The process of inclusion in education in the context of the pandemic: challenges of teacher education in an inclusive perspective

Abstract

In this article, we seek to reflect about the process of educational inclusion in the context of the pandemic, questioning the role of the university in the face of the challenges of teacher education in an inclusive perspective. The pandemic forced us to adopt emergency remote teaching as the main strategy, transposing to the virtual environment challenges faced in the classroom regarding the inclusion and accessibility of people who, due to a disability or other special educational need, face barriers in the school environment. We believe that we cannot move forward without considering the consequences that remote learning has brought us. Thus, in this article, we are interested in focusing on how the processes of exclusion of those students who, even in face-to-face teaching, already faced barriers to learning and participation, whether due to teaching methodologies, curriculum organization, assessment, or lack of knowledge of teachers to respond to the special educational needs of students and the organization of school spaces and times. The reality that imposed itself at that time, added to the history of teacher education in Brazil, showed us the urgency of the university to promote and recreate training proposals that address issues related to the process of inclusion in education. As we demonstrated in the text, university extension, through the collaborative methodology, can be a rich space to reflect other possibilities of teaching and learning.