Implementation of the legal framework for inclusive education in Portugal (Decree-Law 54/2018) – A qualitative assessment by primary and secondary school teachers

Successful inclusive education requires school transformations and changes to the education system. In Portugal new legislation passed in 2018 (Decree-law 54/2018) brought a new perspective in inclusive education for all educational agents. Three years later, it is essential that the legislation is...

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Published inJournal of pedagogy (Warsaw) Vol. 13; no. 2; pp. 55 - 76
Main Authors Ferreira, Marco, Reis-Jorge, José
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Czech
Published Warsaw Sciendo 01.12.2022
Sciendo, a company of De Gruyter Poland
De Gruyter Poland
Subjects
Academic Accommodations (Disabilities)
Access to Education
Administrator Attitudes
Barriers
Communities of Practice
Educational Change
Educational Legislation
Educational Practices
Elementary School Teachers
Faculty Development
Foreign Countries
Inclusion
Inclusive education
Legislation
Qualitative research
Secondary School Teachers
Secondary Schools
Students with Disabilities
Teacher Attitudes
Teacher Collaboration
Teacher training
Teaching and learning
Portugal
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Summary:Successful inclusive education requires school transformations and changes to the education system. In Portugal new legislation passed in 2018 (Decree-law 54/2018) brought a new perspective in inclusive education for all educational agents. Three years later, it is essential that the legislation is evaluated by the teachers implementing it. Forty-three primary and secondary school teachers and two coordinators of multidisciplinary teams providing inclusive education support were the participants of our study. The data collection instruments were a questionnaire and interviews. This study values the participants’ narratives, highlighting the new concepts and attitudes required for the implementation of the new inclusive education legal framework in Portugal. The results of the thematic analysis were organized around four key themes: 1. Theoretical representations; 2. Practices; 3. Challenges; and 4. Training. It is also worth noting the notions of collaborative work, the need for reflective teachers and the development of learning communities to support the implementation of the new legislation.
ISSN:1338-2144
1338-1563
1338-2144
DOI:10.2478/jped-2022-0008