INCLUSIVE EDUCATION IN THE CONTEMPORARY SCHOOL: THEORETICAL FOUNDATIONS, LEGAL FRAMEWORKS, AND CHALLENGES OF TEACHING PRACTICE

Abstract

This study analyzes the theoretical, normative, and practical foundations of inclusive education within the Brazilian educational context. This qualitative research is grounded in a literature and document review based on authors such as Mantoan, Mittler, Sassaki, Glat, and Pletsch, alongside methodological frameworks from Ruiz, Gil, and Severino. It investigates the paradigmatic evolution from the integrationist model to the inclusive model, highlighting the shift from the medical perspective to the social model of disability. National legal frameworks (Federal Constitution of 1988, LDB No. 9,394/96, PNEEPEI of 2008, and LBI No. 13,146/15) and international documents (Universal Declaration of Human Rights and Salamanca Statement) are addressed. The study demonstrates that although the normative framework ensures everyone's right to access, stay, and learn, the implementation of inclusion faces structural, attitudinal, and pedagogical barriers. It concludes that consolidating a genuinely inclusive school requires investments in infrastructure, intersectoral policies, and, above all, the reconfiguration of teacher training toward adopting flexible and contextualized practices and evaluations.