Perspectivas de professores sobre a comunicação entre a família dos estudantes com deficiência e a escola

Abstract

The significance of the relationship between the families of students with disabilities and the school has been highlighted in studies within the field of Special Education, as these environments constitute the student's life and are both responsible for their learning and development. Generally, the school will interact with the families throughout the entire academic journey, and, in this sense, communication between the families of students with disabilities and the professionals working in the school environment becomes one of the essential factors in seeking strategies to contribute to the process of school inclusion. Thus, the guiding questions of the study are: how does communication between family and school occur, from the perspective of teachers? How can communication contribute to building a collaborative partnership between families and teachers? The general objective of the study is to analyze how communication occurs between the families of students with disabilities and the school, from the perspective of teachers. For this purpose, a descriptive study with a qualitative approach was developed. The participants were primary school teachers from regular schools in the municipal network, located in the state of Mato Grosso do Sul: six lead teachers who teach classes with enrolled students with disabilities; six support teachers; and six teachers who work in multifunctional resource rooms. Data collection was conducted through interviews using a semi-structured script, and the data were analyzed through thematic analysis. The results were organized into seven thematic areas: means/channels for communication between family and school; subjects/content addressed in communication with families; attitudes/behaviors adopted in communication with families; objectives to be achieved in communication with families; family participation in the teaching and learning process; evaluation of the communication process with families; ways to improve communication between family and school. The results showed that teachers have different perspectives on communication. While lead teachers indicated that families do not seek communication with the school, support teachers reported the need to intensify openness to dialogue with these families. Meanwhile, teachers in multifunctional resource rooms pointed out that they assume the role of establishing close relationships with families. Additionally, the results showed that teachers need initial and continuous training on the family-school relationship to facilitate the planning of strategies capable of bringing families closer to the school environment and, more specifically, to the teaching and learning process.