As políticas educacionais de inclusão na prática da Educação Física escolar e as perspectivas da valorização e/ou marginalização das diferenças

Abstract

The concern that drives this research leads to an analysis of the Political-Pedagogical Project (PPP) of the schools investigated, a guiding document of an educational institution’s pedagogical practice, collectively and democratically conceived, which makes explicit the school’s identity, its principles, objectives, and goals, as well as the methodological and organizational strategies that enable the teaching–learning process grounded in equity. The general objective of the study is to analyze how inclusive educational policies are understood and applied in Physical Education classes in three state public schools located in the Northwest region of Belo Horizonte, identifying their effects on the valorization or marginalization of differences. The specific objectives include: (1) examining the Political-Pedagogical Projects (PPPs) of the schools investigated, verifying how they incorporate principles of equity and inclusion within the Physical Education curricular component; (2) analyzing Physical Education teachers’ understandings and practices regarding school inclusion, with attention to the pedagogical strategies, accessibility measures, and curricular adaptations adopted; and (3) identifying the main advances, challenges, and tensions present in the implementation of inclusion policies in Physical Education classes, relating them to the dynamics of valorization or marginalization of differences in everyday school life. Thus, the study is characterized as basic research with a qualitative and exploratory approach, employing procedures oriented toward case studies. The theoretical framework draws primarily, in the field of inclusion, on the works of Maria Teresa Égler Mantoan and Pedro Angelo Pagni; in curriculum studies, on the contributions of Tomaz Tadeu da Silva and Alfredo Veiga-Neto; in discussions of curriculum policy, on the work of Stephen J. Ball; and, with regard to teacher education, on the studies of António Manuel Seixas Sampaio da Nóvoa. Data collection was carried out through the administration of a structured questionnaire via Google Forms, designed to capture specific perceptions and to deepen the experiences reported by the research participants. The methodological scope was defined based on the premise that all Physical Education teachers belonging to the teaching staff of the schools in which the research was conducted would participate. The responses obtained were systematized and analyzed in six analytical subsections, whose interpretation and discussion highlight the originality of this investigation by revealing dimensions that remain underexplored in the field of school Physical Education. The study’s findings not only broaden the theoretical-methodological understanding of teaching practices but also provide an articulated foundation for the proposal of an educational product as a form of social feedback from the research. In this regard, a professional development initiative focused on inclusion was carried out for Physical Education teachers in the municipal school system of Belo Horizonte. It is expected, therefore, that this research will make a substantive contribution to deepening academic discussions in the field, foster further investigations, and offer pedagogical strategies aligned with the principles of equity, inclusion, plurality, diversity, and the appreciation of life in its multiple expressions.