ABSTRACT
The gap in teacher training activities is mentioned by several authors as one of the most significant difficulties for an effective inclusion process. Due to the importance of this theme, this research aimed to investigate the inclusive education training of teachers in the public school system that work with children with disabilities in elementary general schools. The participants were 52 teachers and 25 regents teachers, 17 support teachers and 10 physical education teachers. The semi-structured interviews were recorded and transcribed for later analysis. We used content analysis and, as theoretical framework, the Bioecological Theory of Human Development. In relation to teacher training, the following categories were found: recognition of the importance of training by the teachers, the anguish caused by perceiving insufficient training, the search for continuing education and for specialization courses or graduate courses as a way to bridge this gap, criticism on the content of the courses taken, training as an easy way to information access and distance between theory and practice. The results indicated that the inclusion of children with disabilities in the school context still have long way to go, especially regarding the training of teachers who work directly with these children.
KEYWORDS:
Special Education; Teacher Training; Public Policies in Education; Education of Persons with Disabilities