INCLUSION PERSPECTIVES IN SPECIAL EDUCATION POLICIES: CONCEPTUAL AMBIGUITIES AND THEIR CONSEQUENCES TO IMPLEMENTING AN EFFECTIVE INCLUSIVE SCHOOL SYSTEM

Abstract

This article analyzes the changes in the Brazilian educational policy since 1996, when a single model of education in which special education is established happens to be understood as a type of education, as well as several changes of terminology related to the target audience special education. critically discusses the implementation of the inclusive education model from the terminological and conceptual change, undertaking a theoretical study that performs a literature synthesis and indicates progress and challenges in the Brazilian inclusion policies. This model resulted in a downsizing of special education and its students, which has been characterized in the public education policies, generating conceptual inaccuracies that are reflected in the actions and current educational practices. We conclude that the identified inaccuracies show a conceptual ambiguity contributes to the maintenance of exclusionary policies in Brazilian school education, contributing to the proposed inclusion as a mere educational modality, hindering the effectiveness of a policy for the respect and appreciation of differences, to propose short, medium and long term actions.