INCLUSIVE EDUCATION AND TEACHER EDUCATION FOR ADDRESSING DIVERSITY

Abstract

Inclusive education constitutes an educational paradigm based on the right to learning for all students, regardless of their physical, intellectual, cultural, or socioeconomic conditions. This approach seeks to eliminate learning barriers, promote equity, and ensure full and participatory access to educational opportunities. Inclusion is realized in everyday school practices through teachers’ commitment and pedagogical actions, considering the historical path from segregation to school inclusion. The increase in enrollments in regular schools reflects advances resulting from public policies and pedagogical strategies aimed at expanding educational access. However, inclusion goes beyond students’ physical presence in the classroom, requiring actions that foster social interaction, promote learning, and support students’ overall development. Special attention is given to the evolution of deaf education, which is currently understood from a linguistic perspective that recognizes sign language and values deaf individuals as a linguistic and cultural community, rather than solely through a disability-focused lens.