Artes expresivas en la capacitación de docentes para la educación inclusiva: realidad portuguesa

Abstract

Inclusive Education claims the creation of equal opportunities for all children. To make this happen it is important that teachers, working in regular classrooms, promote children’s potential having access to methods and techniques that enable them to develop inclusive educational activities. Creativity, cooperative and active learning are fundamental methods for an Inclusive Education. This paper focus on a research centered on the analysis of pre-service teacher training programs for Inclusive Education and how these future professionals could be prepared to use Expressive Techniques as active methods privileged in Inclusive Education. The study involved the universe of all higher education institutions that provide pre-service teacher training in Portugal from pre-school education to 2nd cycle of basiceducation. Using a descriptive method research, all data were collected, analyzed and categorized in components within the Inclusive Education and Expressive Techniques. Results show that High Education Institutions have a large percentage of components training in Inclusive Education and Expressive Techniques – higher in public than in private institutions. Most of them have a theoretical and practical component. However, results indicate that both components are not covered by a single course, i.e., Expressive Techniques in Inclusive Education. The study draws attention to a fundamental area: a consistent Initial Teachers Training that links education on Expressive Techniques, Special Needs Education and Inclusive Education. Although not exhaustive, this study can be a contribution to furthering the reflection and development of effective pre-service teacher training programs, giving an input with these areas to build positive models of Inclusive Education.