CURRICULUM ADAPTATIONS FOR STUDENTS WITH SPECIAL EDUCATION NEEDS (SEN): TRAINING IN HIGHER EDUCATION

Abstract

The inclusive school requires a service provided to a population increasingly diverse and heterogeneous, by which everyone must get a qualified response to their educational needs through curriculum adaptations to the formal curriculum. Thus, schools should include the required curricular adaptations in their educational projects regarding the teaching and learning process, to respond appropriately to children and youngsters with Special Educational Needs (SEN), so as to optimize their participation in activities. Today it has become a challenge to determine exactly which students have special needs and, therefore, who should benefit from Special Education intervention, especially those with permanent need of attention. In this context, the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF), as recommended by WHO (2001 and updated in 2003), is a pedagogical tool in the process of eligibility, assessment and intervention for students with SEN. There is a paradigm shift, which intends not only to classify the level of functionality of the individual, but also the environmental factors that can act as barriers or facilitators of this functionality. In this perspective, teacher education is considered an important factor for success. Thus the continuous training must advocate and enable a change in the teachers’ education practices, that is, a change in the educational practice and intervention. Key words: Teacher education; higher education; special education.