Faculty Practices on Infusing Disability Issues in Brazilian PETE Programs

Purpose

The purpose of this study was to assess faculty practices on infusion of information about disabilities in undergraduate PETE programs in Brazil.

Methods

Using the University of Sao Paulo mailing lists of universities, a query was sent to chairs of physical education at 50 universities from 13 states of Brazil requesting their participation. Subjects that participated in the study were undergraduate faculty in physical education programs (n=200) from 50 colleges/universities. To each chair, packets were sent containing an introductory letter, four questionnaires, and a self-addressed, stamped return envelope. Four undergraduate faculty members were selected by the department chair at each institution to participate in the study from the following sub-fields:Adapted Physical Education, Exercise Science, First Aid, Sports Administration, Motor Learning, Motor Development, Coaching Education, and Teaching Methods. Each returned questionnaire was numbered and coded in the order received. The data from each questionnaire was entered using Microsoft Excel software. SAS (1995) was used to analyze the data.

Analysis/Results

Results showed that the methods of infusion identified in this study were traditional but not embraced by the majority of the Brazilian PETE faculty that responded the survey. Results also indicated that the majority of the participants did not believe they were responsible for preparing PETE students on how to work with students with disabilities. However,they were interested in learning about infusion techniques to be applied in their programs.

Conclusions

Three general conclusions of this study are:

1. Colleges and universities in Brazil need training on how to infuse disability issues in PETE programs.

2. The methods of infusion identified in this study were traditional. However, these approaches were not embraced by the majority of the Brazilian faculty participants in the study.

3. The majority of the PETE faculty do not believe they are responsible for preparing future physical educators for teaching individuals with disabilities.