Disabling experiences and inclusive school: reframing the debate in Portugal

From Policies to Practices: Factors Related to the Use of Inclusive Practices in Portugal

“…In this study, years of experience was not a significant predictor of inclusive practices, which contradicts research findings from Krischler et al [32] and Schwab et al [18]. This result must be interpreted considering the specificities of the Portuguese context because since the introduction of compulsory schooling, the conceptual framework for education remained practically unchanged until 2018 [33,37,45]. In addition, these findings corroborate other studies suggesting the influence of previous and intense contact with diversity on positive attitudes toward inclusive education and inclusive practices [46,47].…”

“…Recent years have seen Portugal improve its policies and practices toward inclusive education [33]. In 2018, the Portuguese government enacted a law, underpinned by a whole-school approach, which enhanced the inclusion of all students regardless of their personal or social conditions (Decree-Law 54/2018).…”

“…This legal framework is acknowledged internationally as a progressive law [10] that provides support for all students at mainstream schools without labelling them. Categorizing students as a way to determine who receives support is abandoned in favour of addressing and overcoming learning and inclusion barriers [33]. Nevertheless, this law advocates a multilevel approach to accessing the curriculum, recognizing that students have different support needs.…”

Toward a designated pathway: Disabled students’ ambivalent educational desire in China’s national college entrance exam.

“…Disability studies have a strong tradition of pursuing activism-scholarship and are deeply entrenched with people with disabilities struggle toward disability justice, including the transformation of the special education system into an inclusive one and removing institutional barriers that hinder disabled students’ education opportunities (Oliver & Barnes, 2010). Theoretically, the disability studies of education question the ideologies of normality/abnormality (i.e., the culturally generated standards that privilege able-body/mind as compulsory; Garland-Thompson, 2017; McRuer, 2010) that are circulated, reinforced, and reproduced in and through education policy and practices (Baglieri et al, 2011; Connor et al, 2008; Moura & Fontes, 2023). Existing research focuses on disabled students’ access within the higher education context in terms of barriers in physical environment, adjustments of curricula and learning, negotiation of disability support service, and, less frequently, experiences of social relationships and social participation, that together deprive the sense of belonging among disabled students in higher education institutions and reinforce an institutional culture of containment (Bialka et al, 2017; Gabel & Miskovic, 2014; Hansen & Dawson, 2020; Newman et al, 2021; Taneja-Johansson, 2021).…”