Teachers' representations on the inclusion of students with intellectual disabilities in the regular classroom.

Abstract

This research sought to evidence the social representations that regular classroom teachers have about inclusive education with students with mild and borderline intellectual disabilities (DIL). This research was developed in a district school in the city of Bogotá, Colombia. 40 teachers participated. The approach was interpretive, with a method of qualitative type; from the research exercise, three categories were developed: social Representations of the DIL, social representations of the Inclusive education and the teaching role in the inclusive education. It was evident that at the level of social representations, there is greater acceptance of the premises and ideals of inclusive education. However, there is a contrast between everyday educational practices, and such representations in regular classroom work with this population group; it is perceived that students with DIL demand continuous and special attention. However, teachers are mostly willing to receive training to assume inclusive education in the regular classroom.

La presente investigación buscó evidenciar las representaciones sociales que tienen docentes de aula regular respecto a la educación inclusiva de estudiantes con discapacidad intelectual leve y limítrofe (DIL). Participaron 40 docentes de un colegio distrital de la ciudad de Bogotá, Colombia. El enfoque fue interpretativo, con un método de tipo cualitativo; se desarrollaron tres categorías: representaciones sociales de la DIL, representaciones sociales de la educación inclusiva y el rol docente en la educación inclusiva. Se evidenció que a nivel de representaciones sociales hay mayor aceptación de las premisas e ideales de la educación inclusiva; pero hay un contraste entre las prácticas educativas cotidianas y dichas representaciones en el trabajo en aula regular con este grupo poblacional, pues los docentes piensan que los estudiantes con DIL demandan una atención continua y diferenciada. Sin embargo, los docentes están mayoritariamente dispuestos a recibir capacitación para asumir la educación inclusiva en el aula regular.