Educação especial em escolas no campo: um estudo de caso no município de Castelo/ES

Abstract

This study aims to analyze how the educational services for students targeted by special education are structured in rural schools of the municipality of Castelo, Espírito Santo, Brazil, problematizing the guarantee of the right to schooling through the articulation of two educational modalities historically marked by institutional invisibility: rural education and special education. A qualitative methodological approach was adopted, based on Laurence Bardin’s content analysis, combining analytical criteria and thematic categories consolidated in the literature. Data production involved document analysis and interviews with managers of the Municipal Education Department, school pedagogical coordinators, and teachers of specialized educational services. Data reveal tensions between what is prescribed and what is practiced, highlighting the absence of a local normative framework, gaps in continuous teacher education, institutional overload in rural schools, and resistance from regular classroom teachers regarding shared responsibility for inclusion, often delegating this responsibility to the teacher of specialized educational services. Despite these challenges, the study identifies meaningful practices led by teachers of specialized educational services who act as mediators of the learning process through attentive listening, pedagogical adaptations, and ethical commitment to the students. The analysis underscores the need for intersectoral public policies, context-based teacher training, and curricular restructuring that addresses both rural specificities and functional diversity.