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Revista Brasileira de Educação Especial

versão impressa ISSN 1413-6538versão On-line ISSN 1980-5470

Rev. bras. educ. espec. vol.27  Marília  2021  Epub 02-Mar-2021

https://doi.org/10.1590/1980-54702021v27e0196 

Relato de Pesquisa

Specialized Educational Service at the Federal Institutes: Reflections on The Performance of the Special Education Teacher

Ana Paula ZERBATO2 
http://orcid.org/0000-0002-9624-2148

Carla Ariela Rios VILARONGA3 
http://orcid.org/0000-0001-6050-2369

Jéssica Rodrigues SANTOS4 
http://orcid.org/0000-0001-9837-901X

2PhD in Special Education from the Federal University of São Carlos (UFSCar). Professor at the Faculty of Education of the University of São Paulo (USP). São Paulo/Brazil. E-mail: apzerbato@gmail.com.

3PhD in Special Education from the Federal University of São Carlos (UFSCar). Professor at the Federal Institute of São Paulo (IFSP) and collaborating professor at the Graduate Program in Special Education (PPGEEs-UFSCar). São Carlos/São Paulo/Brazil. E-mail: crios@ifsp.edu.br.

4Master’s in Special Education from the Federal University of São Carlos. Teacher of Special Education at the Maranhão Department of Education (SEDUC/MA) and the City Hall of Caxias - Maranhão. Caxias/Maranhão/Brazil. E-mail: jessicarodr.santos@gmail.com.


ABSTRACT:

The Federal Institutes of Education aim to promote the development of actions that guarantee the social inclusion of people with disabilities and social vulnerability. Hence, the enrollment of the Target Students of Special Education proposed new challenges, both in High School Education and in technical and technological education. Thus, this paper aimed to discuss the performance of the Special Education teacher in the educational context of the Federal Institutes. As specific objectives, it was pointed out: to analyze normative documents that dealt with the performance of this teacher in Technical and Technology-focused High School and reflect on the performance of the Special Education teacher, in order to draw a parallel between a case study and the existing normative documents. It is a documentary research, with a qualitative approach. The normative documents referring to the role of Special Education were raised and reports were analyzed that portrayed the performance of a Special Education teacher on one of the campuses of the Federal Institute of Bahia, Brazil. The results showed that the Specialized Educational Service and the Special Educator guarantee is provided for Basic Education, however, this is the reality of a small number of Federal Institutes. The relevance of specialized work for the schooling of the Target Students of Special Education and the partnership with other professionals in supporting students with specific needs was highlighted. It was concluded that the presence of the Special Education professional is indispensable in the construction of joint actions in the short, medium and long term that enable participation and learning by the Target Students of Special Education.

KEYWORDS: Special Education; School inclusion; High School; Technical education; Professional education

RESUMO:

Os Institutos Federais de Educação têm como objetivo promover o desenvolvimento de ações que garantam a inclusão social das pessoas com deficiência e em vulnerabilidade social. Assim sendo, as matrículas de estudantes Público-Alvo da Educação Especial (PAEE) propuseram novos desafios, tanto na Educação Básica de nível médio quanto no ensino técnico e tecnológico. Dessa forma, este artigo teve como objetivo geral discutir a atuação do professor de Educação Especial no contexto educacional dos Institutos Federais. Como objetivos específicos, pontuou-se: analisar documentos normativos que tratavam da atuação desse professor na Educação Básica de nível médio técnico e tecnológico e refletir sobre a atuação do professor de Educação Especial, de modo a traçar um paralelo entre um estudo de caso e os documentos normativos existentes. Trata-se de uma pesquisa documental, de abordagem qualitativa. Foram levantados os documentos normativos que se referiam ao papel da Educação Especial e analisados relatórios que retratavam da atuação de uma professora de Educação Especial em um dos campi do Instituto Federal Baiano. Os resultados apontaram que o Atendimento Educacional Especializado e a garantia do Educador Especial é prevista para a Educação Básica, porém essa é a realidade de um número pequeno de Institutos Federais. Destacou-se a relevância do trabalho especializado para escolarização dos estudantes PAEE e a parceria com outros profissionais no apoio dos estudantes com necessidades específicas. Concluiu-se que a presença do profissional de Educação Especial é indispensável na construção de ações em conjunto de curto, médio e longo prazo que possibilitem participação e aprendizagem dos estudantes PAEE.

PALAVRAS-CHAVE: Educação Especial; Inclusão escolar; Ensino Médio; Ensino técnico; Educação profissional

1 Introduction

When analyzing public policies aimed at the access and permanence of the target group of learners with Special Educational Needs (SEN)5 in technical courses integrated into High School at the Federal Institutes of Education, Science and Technology (Institutos Federais de Educação Ciência e Tecnologia), until 2018, it is verified that these Institutes have gradually ensured the offer of places to this public. Thus, they comply with the legal prerogative related to the guarantee of the quota system established by article 5 of Law no. 13,409, of December 28, 2016, which included people with disabilities, resulting from Law no. 12,711, of August 29, 2012. This action can be one of the triggering factors for the increase in the number of enrollments of the target group of learners with SEN in these educational institutions across the country. However, it is understood that the guarantee of access does not directly compromise the implementation of education policies of national scope, that provides conditions for the permanence and learning of these students to complete the course at the institutions (Marques, 2014).

Considering the aforementioned public and space, this study aimed to discuss the role of the Special Education teacher in the educational context of the Federal Institutes of Education, Science and Technology. To support the discussion, we sought to analyze normative documents that dealt with the performance of this teacher in Basic Education at the Technical and Technological High School Level and to offer reflections on the performance of the Special Education teacher, drawing a parallel between a case study and the normative documents existing. The study was carried out through methodological actions based on documentary research with a qualitative approach.

It is pertinent to point out that the first technical education institutions in the country were created in 1909 by the then president Nilo Peçanha, entitled Escolas de Aprendizes Artífices - Schools of Apprentice Craftsmen. Since then, these institutions have undergone countless political and educational transformations that ranged from nomenclature to the political and pedagogical project that guided teaching. In 2008, when the Federal Institutes of Education, Science and Technology were legally established, in addition to the creation of new units, other educational institutions were transformed into Federal Institutes.

Since 2008, the Federal Institutes have been part of most of the Federal Network for Professional, Scientific and Technological Education (Rede Federal de Educação Profissional, Científica e Tecnológica - EPCT) in the country, with a total of 38 institutes, distributed across 26 states plus the Federal District, which receive target groups of learners with SEN concluding Elementary and High School (Domingos Sobrinho, 2013; Schmidt, 2010). The current organization of the Federal Institutes, which celebrated ten years of existence in 2018, implemented by Law no. 11,892, of December 29, 2008, defines the institutes as "institutions of higher, basic and professional education, pluricurricular and multicampi, specialized in the provision of professional and technological education in different teaching modalities, based on the combination of technical and technological knowledge with their pedagogical practices".

According to this legislation, Federal Institutes are obliged to respect a minimum percentage of teaching provision: 50% of technical vocational education at secondary level, primarily in the form of integrated courses for those who finish Elementary School and for the public of youth and adult education, and 20% of their vacancies for Higher Education in technology, undergraduate degrees (especially of Exact Sciences), bachelor’s degree in Engineering and graduate courses, lato and stricto sensu (Law no. 11,892, 2008).

In order to ensure student assistance policies with a focus on permanence, success and student learning, the Federal Institutes instituted specific centers on their campuses, such as the Affirmative Action Center (Núcleo de Ações Afirmativas - NAAf), the Service Center for People with Specific Educational Needs (Núcleo de Atendimento às Pessoas com Necessidades Educacionais Específicas - NAPNE), the Center for Afro-Brazilian and Indigenous Studies (Núcleo de Estudos Afro-brasileiro e Indígena - NEABI) and the Center for Studies and Research on Gender and Sexuality (Núcleo de Estudos e Pesquisas em Gênero e Sexualidade - NEPGS). Not all Federal Institutes have all the centers established, and some are still in the implementation phase.

The Service Center for People with Specific Educational Needs is the nucleus responsible for promoting actions in most Federal Institutes to serve the target group of learners with SEN, being one of the possibilities for the Special Education teacher. The Service Center for People with Specific Educational Needs was created through one of the actions of the Education, Technology and Professionalization Program for People with Specific Educational Needs (Programa Educação, Tecnologia e Profissionalização para Pessoas com Necessidades Educacionais Específicas - TEC NEP), which aimed, among its measures, to build an inclusive public policy that provided "conditions for access to the target students of Special Education in the courses offered by the Federal Network of Technological Education, thus guaranteeing them insertion in the world of work and, therefore, economic independence" (França & Teixeira, 2016, p. 66).

According to Mendes (2017), it is inaccurate to identify the exact date of creation of the first Service Center for People with Specific Educational Needs, although the author claims to have found guidance on the implementation of the Nucleus in the program manual of the Education, Technology and Professionalization Program for People with Specific Educational Needs published in 2001. This process of implementing the nucleus did not occur in a uniform and systematic way, as this Program intended, causing some differences in the understanding of the sector’s functioning between the different Federal Institutes.

That same year, Resolution no. 2, of September 11, 2001, was published, which instituted the National Guidelines for Special Education in Basic Education, bringing, in its sole paragraph of article 3, that: The educational systems must constitute and operate a sector responsible for special education, endowed with human, material and financial resources that enable and support the process of building inclusive education (p. 1). The understanding related to the "sector responsible for special education" may have been one of the bases that supported the proposal of the Service Center for People with Specific Educational Needs in the Federal Network, when idealized.

With regard to the target population assisted by the Service Center for People with Specific Educational Needs, there is no consensus among all centers: while there are Service Centers for People with Specific Educational Needs that assist the public defined by Decree no. 7.611, of November 17, 2011, there are those who assist a broader public. Mendes (2017) states that the Federal Institutes work from the perspective of inclusive education, developing actions that encompass the public determined by Brazilian normative documents: people with disabilities, GDD and giftedness, in addition to people with learning disabilities and the elderly in situations of educational vulnerability.

The legal guidelines for the composition of the Service Centers for People with Specific Educational Needs indicate that the nucleus can be composed of a coordinator and a multidisciplinary team, which the Secretariat of Professional and Technological Education called "members". According to Waldemar (2012), the members of this nucleus are people who offer assistance in activities and are hired after the publication of an ordinance by the rector of the Institute in which the nucleus of which they will be part is inserted (p. 47). Therefore, regarding its composition:

The Service Center for People with Specific Educational Needs has a coordinator6 who is designated by the Director-General’s ordinance and can be supported by other professionals, such as sociologists, psychologists, teachers, technicians and also by scholarship students or interns or by voluntary actions, including parents of students. (Bortolini, 2012, p. 56)

However, a factor in common is identified in the two definitions mentioned above, since the Special Education teacher is not mentioned as a professional specialized in the composition of this nucleus. This factor implies, therefore, the question: How is it possible to develop the actions that the Service Center for People with Specific Educational Needs proposes without at least a legal institutionalization of a professional specialized in the field of Special Education at its nucleus?

2 Methodological pathways

This study was based on the qualitative research approach. The collection and treatment of the data were based on documentary research. According to Severino (2017), documentary research, among its different meanings, can be characterized as a technique of identification, survey, exploration of source documents of the researched object and registration of the information taken from these sources and that will be used in the development of the work (p. 91).

In the case of this study, the official normative documents of the Federal Institutes were raised, referring to the role/performance of Special Education and/or the Special Education teacher in the Federal Institutes. The reports that portrayed the performance of a Special Education teacher on one of the campuses of the Federal Institute of Bahia were also analyzed, contrasting and densifying the discussion of how these laws have been translated into the different contexts of professional and technical education at the High School and Higher Education level.

Thus, the methodological path can be described as follows: a survey of the sources (via the official websites of the Federal Institutes and through contact via e-mail with professionals who worked at the Service Centers for People with Specific Educational Needs, thorough reading of the documents and selection of those who proved to be important for the work. Finally, the documents were analyzed in the light of specific literature in the field of Special Education on the predominant axis in this work: the role of the teacher of Special Education in Federal Institutes.

3 Results and discussions

Through the analysis of the resolutions of the Service Centers for People with Specific Educational Needs, it was identified that most professionals with training in Special Education are hired on a temporary basis, which means that the institutions await the enrollment of students and then take palliative measures to receive these students. Mendes (2017) points out that the work occurs in an unsystematic and discontinuous way in part of the Federal Institutes, without the possibility of creating institutional conducts for the care that may become institutionalized (p. 105).

Based on the legal path that deals with the training of the professional who will work with the target group of learners with SEN, the National Education Guidelines and Framework Law [Lei de Diretrizes e Bases da Educação Nacional - LDBEN] - Law no. 9,394, of December 2, 1996, in its chapter V, which deals with Special Education, in article 59 - establishes that the education systems must assure to students with special needs teachers with adequate specialization in High School or Higher Education level, for specialized attendance, as well as teachers of regular education trained for the integration of these students in the regular classes.

The National Policy on Special Education in the Perspective of Inclusive Education (2008) points out that the education system must ensure the transversality of the Special Education modality from Early Childhood Education to Higher Education, as well as the provision of specialized educational assistance (p. 13). The document states that:

In order to act in special education, the teacher must have as the base of his/her education, initial and continuous, general knowledge for the exercise of teaching and specific knowledge of the area. This training enables them to work in specialized educational care, deepens the interactive and interdisciplinary nature of their work in the regular classrooms of regular education, in the resource rooms, in the centers of specialized educational care, in the accessibility centers of Higher Education institutions, in the hospital classrooms and home environments, to offer special education services and resources. (National Policy on Special Education in the Perspective of Inclusive Education, 2008, p. 13)

The teaching work and training for the position are also provided for in Resolution no. 4, of October 2, 2009, which establishes the Operational Guidelines for Specialized Educational Service (SES) in Basic Education and indicates that the professional who works in this area must have initial training that qualifies him/her to exercise teaching and specific training for Special Education (p. 3).

The attributions to the Special Education teacher who will work in this service to support school inclusion are established in the Operational Guidelines for SES in Brazil (Technical Note - SEESP/GAB / no. 9, 2010) and, among the several listed attributions to the Special Education teacher, the one that refers to the establishment of articulation with the teachers of the regular classroom, with a view of making services and resources available and the development of activities for the participation and learning of students in school activities (p. 4), deserves to be mentioned.

The Brazilian Law for the Inclusion of Persons with Disabilities (Statute for Persons with Disabilities) - Law no. 13,146, of July 6, 2015, when dealing with education in its article 28, provides functions that agree with the proposal presented here for the performance of this professional when addressing, among other measures, what the institution needs to guarantee:

III - a pedagogical project that institutionalizes specialized educational service, as well as other services and reasonable adaptations, to meet the characteristics of students with disabilities and ensure their full access to the curriculum on equal terms, promoting the achievement and exercise of their autonomy;

[...]

XIII - access to higher education and professional and technological education in equal opportunities and conditions with other people;

XIV - inclusion in curricular content, in Higher Education and technical and technological professional education courses, on topics related to people with disabilities in their respective fields of knowledge. (Law no. 13,146, 2015)

The highlights presented here of the Brazilian normative documents, referring to the guarantee of effective schooling for the target group of learners with SEN, provide subsidies to the Federal Institutes for the implementation of actions, such as the hiring of a teacher specializing in Special Education, to contribute to the successful school path of the target group of learners with SEN enrolled in the Federal Institutes.

Therefore, it is justified to hire a Special Education teacher to collaboratively perform the SES, as provided for in Law no. 13,530, of December 7, 2017, whose article 9, item XII, provides for the

admission of a specialized Higher Education professional to assist people with disabilities, under the terms of the law, regularly enrolled in High School technical courses and Higher Education courses at Federal Educational institutions, in a joint act of the Ministry of Planning, Development and Management and the Ministry of Education.

As for the training of the special educator, it is understood that it is possible to have two different professional profiles: having initial training of a Higher Education teaching degree in Special Education7 or having a degree as initial training and continuing education at the graduate level in Special Education at an institution duly registered at the Ministry of Education.

To exemplify the translation of the analyzed normative documents regarding the implementation of policies and practical actions, the Federal Institute of Bahia stood out, which, through budgetary planning, created a vacancy code for SES teachers, holding an exam to hire effective teachers with specialization in Special Education (one for each campus), as well as the creation of vacancies for the staff of Brazilian Sign Language Interpreter and Braille Text reviewer. Despite the nomenclature used by the institution for the position to have been "SES teacher", it is understood here that SES is a type of support service performed by activities that are not limited to the figure of the special educator and that the duties of this professional are neither exhausted nor limited to the offer of this service. Thus, the position of SES teacher is not understood as a synonym for Special Education teacher.

In addition to the Federal Institute of Bahia, it is noted that the following Federal Institutes have Special Education teachers on their staff: Federal Institute of Amapá (IFAP)8, Federal Institute of Santa Catarina (IFC)9, Federal Institute of Santa Catarina (IFSC)10, Federal Institute of Farroupilha (IFFarroupilha)11 and, more recently, the Federal Institute of Paraná (IFPR)12. In all the aforementioned institutions, the professionals were or will be hired as teachers of Basic, Technical and Technological Education, reinforcing the understanding that Special Education is a teaching modality; therefore, it requires the need for a teacher with skills in this field of knowledge.

Another factor that promotes the importance of hiring Special Education teachers in the Federal Institutes is the fact that, since it is an institution that operates in Secondary Education integrated with Technical and Technological Education, some of the teachers that make up the staff, especially those who teach in technical courses, are not trained in undergraduate courses, since they have bachelor degrees and learn to be teachers in practice. This challenge of teaching, after the recruiting public exam, brings reflections on training in the pedagogical field and on the lack of discussion about the target group of learners with SEN in the initial training of some courses, for example, the bachelor degrees. It is noteworthy that there are no studies concluded so far that have analyzed how these professionals have worked in these institutions, the degrees of collaboration with other professionals and even for the realization of the SES.

The Federal Institute of Bahia, through its SES Regulation (Resolution no. 19, of March 18, 2019), presents a proposal of activities that contemplates offering SES through educational resources, support strategies, supplementation and complementation of teaching for the students who make up the target group of learners with SEN at the Federal Institutes. In this institution, it is understood that the SES teacher, Special Educator, in partnership with the other professionals, would be responsible for the activities. Actions of the SES are based on the educational needs of each student, with the professional who works in this service having the following duties in the institution:

Article 4 The objectives of the SES are:

I - act and contribute to the consolidation of public policies for inclusion and diversity in the Federal Institute of Bahia;

II- act and contribute to the elimination of architectural, communicational, methodological, instrumental, programmatic and attitudinal barriers, seeking to adapt academic spaces to students’ needs;

III - accompany and guide the target group of learners with SEN, individually or collectively, in activities in the Multifunctional Resource Room and in collaborative teaching, with the teachers of the curricular components of courses of all levels and modalities of the Federal Institute of Bahia, in order to contribute to the appropriation of knowledge by the student;

IV - guide teachers of regular education in the selection, adaptation and use of resources, materials and pedagogical strategies, participating in the planning and evaluation of classes and activities;

V - point out the strategic actions to meet the needs of the target group of learners with SEN, in partnership with the Service Center for People with Specific Educational Needs, such as the acquisition of equipment, the adaptation of spaces and transportation, among others;

VI - promote the participation of the school community, the family or those responsible for the target group of learners with SEN, making them aware of their conditions of access, participation and learning, in order to provide conditions for permanence, completion and continuity of studies. (Resolution no. 19, 2019, p. 9-10).

It is understood that the configuration of the SES, in the context of the Federal Institutes, has particularities, when compared to Basic Education of the municipal and state network or Higher Education institutions for acting at different levels. The reports on the performance of such professional are scarce since this role assumed in some institutes is recent, but can be illustrated in the experience report presented below.

3.1 Special Education teacher’s performance in one of the campi of the Federal Institute of Bahia

According to the Institutional Development Plan (2015-2019) of the Federal Institute of Bahia, the institution begins its history in the city of Catu, with the offer of professional education in the agrarian area of ​​Bahia, in 1897. Its expansion happened gradually in several municipalities in Bahia and today, it has a total of 14 campuses. More specifically, in the south of Bahia, the expansion of Federal Institutes is due to the integration, in 2010, of the former Middle Schools of Regional Agriculture (Escolas Médias de Agropecuária Regional - EMARC), maintained by the Executive Committee of the Lavoura Cacaueira Plan (CEPLAC), an organ linked to the Ministry of Agriculture. The Uruçuca-Bahia campus, for example, is one of those schools that, through Decree no. 7,952, of March 12, 2013, was definitively linked to the Middle Schools of Regional Agriculture of the Ministry of Education, transforming them into the Federal Institute of Bahia campus.

In 2018, the Uruçuca campus operated with two technical courses integrated into High School (Computer Science and Tour Guide) and three technical courses subsequent to High School (Food Technician, Agriculture and Land Surveying), in addition to three Higher Education courses in technologist in Agroecology and Tourism Management, and a bachelor degree in Food Engineering. It had three centers implemented for the development of Diversity and Inclusion Policies13: the Center for Afro-Brazilian and Indigenous Studies, the Gender and Sexuality Studies Center (Núcleo de Estudos de Gênero e Sexualidade - GENI) and the Service Center for People with Specific Educational Needs.

The Service Center for People with Specific Educational Needs of the Federal Institute of Bahia, Uruçuca campus, was implemented in 2015 and consisted of a professional Sign Language interpreter, a psychologist, a social worker, a student assistant and a campus teacher. As it is intended to discuss the role of the SES from the entry of the Special Education professional in the team, the focus will be on the structure and actions of the nucleus in the context of 2018 to justify the discussions intended here.

Thus, in 2018, the Service Center for People with Specific Educational Needs of the Federal Institute of Bahia, Uruçuca campus, was made up of the following members: two Sign Language interpreters, a Braille Text reviewer, a Special Education teacher, a student assistant14, a teacher from the Letters-Brazilian Sign Language area, a pedagogue, a psychologist, a computer technician and four teachers from the regular teaching areas. In addition to these, there was a technical health professional, hired as a caregiver15 to support two specific students. Table 1 shows the list of students served by the Service Center for People with Specific Educational Needs, Uruçuca campus, in 2018, and the core professionals who supported these students.

Table 1 Support for students assisted by the Service Center for People with Specific Educational Needs 

Student / Age / Specificities / Course / Semester Support professionals - Performance
Ivan (21 years old) - Physical Disability - Bachelor in Tourism Management (2nd semester). Coordination of the Service Center for People with Specific Educational Needs for assistance and other guidelines.
Leonardo (25 years old) - Amputation of the right leg - Bachelor in Tourism Management (2nd semester). Coordination of the Service Center for People with Specific Educational Needs for assistance and other guidelines.
Adriana (29 years old) - Mild deafness in the right ear; Technical Course in Food Technology (3rd semester). Coordination of the Service Center for People with Specific Educational Needs in case of any guidance need.
Rogério (28 years old) - Congenital arthrogryposis - Technical Course in Land Surveying (3rd semester). Caregiver for the use of the bathroom and cafeteria; Coordination of the Service Center for People with Specific Educational Needs for general guidance for the student.

Note. The names are fictitious to maintain the students' identity. Adapted from Zerbato & Oliveira (2018).

After referral, which could be carried out by a teacher, professional, family member or by the student who requests the service, the students were heard and evaluated by at least two members of the Service Center for People with Specific Educational Needs (coordination that received the referral form and the teacher of Special Education or coordination and the psychologist or coordination and social worker, according to the request sent) to define the necessary support according to their demands and specificities. Students were undergoing pedagogical assessment to identify the necessary support. When these students did not have a demand for educational assistance, the Service Center for People with Specific Educational Needs members forwarded them to other sectors, such as health or social assistance, for specialized assistance according to the demand.

When it was identified by the nucleus members that student support was the service offered by the Service Center for People with Specific Educational Needs, the members discussed the strategies and resources that could enable their effective schooling in High School and/or Technical level. As this is an unprecedented performance and a public in need of specific support, the actions for the support of the Special Educator were discussed and built according to the educational context. This understanding is based on the assumption that not all students served by the Service Center for People with Specific Educational Needs should or would need support from the special educator.

Examples of these cases were students who had specific needs, but were not the target group of learners with SEN, as Tales (18 years old), diagnosed with Attention Deficit Disorder, who was attending High School integrated in Tour Guide (2nd grade) and Jonas (23 years old), a student with Dyslexia, who was studying Tourism Management in Higher Education (4th semester). Both received educational support from the Psychopedagogue. The Service Center for People with Specific Educational Needs (also acted in cases such as Janaina (28 years old), without diagnosis, of the Technical course in Agriculture (with several failures in disciplines), which was monitored by the Pedagogue and Psychopedagogue of the campus (Zerbato & Oliveira, 2018). There were also target groups of learners with SEN who, despite being the special educator’s population, in the nucleus’ meetings, it was understood that they would not need direct support from the special educator (see Table 1).

Even in cases that did not receive direct support from the Special Education teacher, the importance and collaboration of this professional in the context of institutional evaluations, case discussions in the Service Center for People with Specific Educational Needs meetings and in the pedagogical meetings of the courses, as well as in partnerships with other professionals, stands out.

Table 2 Support for students assisted by the Service Center for People with Specific Educational Needs and example of the actions of the Special Education teacher 

Student / Specifics / Age / Course / Semester Support professionals Actions developed by the Special Education teacher16
Daniela (27 years old) - Deafness - Technical Course in Food Technology (3rd semester). Translators-interpreters; Special Education Teacher; Psychologist Teaching Portuguese language in written form, as a second language. Individualized assistance for monitoring and carrying out academic tasks. Guidance for teachers, in partnership with the interpreter, for the development of visual materials to support learning.
Douglas (26 years old) - Total blindness in the right eye - Bachelor in Tourism Management (2nd semester). Special Education Teacher; Braille Text reviewer; Coordination of the Service Center for People with Specific Educational Needs Adaptation of study materials. Magnification of texts. Guidelines for teachers to improve teaching.
Rafael (30 years old) - Visual Impairment; Generalized Anxiety - Bachelor in Tourism Management (pending disciplines). Special Education Teacher; Braille text reviewer; Psychologist; Social assistant Adaptation of materials. Individualized assistance for monitoring and carrying out academic tasks. Guidelines for teachers to improve classes.
Tereza (25 years old) - Visual Impairment, Amblyopia- Food Engineering (1st semester). Special Education Teacher; Braille text reviewer; Coordination of the Service Center for People with Specific Educational Needs Adaptations of materials and physical space for better use of classes. Guidelines for teachers to improve teaching.
Hugo (18 years old) - Physical Disability: motor incoordination and speech difficulties - Technical Course in Food Technology (2nd semester). Special Education Teacher Individualized assistance for monitoring and carrying out academic tasks. Monitoring of practical classes to support the student. Guidelines for teachers to improve classes Adaptations of materials and provision of Assistive Technology.
Deise (20 years old) - Physical disability: dwarfism - Technical Course in Food Technology (1st semester). Special Education Teacher; Service Center for People with Specific Educational Needs coordination Guidance on adapting materials and furniture. Guidelines for teachers to improve classes.
Junior (25 years old) - Deafness - Technical Course in Food Technology (2nd semester). Translators-interpreters; Special Education Teacher; L2 Teacher Teaching Portuguese language in written form as a second language (in partnership with the L2 teacher). Individualized assistance for monitoring and carrying out academic tasks. Guidance for teachers, in partnership with the interpreter, for the development of visual materials to support learning.
Marcelo (27 years old) - Cerebral Palsy - Technical Course in Food Technology (1st semester). Special Education Teacher; Caregiver Individualized assistance for monitoring and carrying out academic tasks. Monitoring of theoretical classes to support the student. Guidelines for teachers to improve classes.
Jorge (30 years old) - Visually Impaired - Technical Course in Agriculture (2nd semester). Special Education Teacher; Braille text reviewer; Coordination of the Service Center for People with Specific Educational Needs Adaptations of materials and physical space for better use of classes. Guidelines for teachers to improve teaching.
Roberto (28 years old) - Deafness - Technical Course in Agriculture (3rd semester). Translators - interpreters; Special Education Teacher; L2 teacher Teaching Portuguese language in written form as a second language (in partnership with the L2 teacher). Individualized assistance for monitoring and carrying out academic tasks. Guidance for teachers, in partnership with the interpreter, for the development of visual materials to support learning.
Gustavo (40 years old) - Without diagnosis; Suspected intellectual disability Surveying Technician (3rd semester - Pending disciplines). Special Education Teacher; Psychologist; Social Worker Individualized assistance for monitoring and carrying out academic tasks. Monitoring and observation of classes aiming at collaborative articulation with teachers to propose strategies. Guidelines for teachers to improve their classes; Proposal discussions at course council meetings with all teaching staff and teachers.
Vitor (17 years old) - Asperger's Syndrome - High School integrated in Informatics (3rd year). Special Education Teacher Monitoring and observation of classes aiming at collaborative articulation with teachers to propose strategies. Guidelines for teachers to improve classes.
João (21 years old) - Dyslexia- High School integrated in Informatics (3rd year). Special Education Teacher; Psychopedagogue Monitoring and observation of classes aiming at collaborative articulation with teachers to propose strategies. Guidelines for teachers to improve classes.

Note. The names are fictitious to maintain the students' identity. The data "student/specifics/age/course/semester" and "support professionals" are from Zerbato & Oliveira (2018).

Zerbato and Oliveira (2018) pointed out the special educator’s duties. To the authors, this performance was differentiated according to the specific demand of each student and could be: i) individualized assistance during the day and specific monitoring of the Special Education teacher in a regular classroom in the perspective of collaborative action with the teacher of the regular education; ii) assistance from the perspective of collaborative teaching in the classroom to support the teacher of regular education; iii) participation in educational meetings; iv) training for teachers who assist these students; v) participation in board meetings; vi) preparation of materials and adaptation of assessments; vii) SES for teaching written Portuguese to deaf students; and viii) SES in Brazilian Sign Language for deaf students to carry out complementary teaching activities.

The Uruçuca campus, in 2018, had a significant number of target groups of learners with diverse educational and social demands. It appears that the implementation of a nucleus that supports these students and makes possible the realization of the SES are extremely important, but it will not solve by itself the challenges that inclusive education presents.

The creation of a support network made up of the professionals who were part of the Service Center for People with Specific Educational Needs, on the analyzed campus, was recent, so there were no medium and long-term results of the actions carried out. The short-term analysis of the action may point to an effective strategy in the construction of a collaborative culture and school inclusion in the institution, considered as something favorable to the strengthening and expansion of the support offered to the public assisted by the nucleus. The sum of knowledge and practices of the different professionals who made up the support team was very important in making decisions and developing strategies with teachers of regular education in favor of the learning of the target students with SEN.

Regarding the implementation of SES in the analyzed institution, the challenge was enormous, as it was an educational environment different from Basic Education, referring to Early Childhood Education and Elementary Education, with full-time teaching. In addition, the way in which the normative documents and the inclusion policies at the national level for Basic Education point to the performance of the Special Education teacher in a Multifunctional Resource Room (MRR) obstructs the performance of the SES and hinders its effectiveness, as the professional who works within an MRR, in a period contrary to the schooling of the target student with SEN, decreases the chances of understanding and contributing to the most important context in this student’s learning process: the regular classroom.

In the analyzed context, many courses were full-time, making the SES proposal in MRR unfeasible. Thus, other proposals have been made and tried, such as the SES in the Collaborative Teaching model.

Collaborative or co-educational teaching is one of the support service provision models in which a regular teacher and a specialized teacher share the responsibility for planning, instructing and evaluating the teaching given to a heterogeneous group of students. This model emerged as an alternative to the models of the resource room, special classes or special schools, specifically to respond to the demands of the school inclusion practices of students from the target group of special education [...]. (Mendes et al., 2014, p. 45)

It is still a recent proposal, but it has already been discussed with the institution’s professionals and included in the SES regulations - Resolution no. 19/2019 of the Federal Institute of Bahia, so that this and other possibilities of service can be officially supported. In addition, in the short period of implementation of the SES, there was a need to face some difficulties, such as those related to: the insufficient number of professionals to meet all the demands of the campus; the scarcity of resources for greater investment in human and material resources; as well as the challenge of thinking about implementing training actions that enable teachers to review their didactic and methodological teaching strategies to improve teaching for all.

Zerbato and Oliveira (2018) identified the following demands for improvement and construction of more inclusive teaching at the presented institution: i) creation of vacancies and hiring specialized professionals for networking, such as speech therapist, occupational therapist, psychopedagogue, among others; ii) expansion of the staff of translators interpreting sign language according to the demand of the campus and in line with the professional’s work rules; and iii) investment in training, both initial and continuing, that respond to internal demands and reach the external community in which the institution is inserted.

There is also a need to build work in the model of collaborative or co-educational teaching in classes that have the target group of learners with SEN enrolled, whenever the previous evaluation of this student points out this need, then it is understood to be an effective work alternative to organize the teaching of these students and others in the regular teaching classroom.

It is necessary to ensure, during the teaching work schedule, moments of joint planning between a Special Education teacher and a teacher of regular curriculum components. To Argueles et al. (2000), the effective practice of collaborative teaching requires a time of team planning to share and discuss ideas, especially if the Special Education teacher is not in the classroom all the time with the regular teacher. In this way, it is possible for the Special Education teacher to understand how work in the classroom is going when he/she is not present and gives the opportunity to suggest adaptations and strategies for teaching the target group of learners with SEN. In planning meetings, teachers have the opportunity to reflect on their daily classes, on the development of an Individualized Educational Planning17 and to define roles and responsibilities of working together before, during and after class.

The importance of moments of dialogue for reflection and elaboration of curricular adaptations when necessary and to guarantee strategies is highlighted, such as more availability of more time for disciplines and courses, extended time for conducting an assessment, the presence of a reading professional for an activity when necessary, among others. At this point, it is emphasized that it is important that these adaptations of the curriculum are inserted into the student’s Individualized Educational Planning and in the official documents that conduct the institution’s teaching, in order to guarantee strategies aimed at the permanence and conclusion of the course by the target group of learners with SEN, such as differentiated certification, when necessary.

In addition, guarantee moments for debate and production of new teaching strategies in the common classroom. It is noteworthy that the participation at in-service training moments is fundamental for teachers to go beyond the most traditional excluding practices and launch themselves into more collective and more dialogical strategies, according to the specificities of their students, such as peer tutoring, recognition of the best way that each student presents the expected response in relation to what they have learned, the development of practices based on Universal Design for Learning (UDL), the use of Assistive Technology (AT), among others.

The implantation of a collaborative and inclusive culture in the institution is necessary so that all the actors are clear about the objectives of the educational institution and what the role of each professional is because in the absence of the implementation of public policies linked [to] lack of an in-depth discussion involving the internal and external community, the inclusive principles end up becoming fragile and the inclusive educational process vulnerable (Zerbato & Oliveira, 2018, p. 13).

In this short period of insertion of new professionals in the Federal Institute of Bahia for the benefit of the institution’s school inclusion, it was found that the implementation of the SES is part of the efforts to guarantee the rights and the necessary support to the target group of learners with SEN of the professional and technological education network. It is recognized that the role of the Special Education teacher has given rise, in the analyzed context, to discussions about the unique model of action that the National Policy on Special Education in the Perspective of Inclusive Education (2008) proposes, as it is found that it is not possible to conceive SES only in MRR. Thus, other ways of enhancing SES at the Federal Institute of Bahia were presented as necessary, and collaborative teaching was an example of this.

4 Conclusions

Considering the presented and analyzed normative documents, as well as the assertions on the action of the Special Education teacher identified in the example analyzed, it was understood that ensuring only the entry of the target group of learners with SEN, through common enrollment or through the quota system (Law no. 12,711, 2012) in the Federal Institutes, is not enough to promote school inclusion in these spaces, as it does not guarantee the implementation of actions provided for by law, nor even equity in the teaching and learning processes.

In the case of the target group of learners with SEN, Brazilian law provides for the provision of SES as the differential to guarantee the right to full schooling. Therefore, this differential directly implies the need for the work position of a specialist teacher in Special Education to carry out the duties inherent to the job.

The presentation of the joint action between the Special Education teacher, members of the Service Center for People with Specific Educational Needs and other professionals from the Federal Institute of Bahia campus demonstrated that the performance of this teacher is essential in this context. Therefore, it is argued that it is necessary that the Department of Specialized Modalities in Education18 implement a specific regulation, enabling the Federal Institutes to open recruiting public exam for teachers specializing in the area of ​​Special Education, considering that the composition regulations of Service Centers for People with Specific Educational Needs state that this professional is rarely part of the staff and, when he/she is, it is temporary, with some exceptions.

The Service Centers for People with Specific Educational Needs have played a fundamental role in the Federal Institutes, but they have not been able, especially after the increase in the number of the target group of learners with SEN, to meet all the objectives that are proposed, especially because, many times, they do not have professionals with specific training to provide opportunities for discussions on campuses.

It is understood the importance of other staff professionals act in order to ensure the process of school inclusion and that they need to act in an articulated manner in the assistance of these students, but it is emphasized that the existence of these professionals does not exempt the institution from responsibility to have in its staff the professional with specific training in Special Education. Thinking about school inclusion or, at the very least, "reasonable adaptations", is only possible through collective actions between different professionals, being necessary, therefore, for the realization of a collaborative action in the Federal Institutes, the presence of the special educator.

The different realities present in the numerous institutes are also highlighted. While the Federal Institute of Bahia, upon entrance of the Special Education Teacher, sought strategies to improve the quality of the service offered and fight for the construction of a collaborative culture in the institution, many Federal Institutes still struggle to achieve the regularization of the position of Special Education Teacher. This is the case of the Federal Institute of São Paulo, in which Specialized Educational Service appears in the Institutional Development Plan (2019-2023) of the institution as one of the duties of the Service Center for People with Specific Educational Needs, as a follow-up and permanence action for students of the Federal Institute of São Paulo. However, at the Institute, there is still no provision for a specific recruiting exam to hire a specialized professional to work with the SES.

With the problematization of the organizing support lines and the example of a specific context related to the analyzed institution, it is expected that this study will encourage the discussion about the role of the Special Educator in the context of the Federal Institutes. However, it is considered that the analyzed axis is promising the development of new studies and debates on the theme. Thus, we suggest future research that focuses on case studies of students attended by the special educator, that analyze the performance in-depth and describe the practice of this professional. In addition, it is necessary to research practices experienced by other institutions with characteristics similar to the one analyzed, but which present different actions, among other research gaps on the subject.

5The target group of learners with special educational needs is considered: students with disabilities, with global developmental delay (GDD) and giftedness (National Policy on Special Education in the Perspective of Inclusive Education - Política Nacional de Educação Especial na Perspectiva da Educação Inclusiva [PNEEPEI], 2008).

6Most Federal Institutes use the term coordinator, even though it is not a remunerated occupation. They subdivide the composition of the nucleus into "coordinator, vice coordinator and secretary". Some exceptions, such as the Federal Institute of São Paulo (Instituto Federal São Paulo - IFSP), do not bring this division due to the lack of a remunerated occupation and the legal implications of using such term.

7Until the conclusion of this study, only the Federal University of Santa Maria, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, and the Federal University of São Carlos, São Paulo, Brazil, offered the initial training course in Special Education in-person learning in the public network of Higher Education, however there are several private institutions that offer the course in-person and in distance learning format.

9Position instituted by Normative Ordinance no. 4, of January 29, 2018.

14Due to the education of the Student Assistant in Psychopedagogy, the professional has collaborated with the Service Center for People with Specific Educational Needs in her area of knowledge.

15Hired via a third party company.

16The Individualized Educational Planning is a document that requires prior and careful evaluation as well as a debate among all those who have connections with the target group of learners with SEN, including themselves in the search for the definition of the necessary paths for their learning (Santos & Vilaronga, 2019, p. 10).

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Received: December 19, 2019; Revised: April 24, 2020; Accepted: July 06, 2020

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