ABSTRACT:
Brazil has made great progress regarding public policies related to inclusive education. Several laws, decrees and ordinances of the last years have tried to guarantee the access of the students with disabilities to the common schools. From the documentary analysis on primary and secondary sources, the premise built was that in Minas Gerais, Brazil, it would be possible to locate three phases of the process of consolidation of inclusive education. These phases would not be static, they would coexist, overlap and allow to visualize the identity of each epoch. The results show that, in the first phase (1930-1950), children with disabilities who until then were out of the schools, started to attend them in the so-called special classes. The special classes in Minas Gerais were designed with the purpose of receiving children with disabilities in a model based on the ideals of the Progressive education. In the second phase (1950-1990), special schools multiplied, strengthening this model of schooling. One of the consequences of the increase in special schools was the migration of students with disabilities to these institutions, while special classes eventually became a place for the so-called students with learning disabilities. In a third phase (1990 -), inclusive education has been consolidated as a State Law, forcing special schools and common schools to reinvent their role. At this phase, special classes are extinguished and special education causes new questions. Among them, the challenge of implementing education for all without leaving aside the specificities of such a diversified population.
KEYWORDS:
Special Education; Special classes; Inclusive education