Inclusion of children with special needs in regular primary schools in Paraguay. Educators' and parents' perspectives.

Abstract

This thesis explores principals’, teachers’ and parents’ experiences and understandings around the inclusion of children with special needs into regular classrooms in the city of Ciudad del Este, Paraguay. Following the global inclusive movement, Paraguay enacted an inclusive education law in 2013, whose implementation started in 2015. While establishing a new inclusive policy may reflect good intentions, it does not mean that schools and teachers have the necessary support and training to translate the policy into practice. Semi-structured interviews involving 5 school principals, 8 teachers and 4 parents from 3 private and 2 public schools and 2 classroom observations were the key data collection instruments used in this study. The study also covers a comparative dimension, between the public and the private schools. The main findings indicate that the implementation of the inclusive education policy in Paraguay faces a variety of challenges, including pre-existent difficulties in the education system, particularly the lack of adequate teacher training and poor school’s physical structure. The results also suggest that informants’ understanding around inclusive education involve notions both from the social and medical model of disabilities, and that the social aspect of the inclusive process is more valuable than the academic achievement. Findings also reveal informants’ concerns about the lack of support, awareness and knowledge around disabilities in Paraguay. National policies for inclusive education are vital and essential to develop a more inclusive education system, but they tend to overestimate the capacity of its education system. The enactment of the inclusive education law in Paraguay was unaccompanied by investments, teacher training or additional qualifications in the field.