring to life teaching/learning situations. When we as parents are faced with situations in which the schools cannot see how they can adapt strategies for activities, we really feel the lack of creativity of the teachers. What I have tried to show my son’s school is that the subject focussed on should be the same but that sometimes the lesson has to be presented in a different way. Even so, the teachers keep on insisting that the activity has to be the same, even if he cannot do it, because then he will not feel different. The school does not seem to understand that he feels different because he is different, his learning is different, his characteristics are different and he knows this. João gets very frustrated when he cannot do a lesson. When this happens, I as his mother, without any experience as a teacher, modify the strategy, using larger letters and spaces, dividing the activity into two or more parts, or making them more meaningful for him, and I see how happy he is when he finishes the lesson and says: “I did it!!!!’ When I talk to the school, most of the time I see them taking the position that they know it all and they don’t listen to what the mother, without any specialist knowledge, has to say. Because of this I have read Piaget, Perrenoud, Vigotsky, Mantoan, Morin, etc., to be able to argue on an equal footing. Having a disabled child in a regular school is not easy, the doors don’t open immediately and this wears down the family. This is why many parents give up and think it is better to leave things as they are. We also have to alter this mentality. I can see that if the mothers of yesterday hadn’t struggled to get the spaces we have today then João and I would have faced much greater difficulties. I also see that we are opening up the paths for the younger ones and for those who have not yet been born”. (Débora Gaiad)
The School can be a partner of the family through its way of dealing with disability, causing change by developing new paradigms for understanding disability.
“I think that we, the parents, cannot wait for the schools to gear themselves up technically to start the process of inclusion for our children. We are in a hurry and sometimes we have to move quicker than the policies because what is at stake is the preservation of the human dignity of a generation that expects to see the recognition of the right not to be segregated or discriminated against in school, above all because this institution is a tremendous tool for social transformation”. (Maria Madalena Nobre)
“People in schools (particularly the teachers), from the identity that they take on in that context, lose their own identities and are obliged to open up to outside forces that, outside the school, govern their lives on a daily basis. As a result, when someone appears before the teacher who breaks down the scholastic traditions the teacher feels deeply threatened as he/she has to deal with two identities (his/her own and that as a teacher) and all the conflicting sentiments inside him/herself. For this reason, without doubt, inclusive education starts with the training of an included teacher, that is, a teacher able to build the identity and feeling of a teaching professional without annulling his/her own identity and feelings to feel like a true teacher”. (Luiz Antonio Senna)
I find your views very interesting, particularly the part where you say that teachers must build their identity around being a person and a teacher in order not to feel threatened when a new and unknown aspect of reality, such as the question of disability could lead to an exposure of lack of identity. Like this we have an included teacher able to practice inclusion.
“What frightens me in the debates and actions taken in relation to disabled people is that:
The professionals assume that they “know absolutely everything” and that they feel they are in a position of power, able to take decisions on the lives of disabled children/young people/adults;
Most professionals treat their “clients” or “patients”, with or without disabilities and their families, as people without any specialised knowledge and, therefore, in their thinking, as people incapable of taking decisions.
For me this reflects our lack of citizenship....
Well...., I think we must be more open and less prone to thinking we “know everything” when dealing with people who confront more barriers than we do in their lives and in being members of society....We need to listen and “empower” and not decide for others in accordance with professional values or our personal ones.
The problem is that in Brazil there are not enough resources available for people with or without disabilities and, as a result, people with knowledge have power and people with power take decisions and define what is “right or wrong” to the detriment of the person involved.” (Windyz Ferreira)
Ideal performance standards, defining in various ways those that do not fall into these standards
"My vision of inclusion has always been an unconditional one, one marked by ethical principles, morals and human rights, one that it is worthwhile fighting for, not just for some: "the best", "the most gifted", "the intelligent", "the ones with academic skills", "the disciplined ones" or the "good ones".
In reality it is common for our standards of normality to be always measured in terms of skills, the best, the most capable, the most intelligent and the most gifted physically. This is a concept that covers all aspects of society, influencing our views on all those who are less fortunate”. (Maria Madalena Nobre)
Experience of disabled parents with their children’s school
“This text was produced for a UNICEF/Rehabilitation International (One in Ten) publication and the theme of this issue was Disabled Women. The publication is available in English, Spanish and French.
The part of the text that I would like to share with you is the part written by my daughter Mel, who is now 17 years old. What she said at the time, when she was 11 years old, was the best present that any mother could receive in any circumstances.
At her school the English teacher asked the children to describe a person in detail. Mel could have chosen anybody but she decided to choose me. (I found out afterwards, when I went to the school and her text was on the classroom wall).
"My mother is Rosangela Berman Bieler. She has dark brown hair and light brown eyes. She loves talking with her friends and family. She uses glasses and always wears lipstick. No matter where she is going, she always puts on earrings. Something that my mother has that most people do not have is a wheelchair. She was in a car accident when she was nearly 19 years old. Many people think this is sad but she does not mind. She is happy just as she is. She is good natured and loves to laugh. She is also a very good person. But, on the other hand, as you can imagine, she is just like any other mother, and at times this is great but at other times is really annoying. But this doesn’t matter, I love her a lot".
I think this is the kind of result that the process of inclusion in education can generate, not just in our children, but in the children of our neighbours, friends, family members, colleagues, in the community in general. Characteristics such as disability (colour, race, religion, social condition, etc, etc...) are just like any other characteristics of people”... (Rosângela Berman Bieler)
I was going to put the word “farewell” in the subject line of this e-mail. I changed my mind because I believe that this list has given rise to a movement that does not end today and that can and should continue since we have here a valuable tool for sharing views and experiences that add much to our proposals for advancing in the question of Inclusive Education.
Many points have been addressed and it has been promised that many others will be looked at in other spaces, such as the question of sexuality, due to the large volume of information, opinions, reports and statements that we have exchanged this week. We have also seen documents that can be used to direct future steps on the subject, such as those presented by Maria Madalena Nobre and Windyz Ferreira.
To condense all this discussion is a difficult task, but I will try.
Picking up some of the subjects highlighted in the discussion and focussing on the contributions made by Maria Madalena Nobre, Luiz Antonio Senna, Pedro Pinto, Débora Gaiad, Maria Inês Nobre, and Windyz Ferreira, among others, the following considerations stand out:
The experiences can be improved and brought to better conclusions by fully involving administrators, teachers, other professionals, family members, pupils and the community in the ideology of inclusion, where human diversity can be taken account of and shared among all social segments, not just by the School.
Above all, the School must show readiness and the desire for an inclusive experience, taking on a suitable attitude in relation to human diversity and recognising differences, putting the worth of the person to the forefront.
Barriers in attitude are considered by the group as the strongest force of resistance to the process of building the Inclusive School. When attitude barriers do not exist inside teachers, headmasters and other members of the school, when the professionals believe in the principles of inclusion, this is when we see a promising start of the process.
Just as the political movement of disabled people and the associations of parents of disabled children were directly responsible for the major changes that have taken place in our society regarding the question of disability, so the School must also take account of what the families and disabled pupils have to say with regard to the type of school they want. This process must also include those pupils and families that have no direct involvement with disability.
“We must remind ourselves every day that the struggle for inclusion is a never ending one, and full inclusion is a state we will never achieve. This is because the exclusions that humans are capable of are very large in number and potentially limitless in time...” (Mônica Pereira dos Santos)
“True inclusion requires the daily practicing of democratic living with others, being aware of our own features and a real desire to live peacefully with others”. (Rosana Glat)