[Re]construction of teaching practices and knowledge: teacher training and inclusive pedagogical practices in higher education

Abstract

For this article, we set the objective of recognizing pedagogical practices of teacher educators based on the presence of a blind student in an undergraduate course, including movements of [re]construction of teaching practices and knowledge. This article is based on a qualitative research of the intrinsic longitudinal case study type, carried out at a federal university in the southern region of Brazil. The data come from semi-structured narratives with a blind student, teacher educators, the course coordinators and professionals who work in the institution's accessibility sector. Through the discussions presented, we recognize that the presence of a blind student mobilizes teacher educators to update their pedagogical practices, thus triggering movements of [re]construction of teaching practices and knowledge. Therefore, thinking about teacher education today implies recognizing that the majority of teacher educators are, many of them, facing the demands of inclusion in higher education for the first time. This becomes evident when, in a special education undergraduate course in which teachers have initial and continuing training in the area, there is still a demand for the production and implementation of new inclusive practices, which will consequently result in the production of new teaching knowledge encompassing the specificities of inclusion. Thus, the pedagogical practices developed and shared in the narratives of teacher trainers support us in understanding that there is an intense movement to update teaching practice, and therefore to [re]construct teaching practices and knowledge that support inclusive pedagogical practices at the university.