Institutions of higher education in Spain and Brazil: topics on people with disabilities

Abstract

Discussions about people with disabilities were inserted into the course of Physical Activity Sciences and Sports and Physical Education as a way to meet the agreed provisions in different legal documents developed over discussions about the inclusion process. This process resulted in a greater share of this group in other social areas including sport, leisure and competitions. That led us to ask how this issue is addressed at the listed courses. To understand this factor we analyzed teaching plans or programs of subjects from two institutions, one from Brazil and other from Spain, which offer these courses and highlights the relevance in the area at their countries. We noted that the number of hours of work devoted to the discussion of disability in the specific subjects is almost the same in both countries, although the Brazilian institution offers more subjects. We have also noticed that the Brazilian institution shows repetitions of topics that specifically address the etiology of the disability. Specific readings indicated in the programs can be more diversified at some subjects. Finally, we note that only the subjects with specific focus on people with disabilities address this population. We believe that courses may offer more possibilities for discussion on this in other subjects, because people with disabilities actively participate in many spaces where professionals of Physical Education act.