Competências e estratégias da atuação do psicólogo nas escolas no contexto da educação inclusiva em Moçambique

Abstract

This study aimed to analyze the skills and strategies of psychologists in schools in the context of inclusive education in Mozambique. In terms of methodological orientation, the research was a qualitative one and followed the interpretivist paradigm. Regarding the data collection, 14 participants were interviewed, being 5 psychologists, 6 teachers and 3 educational managers. Data production followed the guidelines of the content analysis technique. The results were discussed and structured in four complementary articles. In the first article, the data indicated that the implementation of educational policies remains undefined and vulnerable social groups especially in remote areas do not benefit from some interventions. Civil society organizations contribute to the insertion of psychologists in schools through social projects. In the second article, the results revealed that psychologists defined disability based on the kind of injuries and social structure. The participant highlighted fundamental skills to work in schools: investigative, planning, evaluative, communicative or relational, interventional and administrative. However, they highlighted challenges such as the lack of resources to carry out an internship in psychology, the mismatch between the competencies defined by psychology courses and school demands, the emphasis on theoretical approaches in detriment of practical activities and the absence of the National Council of Psychology in the country. In the third article, the results showed that the psychologist in the multidisciplinary team plays the role of mediator. She/he plans and coordinates the activities of other professionals, designs the preventive intervention program, monitors the work with families, serves as a bridge in the relationships between school, family, community and prepares the general activity report. Finally, the results in the fourth article point out that among the factors that favor the performance of the psychologist there are acceptance of ideas by the school board and collaborative actions with other professionals who make up the multidisciplinary team. The results indicated factors that hinder psychologist performance, the attitudes of teachers, lack of collaboration of families, little funding for the elaboration of specific programs and the multilingual character of the school system.