Narrativas de professoras dos anos iniciais sobre o ensino e o aprendizado de alunos com Transtorno do Espectro Autista (TEA): formação, atuação e avaliação

Abstract

The inclusion of students with disabilities or neurodevelopmental disorders in the regular Brazilian education system, although legally established, still faces challenges and generates discussions in the daily school routine. Given this complexity, this dissertation investigated the pedagogical practices of five early elementary school teachers, exploring their experiences and the inherent challenges of teaching in diversity. The aim was to analyze these practices in relation to students with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), identifying their benefits and challenges in the classroom. This qualitative research collected data through audio narrative interviews with five teachers from a public school in the metropolitan region of Porto Alegre. The analysis was based on the perceptions of authors such as Vygotsky (2010), Orrú (2012, 2017), Santos (2016), Cunha (2020, 2022), Prizant (2023), Haag (2015), Bandeira (2020), and Cruz (2021), focusing on the interfaces among language, education, and inclusion. It was structured into categories such as teacher training and work, teaching and language in the school context, teaching practices with students with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), assessment, and processes of development actualization and de-actualization. The results indicated that the participants' teacher training emerges from daily practical necessity, their conception of language tends towards its use as a communication tool with teacher-centered instruction, there is a lack of knowledge about specific practices for students with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) despite diagnostic information, assessment is primarily used to measure student knowledge, and the teachers' discourses reveal both the presence of de-actualizing elements and actions that favor student development. Thus, the study points to the need for a paradigm shift in teachers' perception of their role, considering their conceptions of teaching, learning, and working with language in the context of inclusive education for students with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD).