Research and production of knowledge in special education: the investigations on special education policies in Brazil

Abstract

This paper, based on the contributions of Skrtic, aimed to analyze the production of knowledge about special education policies in Brazil from the perspective of inclusion, relied on the following principles: the school system must ensure the necessary conditions for an education of quality for all students; the identifi cation of students with disabilities must be made by the school staff, involving the responsible sector; the inclusion requires a qualifi ed teaching staff expressed by the formation of qualifi ed and specialized teachers; the distribution of students with disabilities must be made in different classrooms; fl exibilities and curricular adaptations shonld be implemented, as to meet the specifi c characteristics of different disabilities; pedagogical support services should be developed to create collaborative activities between the class teacher and specialized teacher. This analysis led us to state that the production of knowledge in this area needs to advance, not only in terms of the impact on current practices in special education - that presents results as stated Skrtic (1996) – but also on the theoretical fundamentals that have guided these practices throughout the history of special education in modern society, based exclusively on biology and psychology.