O processo de inclusão de um estudante cego em um curso de licenciatura em Física: uma análise das ações e contribuições do ambiente educacional

Part of the results of an investigation into the process of inclusion of a blind student in a Physics degree course at a Federal University in south-eastern Brazil are presented and discussed. The aim of this investigation was to identify and understand the elements that contributed to this process, in particular: the paths taken by the student and the educational environment, defined as his colleagues, monitors, teachers and coordinators of the course and the accessibility center, in relation to his beliefs, attitudes, teaching resources, methodologies and teaching strategies; the relationship between ordinary teaching and the specific support offered to the student, and its implications for his inclusion process in the course. Cultural-historical theories and the social model of disability were used to interpret this process. The following were interviewed individually: a student with acquired blindness who had graduated in Physics; five of his lecturers, one of whom was the coordinator of the course and one of the coordinators of the accessibility center; two of his colleagues, one of whom was his monitor. The analysis of the data gathered through these interviews was guided by Textual Discourse Analysis. Some official documents from the university and the course were used as a source for describing and interpreting the situation under investigation. The results show some of the elements that express an active position of the educational environment in the educational process of the blind student, which did not necessarily culminate in successful social compensation, namely: attitudes and strategies focused on promoting access rather than autonomy and independence of the blind student in writing and reading mathematical language; adjustments in assessment instruments and strategies, which varied according to the specificity of the subject and whether the instrument used involved individual or group work; replacement of the Brazilian sign language subject by an exam of proficiency of the blind student in reading and writing in Braille.