Early childhood teachers and the inclusion of children with disabilities in regular schools

Abstract

Public policy on early childhood education proposes increasing the number of children and encourages continuing education. However, conflicts are generated and the quality of this level of education is below expectations. This study aims to analyze the perception of knowledge of teachers who work at this level of education on issues related to the inclusion of children with disabilities in regular classes and how they proceed in these cases. It is a field study with a random sample of classroom teachers and physical education teachers, which used a questionnaire about: autonomy, social inclusion, the specificity of children with disabilities, evaluation, adaptation, and possibilities of body movement. The first part of each question referred to teachers’ perception of their knowledge on the subject, in a Likert scale, and the second part asked teachers to give examples of how they would act. For most questions, more than half the group of teachers stated they had poor knowledge, and most preferred to present justifications rather than examples of actions that could be undertaken. The few examples given demonstrated superficiality in addressing the issues and or lack of knowledge. There is a paradox: it is desirable that education occurs earlier and earlier, to promote a more equitable society, but the care of these children and to their full development may be at risk. It is necessary to enrich the dialogue between different sectors of society.