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Advisor(s)
Abstract(s)
In keeping with the international trend towards inclusive education and a contextsensitive approach to students’ needs, Portugal enacted, in 2008, a law that stipulated the use of the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health for Children and Youth (ICF-CY) to inform special needs assessment and eligibility procedures. The necessity of conceptual and practical adjustments in the use of the ICF-CY brings up the need for training programmes that can properly prepare regular and special education teachers. This paper examines the impact of an in-service training for teachers on using the ICF-CY for describing the functioning profiles of students supported by special education services. A 25-hour in-service training was developed focusing on the biopsychosocial and person–environment fit perspectives of the ICF-CY framework. To evaluate the effects of training, 236 descriptions of functioning profiles – produced before and after the in-service training – were compared. Results showed that the model adopted in the in-service teacher training course contributed to the enhancement of teachers’ skills in describing more comprehensive functioning profiles of students, reflecting a dynamic perspective among the ICF-CY components. Specifically, teachers were more able to describe the impact of the environment on student’s functioning, identifying facilitators and barriers that may inform the definition of strategies in Individualized Education Programs.
Description
Keywords
Educational policy Assessment ICF-CY Individualized Educational Programs students with additional support needs