Inclusive and exclusive invironments in the teaching-learning process of mentally disabled people in physical education classes

Abstract

It is a matter of interest in the world educational scenario to proceed in the established dilemma concerning the implications of the organization of inclusive (that proposes the simultaneous attendance of students with and without disability) and exclusive (formed exclusively by students with some kind of disability) environments in the development of teaching-learning processes. Thus, the purpose of the present study was to analyze the teaching-learning process in Physical Education classes, with basic movements from Tae-Kwon-Do in exclusive and inclusive environments for attending students who showed mental disability. Six students from a special school, with mental disability, and twenty-six students from a regular school took part in this research. Along the first school semester of 2007, students with mental disability were submitted to alternate classes in exclusive and inclusive environments. Results showed that there was no difference in the motor response of students from the special school, concerning the exclusive and the inclusive environments. More than just discuss if the educational attendance to students with mental disability should occur in inclusive or exclusive environments, it is important to improve the environment organization so that they could be really able to learn.