Desconstructing social representations: For a collaborative culture for school inclusion

Abstract

Public policies of inclusion represent a great challenge for Special Education professionals, because they demand a resignification of this area as field of knowledge and practice, no longer restricted to specialized services to people with disabilities in the restricted spaces such as special schools and classrooms. Contemporary Special Education is configured as a resource system that aims, primarily, to give support for learning of students with disabilities included in regular classes. For this, it is fundamental the establishment of an effective partnership between specialized and regular education teachers. This text discusses the collaboration culture among teachers in the perspective of the stereotyped social representations and the educator’s role in the schooling of students with disabilities. It is argued that teachers’ representations must be revised, in an internal awareness process, so that collaborative practices can be established, which result in a transformation of curriculum dynamic of the schools, thereby ensuring inclusion, participation and learning for all students.