Atual formação inicial de professores de educação física e a inclusão: realidade de uma universidade pública

Abstract

This thesis was developed within the Graduate Program in Education at the University of Western São Paulo (UNOESTE), linked to Research Line 2: Teacher Education, Professional Practice, and Educational Practices. It is part of the research group "School Context and the Teaching-Learning Process: Actions and Interactions." Teacher education has been discussed as a major contemporary challenge, particularly regarding the role of universities in the training context, teaching practices, and inclusive education. We are based on the principle that initial teacher education, if poorly grounded in the inclusive process and lacking in critical reflection, hinders the pedagogical actions of future teachers. The objective of this study is to analyze the teaching and learning process in the initial education of Physical Education teachers, from the perspective of Inclusive Education, based on the principles of Historical-Critical Pedagogy. This research utilized the Historical-Dialectical Materialism Method from the perspectives of Historical-Critical Pedagogy. The study was conducted at a public Higher Education Institution (HEI) in the Physical Education Teacher Education program. Participants included faculty and students regularly enrolled in the program. We used normative documents, semi-structured interviews, and semi-open questionnaires as data collection instruments. The interview script, as well as the questionnaires, were validated by experts with experience in teacher education and inclusive education. The analyzed categories included: the curriculum structure of the Physical Education program; initial teacher education from the perspective of faculty and the knowledge necessary for inclusion; inclusion in the training process of students; the education of Physical Education teachers and the inclusive context. The principles of Historical-Dialectical Materialism, as well as Bardin's technique, were used as tools and techniques for analyzing the categories. As a result, we found that the initial education of Physical Education teachers from an inclusive perspective still requires further debate, as the analysis of the categories showed it to be insufficient from the perspectives of both faculty and students. This research concludes, therefore, that it is essential for the education of Physical Education teachers to include critical pedagogical theories, such as Historical-Critical Pedagogy, and to promote critical and emancipatory pedagogical practices, valuing all students and based on the principles of inclusive education and collective and interdisciplinary teaching work.