Experiences, Perceptions, and Conceptions of Students with Visual Impairment in Mathematics Classes: the challenges underlying the process of school inclusion

Abstract This paper presents the experiences, perceptions, and conceptions of three High School students with Visual Impairment (VI), from three different units of the same public-school system. With the referential support of the ideas that defend the institutionalization and the consolidation of inclusion processes through the development of inclusion policies, cultures, and practices, we carried out semi-structured interviews, in search of a holistic scene on the issues involving availability and use (or not) of didactic resources and Assistive Technology, the strategies and methodologies followed in Mathematics teaching, and the issues that pervade Special Education Support Service (SESS). As a result, advances are noticed in terms of access to schools and the availability of materials and resources suitable for the schooling of students with VI, although these are not used in regular classes. In addition, the teachers’ unpreparedness and the lack of professionals trained in Special Education in the researched schools lead students to play the role of listeners in classroom. We also noted assessments with a lower level than those proposed to other students, in addition to a substitute role by SESS, thus resuming the integration model, theoretically already surpassed in Brazilian education. By giving a voice to the students, we hope that the reports of their experiences can contribute to deepen the debates and reflections on the inclusion process and, above all, promote equity in Math classes for students with VI.

摘要 本文报告了同一公立学校体系下三个不同校区的三名视觉障碍（Visual Impairment, VI）高中生的经历、感知与认知。本研究以倡导通过制定融合政策、构建融合文化、践行融合实践以推动融合进程制度化与巩固化的理念为理论支撑，采用半结构化访谈法，旨在全面呈现以下议题的全景：教学资源与辅助技术（Assistive Technology）的可获得性及使用（或未使用）情况、数学教学所采用的策略与方法，以及贯穿特殊教育支持服务（Special Education Support Service, SESS）的各类问题。
研究结果表明，尽管视觉障碍学生的入校通道及适配就学的材料与资源可及性有所提升，但此类资源并未在常规课堂中得到应用。此外，受访学校存在教师专业准备不足、缺乏受过特殊教育专业训练的从业人员的问题，导致视觉障碍学生在课堂中仅能充当听众。同时，研究发现此类学生所接受的学业评估等级低于其他学生，且特殊教育支持服务承担了替代课堂教学的角色，这实际上回归了巴西教育领域理论上已被超越的整合模式。
本研究为学生发声，以期其经历报告能够深化关于融合进程的讨论与反思，并最终推动视觉障碍学生在数学课堂中享有公平的教育机会。