Mainstream education was declared by the government of Botswana as a priority for educating learners with special educational needs especially those with Learning Difficulties - LD since 1984. The Revised National Policy on Education (1994) articulates governments‟ commitment to the education of all children, advocating for an inclusive education as much as is feasible. This study is an exploration of what teachers do in their schools and/or classrooms to implement inclusive education particularly looking at how they understand curriculum, curriculum adaptations and what they do to differentiate for learners who have LD through their teaching. Six primary schools in urban, semi-urban and rural areas were purposively selected and data were collected through classroom observations, interviews and document analysis. Seventeen participants participated in the study. The findings reveal that teachers‟ conceptualization and understanding of inclusive education seemed not to fit within the national requirements of using learner-centred approaches. The findings also reveal that the teachers‟ conceptualisation and understanding of inclusive education seem embedded within the cultural concept of „botho‟ (respect for humanity), a discourse which takes into account accepting all individuals. Although participants embrace the concept of inclusive education, this seems to be on a theoretical basis since in practice it seems that learners who have LD were not given learning opportunities which allow them to participate in the teaching and learning process. Finally, participants identify some barriers such as an examination oriented curriculum, class sizes and lack of teachers‟ skills and knowledge as areas which hinder the implementation of inclusive education. The study challenges the traditional use of authoritarian approaches of teaching as one way of perpetuating exclusionary circumstances within Botswana schools as it leaves learners who have LD with little chance of accessing the curriculum. A dynamic constructive relationship between curriculum, teachers and learners is suggested, moving from „teaching the curriculum‟ to „understanding and developing inclusive curricula‟ within a social constructivist discourse.

Published Article / This study reports the findings of the doctoral studies on curriculum adaptations for learners with learning impairments. The researchers conducted a phenomenological study to examine how teachers apply curriculum adaptations for learners with learning impairments in the Foundation Phase through their teaching experience. The sample consisted of 20 Foundation Phase teachers and 22 learners. The authors Interviewed 20 teachers and observed interactions between teachers and learners as well as between learners. The findings suggested that although most teachers (18) claimed that they adapted the product, they in fact only adapted time and activities. The researchers recommends in-service training for teachers by Learning Support Advisors (LSAs) and Subject Advisors (SAs) on how to adapt curricula to the needs of learners with learning impairments in the Foundation Phase. The researchers designed a model on how Foundation Phase teachers could adapt the curriculum for learners with learning impairments in the Foundation Phase.

Submitted by Maicon Juliano Schmidt (maicons) on 2015-06-16T14:47:24Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Renata Porcher Scherer.pdf: 1966188 bytes, checksum: 8b387067b8272e79d436c212b6662be4 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2015-06-16T14:47:24Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Renata Porcher Scherer.pdf: 1966188 bytes, checksum: 8b387067b8272e79d436c212b6662be4 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2015-01-14 / CNPQ – Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico / Esta dissertação discute e analisa os significados sobre as adaptações curriculares que são produzidos e colocados em ação por documentos legais e revistas pedagógicas. Para realizar tal análise, a pesquisa situa-se na articulação de dois campos: Estudos Curriculares e Estudos Foucaultianos, os quais contribuem, respectivamente, para olhar para o currículo como um artefato cultural, que conforma nossa forma de ser e estar no mundo; e para construir uma problematização do presente, olhando com suspeita para a lógica neoliberal que tem sustentado nossos modos contemporâneos de pensar e de agir. O conceito de discurso é utilizado como ferramenta teórica e metodológica para tratar, organizar e analisar o volume de informações produzidas a partir do exame de dois conjuntos de materiais – (1) documentos legais: Relatório de Warnock (1979), Adaptaciones Curriculares (1992), Adaptaciones Curriculares. Guía para su elaboración (1993), Política de Educação Especial (1994), Declaração de Salamanca (1994), Necesidades educativas especiales y aprendizaje escolar (1995), Lei de Diretrizes e Bases da Educação Nacional (1996), Parâmetros Curriculares Nacionais: Adaptações Curriculares (1998), Diretrizes Nacionais Para Educação Especial na Educação Básica (2001), Diretrizes Operacionais para o Atendimento Educacional Especializado (2009), A escola inclusiva e estratégias para fazer frente a ela: as adaptações curriculares (2010); (2) revistas pedagógicas: 13 edições da revista Nova Escola (um exemplar de 2003, um de 2004, um de 2005, três de 2006, dois de 2009, um de 2010, dois de 2012 e dois de 2013); quatro edições da revista Pátio (uma de 2005, uma de 2009, uma de 2010 e uma de 2012). Os resultados da pesquisa possibilitam afirmar que: (1) as adaptações curriculares foram constituídas a partir de vários movimentos nacionais e internacionais anteriores à publicação de documentos legais brasileiros que normatizam a inclusão escolar; (2) no período analisado, de 1979 a 2012, ocorre uma mudança de ênfase das adaptações para as flexibilizações curriculares. Esse deslocamento está relacionado à mudança de uma sociedade disciplinar, com ênfase na constituição de sujeitos dóceis, para uma sociedade de controle, em que o foco é a constituição de sujeitos flexíveis. Com a intensificação em mecanismos de controle, a flexibilidade é fortalecida, permitindo que se afirme que hoje vivemos o imperativo da flexibilidade; (3) os discursos psicológicos ganham força, articulando-se com os discursos da neurociência. Estes se voltam para a Educação e investem na constituição de um aluno psicologizado, que deverá ter seus interesses, ritmo e características individuais respeitados na escola, dando condições tanto para a emergência das adaptações curriculares quanto para o deslocamento das adaptações para as flexibilizações; (4) a flexibilidade é reforçada, ligada à constituição de uma docência flexível, cabendo ao professor elaborar estratégias para ensinar todos os alunos, respeitando o fato de que cada um aprende de um jeito. / This dissertation discusses and analyzes the meanings of curriculum adaptations that have been produced and triggered by legal documents and pedagogical journals. In order to perform this analysis, the research has been positioned in the articulation of two fields: Curriculum Studies and Foucauldian Studies, which have contributed to the view of curriculum as a cultural artifact that shapes our way of being in the world, and to the problematization of the present by suspecting of the neoliberal logic that has supported our contemporary ways of thinking and acting. The concept of discourse has been used as a theoretical and methodological tool to address, organize and analyze the volume of information produced from the examination of two sets of materials – (1) legal documents: Warnock Report (1979), Adaptaciones Curriculares (1992), Adaptaciones Curriculares. Guía para su elaboración (1993), Special Education Policy (1994), Salamanca Statement (1994), Necesidades educativas especiales y aprendizaje escolar (1995), National Education Guidelines (1996), National Curriculum Parameters: Curriculum Adaptations (1998), National Special Education Guidelines in Basic Education (2001), Operational Guidelines for Specialized Educational Assistance (2009), Inclusive School and strategies to face it: curriculum adaptations (2010); (2) pedagogical journals: 13 issues of Nova Escola journal (one from 2003, one from 2004, one from 2005, three from 2006, two from 2009, one from 2010, two from 2012, and two from 2013); four issues of Pátio journal (one from 2005, one from 2009, one from 2010, and one from 2012). The research results have enabled us to state that: (1) curriculum adaptations were constituted from several national and international movements prior to the publication of Brazilian legal documents regulating school inclusion; (2) in the analyzed period, from 1979 to 2012, there was a change in emphasis from curriculum adaptations to curriculum flexibilization. Such displacement is related to the change from a disciplinary society, with an emphasis on the constitution of docile subjects, to a control society, with a focus on the constitution of flexible subjects. By intensifying control mechanisms, flexibility has been strengthened, thus allowing us to state that we now live under the flexibility imperative; (3) the psychological discourses have been reinforced in the articulation with neuroscience discourses. The latter have turned towards Education and invested in the constitution of psychologized students who will have their interests, paces and individual characteristics respected at school, favoring both the emergence of curriculum adaptations and the displacement from adaptations to flexibilization; (4) flexibility has become stronger in the constitution of flexible teachers, and it behooves the teacher to design strategies to teach all the students, respecting that each student has a particular way to learn.