A contação de histórias como estratégia para promover a inclusão escolar

Abstract

The process of school inclusion demands the planning of universalist pedagogical practices, considering the right of students with special education to be educated in regular classes in regular schools. In this context, storytelling stands out as a strategy to be used in the schooling process with multiple functions, being considered a significant practice to increase the participation and learning of all students. In view of this, this study starts from the following guiding question: what are the challenges and possibilities of storytelling in the process of school inclusion? The general objective of the study was to analyze the contributions of storytelling in the schooling of students with disabilities enrolled in the first years of Elementary School (first to third grade) in the regular school system, based on the opinions of teachers. To achieve the proposed objective, an exploratory research was conducted with a qualitative approach. The participants were teachers of the initial years of Elementary School I in the regular school system of a municipality in the interior of Mato Grosso do Sul. In total, 21 teachers who taught classes in which students with disabilities were enrolled participated. Data collection was carried out through interviews using a semi-structured script. The data obtained were organized into six thematic axes: storytelling in teacher training; use of storytelling in the early years of elementary school; storytelling as a pedagogical strategy; benefits of storytelling as a pedagogical strategy; challenges of storytelling as a pedagogical strategy; storytelling and students with disabilities. The results showed that storytelling is an effective strategy to promote school inclusion, due to its playful and enjoyable nature, capable of involving students in the learning process. According to the results, the teachers used this practice to capture the interest of the class, keep them engaged and facilitate the introduction and assimilation of the content. The reports indicated that storytelling allowed for diversifying the ways of presenting the content, exploring different sensory pathways. Another relevant point was the potential of storytelling as an assessment tool, enabling different forms of expression of learning, such as oral retelling, written production, illustrations and dramatizations. The practice also proved to be an effective strategy for addressing issues related to diversity and fostering values such as respect and empathy, especially in classes with students with disabilities. It is expected that the reflections presented in this study will contribute to the development of more flexible pedagogical strategies and to the elimination of barriers in the implementation of storytelling in pedagogical practice, ensuring curricular accessibility in the context of the regular classroom.