Educação inclusiva: ensino de botânica para deficientes visuais e videntes

Abstract

Inclusive education in regular schools (standard education system) is highly flawed. There are many reasons why this education is not successful, including the lack of teacher preparation, inadequate school infrastructure, and ineffective teaching materials. In the case of botany, teaching is inefficient even for sighted students, as relying solely on books and illustrations causes students to feel unmotivated and disconnected from plants. Considering that in botany education, the teaching materials used generally benefit only sighted students, this research poses the following guiding question: What strategies need to be employed to effectively develop botany teaching that includes visually impaired students? The objective of this study was to gather and analyze information that could be useful in developing strategies for botany education that cater to both sighted students and students with visual impairments. The study aimed to understand how the inclusion of visually impaired students is carried out at the Municipal School Professor Joel Job Fachini, identifying their needs. The research involved the participation of teachers and inclusive education monitors from the school, who were interviewed to assess the materials and infrastructure provided. The method used was Bardin's content analysis. The findings revealed that the main criticisms concerned the time required to prepare differentiated lessons, the lack of training for school staff, and insufficient support from educational policies. Overcrowded classrooms and lack of investment also significantly contribute to failures in inclusive education.