Um olhar sobre o processo de autonomia dos alunos de uma escola de educação especial

Abstract

This study is a dissertation that originated a technological educational process in the format of a continuing education course. The present investigation has the general objective of understanding how the concept of autonomy is perceived according to the vision of teachers who work in a special school. In order to understand these meanings, a continuing education course entitled Dialogues about Autonomy in Disability was promoted, using the videoconference tool Google Meet. The participants in this investigation were the teachers and the school management team who work in this school. The course was based on readings by Michael Foucault (2010b.) of Kant's concept of autonomy, Paulo Freire (2019), who contributed his views on autonomy in the school environment, Maria Teresa Egler Mantoan (2015), who discusses the process of learner autonomy in the context of Special Education. In the field of continuing education, I sought theoretical support mainly in Tardif (2012) in his considerations about pedagogical knowledge and in Nóvoa (2019) who points to the school as a place for continuing education. As instruments of data collection, I used Google Forms questionnaires. The records concern autonomy, how it is stimulated by teachers and demonstrated by students who are people with disabilities. With the data from the questionnaires, a categorical content analysis was performed, based mainly on Bardin (2011). The units of records were identified according to the frequency with which they appeared in the answers to the questionnaires, then seven categories were created and interpreted to understand how the concept of autonomy is perceived and used within a special education school. The categories that emerged during the exploration of the initial questionnaires were: autonomy and reasoning; autonomy and attitudes; autonomy and freedom; valuing abilities using the necessary adaptations; stimulating independence and social coexistence; spaces and knowledge for affective pedagogical practice; reflection and planning what is done. With the data in hand, it was possible to notice that the meanings are different, but complement each other, and also that the course caused a tensioning in the meanings, because it generated new reflections and perceptions. This qualitative research also counted on some ethnographic traits insofar as I described my observations and perceptions and placed myself as a participant in the group of subjects. The main results found relate to the different meanings in relation to autonomy; the way autonomy and independence complement each other in this school environment, and the way I transform my view of myself as a teacher by reviewing the meaning and value that this concept has, because something that seemed normal, common, and simple presented so many different aspects with the help of the other, the other who shared his perceptions and mobilized his experiences in the course meetings.