Percepção de acadêmicos de Educação Física em relação ao ensino de alunos com deficiência

Abstract

We investigated whether students of Physical Education courses consider themselves capable of intervening with people with disabilities. The study included 31 students (age = 24±8 years; female: n = 15, 48%; male: n = 16, 52%) of the Physical Education course (degree: n = 17; 55%; bachelor's degree: n = 14; 45%) from different universities in the country. A questionnaire (open and closed questions) inserted in an online platform (Google Forms) was used as a data collection instrument. Our main results indicate that students do not perceive themselves as capable of intervening with people with disabilities. The students in the study stated that they did not have any discipline with the theme involving PWDs, specifically. The most commonly used terminology in the disciplines is "Adapted Physical Education" (n = 10; 46%). The main subjects addressed in the disciplines are related to Adapted Sports, Types of Disability, Adaptation and Professional Practice, the students consider that the disciplines that address the content on PCDs are important for their training, they state that they would choose to work with people with disabilities, they reported that the main barriers encountered in working with people with disabilities would be: lack of resources, materials, infrastructure, lack of accessibility and lack of experience in dealing with the target audience and indicated that the inclusion of specific activities and experiences at the beginning of the course could improve the academic path. We conclude that the students' academic background is insufficient to prepare and qualify them for intervention with people with disabilities.