History

The proposal of this program was born from an experience of the Center of Education and Human Sciences (CECH) of the Federal University of São Carlos (UFSCar), in offering a specialization course, in 1977, for special education teachers in the city of São Carlos and region. Upon completion of this course, there was an increase in demand, both in the sense of expanding opportunities for new teachers, and to continue with the training of those who took the first course.

At that time, the government of São Paulo institutionalized a system of Special Education in the state (Bueno, 1993) and included, among its goals, the training of large contingents of human resources. This state government initiative led to the almost explosive implementation of qualifications in Special Education in undergraduate courses in Pedagogy, without counting, for this, with qualified teaching staff.

In this way, the proposition of a graduate course was considered with a view to the possibility of preparing “multiplier agents” and, consequently, breaking the vicious circle of the absence of qualified teachers at all levels of education, since an analysis of the reality pointed to for the scarcity of centers for the systematic training of professionals in Special Education, and not only of teachers (Souza, Guidi, Ferraz and Ferraz Junior, 1981).

The Center of Education and Human Sciences at UFSCar took over the role of improving the teacher who would teach in these courses and sought to create the conditions to start a research tradition that had been incipient in Brazil.

From this emerged the Master's Program in Special Education (PMEE), with an area of concentration in mental disability, to develop skills in research activities, service provision and teaching in Special Education.

As there was no center at the institution (nor in Brazil) with a tradition of research and undergraduate teaching in the area, which could take a "natural" step in academic evolution and expand its level of performance, the Master's program was implemented based on in the experience of researchers in Psychology, Philosophy and Education who, although they had never worked directly with the main issues related to Special Education, were willing to face the problem and start, with the students, a research program in the area.

The curriculum structure underwent three major reformulations from the implementation of the course, specifically in the years 1986, 1990 and 1997. In 1990, there was also a change in the name from “Master’s Program in Special Education” (PMEE) to “Graduate Program in Special Education” (PPGEEs), and in the area of concentration from “Mental Disability” to “Education of the Special Individual”, which aimed to give greater scope to the course.

The last reformulation in 1997 was caused by the objective of implementing the doctorate and due to the need for adjustments in accordance with the political guidelines of graduate studies in the country. The resulting basic changes aimed to compose a curricular structure in the graduate program that would allow for continuity in the training of human resources for the master's and doctorate, the reduction in the period for fulfillment of credits in disciplines and greater flexibility in the curriculum.

CAPES approval for the opening of the doctoral program was obtained in 1999, 21 years after the beginning of the master's program.

The Graduate Program in Special Education in the area of Special Education in the country

The Graduate Program in Special Education was the first of its kind implemented in the country, and since then it has been the only specific program in the area. Currently, there are several other postgraduate programs, particularly in the area of Education, which have constituted thematic axes, nuclei or lines of research dedicated to Special Education..

The effort to create the conditions, implement and consolidate this program resulted in the development of a very active research center in recent years. The research production of this center has shown continuous growth in quantitative and qualitative terms and the Program's performance has been fundamental for the training of human resources in Special Education.

The Program has qualified 659 masters and 233 doctors by December 2020, which represents a substantial contingent of qualified human resources for higher education, with an enormous multiplier potential.