A universidade e a pessoa com necessidades especiais: estudo qualitativo sobre perceções de mudança social, institucional e pessoal

Abstract

Universities face additional challenges due to the democratization of higher education and the increasing access of students with special needs to this level of education. In this paper, we analyze teachers’ perceptions about the inclusion of students with special needs in higher education. This is done by analyzing specifically the perceptions of what needs to be done in an academic context and the perceptions about the implications of the inclusion of students with special needs in higher education. The participants were 10 teachers from a Portuguese public university, degree directors of 1st cycle courses, six males and four females, with an average age of 41.5 years old. Data collection was carried out using semi-structured interviews and data analysis was done using the grounded theory approach. Results are presented according to open and selective categorization because theoretical saturation was not reached. The results reveal perceptions of necessary alterations to physical and pedagogical resources, and perceptions of the implications that inclusion of disabled students in higher education have in students, teachers, institution and society. The results are discussed and are presented some reflections that may be important issues to think about when designing future intervention or research projects.