CONTINUING EDUCATION AND SPECIALIZED EDUCATIONAL ASSISTANCE IN EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION: PERCEPTIONS, PRACTICES AND POLICY TRANSLATIONS

Abstract

  This article brings together two qualitative investigations on inclusive education in Early Childhood Education in the municipal school system of Balneário Camboriú, Santa Catarina, Brazil. The first examines teachers’ perceptions of continuing education in school inclusion, considering actions related to 2022–2025; the second investigates how Specialized Educational Assistance (AEE) is interpreted and translated into practice in six Early Childhood Education Centers. The first study included semi-structured interviews with six teachers and document analysis; the second included interviews with six managers and six AEE teachers. The material was examined through Bardin’s content analysis, in dialogue with frameworks on teacher education, inclusive education, and the policy cycle. Findings indicate that continuing education is considered necessary, although participants identify limitations in connecting theory and practice, ensuring continuity, and addressing concrete situations. They also show that AEE takes on different meanings and configurations shaped by resources, spaces, professionals, planning, and institutional collaboration. The article concludes that inclusive education requires contextualized and collaborative professional development, circulation of specialized knowledge, and institutional conditions that support children’s participation and learning.