Abstract
This article assesses evidence of and challenges to the development of inclusive education in Portugal, which is built on three pillars: access to, participation in, and achievement in education for all children and young people. It presents an overview of the present policy framework, followed by an analysis of available statistical data on Portuguese students with disabilities in mainstream schools. The article also discusses significant achievements at the policy and practice levels, namely the attempt to align curriculum and pedagogy and the presence of almost 100% of students with disabilities in mainstream schools. It also considers challenges, such as the issue of monitoring achievement (both at the student and system level) and investments in the system and in teacher education.
Highlights
In this article, we assess evidence of and challenges to the development of inclusive education in Portugal
Moving beyond the notion of presence proposed by Ainscow (2005), which provided a first indicator of the level of “mainstreaming” in a specific context, access includes physical access but recognizes other potential sensory, intellectual, economic, and attitudinal barriers to education
This section draws on available quantitative data to assess how the three pillars of inclusive education—access, participation, and achievement—are being translated from principle to practice in Portugal
Summary
Portugal has been internationally recognised for its progressive legal framework in the field of inclusive education (All Means All 2018). The new decree-law moves away from the notion that it is necessary to categorise to intervene, rather supporting the idea that all students can achieve a profile of competencies and skills at the end of their compulsory education career, even if they follow different learning paths It views flexible curricular models, systematic monitoring of the effectiveness of the implemented interventions, and an ongoing dialogue between teachers and parents or other caregivers as “the educational responses necessary for each student to acquire a common base of competences, valuing their potential and interests” (Decree-Law 54/2018, Introduction). The government is required to ensure the necessary means so that education staff in public schools can access free specific training to support inclusion and learning (Law 116/2019, Art. 27) These are examples of the complex process of policy enactment which Maguire et al This section draws on available quantitative data to assess how the three pillars of inclusive education—access, participation, and achievement—are being translated from principle to practice in Portugal
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