Qualidade e atitudes face a atencao a diversidadeproposta de melhoria

Abstract

Attention to diversity implies changes in school organization, human resources, infrastructures and materials, as well as human behavior towards the attitudes adopted concerning diversity. Educational policies have evolved positively in this direction, however the path is still long so that education institutions, public and private, are considered as inclusive. The educational community demands quality and effectiveness in the results and answers, due to the heterogeneity of the students. Nevertheless, we continue to find obstacles when it comes to including students with Special Needs Education in regular schools. The present research project analyzes, through different surveys, the teachers' perception and the students' attitudes towards inclusion and attention to diversity. We used two samples, one designated as general scenario (108 teachers and 414 students from several schools in Portugal) and another one called specific scenario (22 teachers and 159 students from a school in Porto). We used a mixed methodology, carried out a focus group to conduct a SWOT analysis and elaborated a proposal for improvement. We have concluded that some of the factors influence teachers' perceptions and students' attitudes towards inclusion and attention to diversity.