The tactile cartography and the Students books: possibilities and challenges for the teaching of Geography in the public schools of São Paulo

Abstract

This paper presents a proposal to adapt materials for geography teaching, aimed at students with visual impairment, based on the principles of Tactile Cartography. The research that originated this text came from the analysis of adapted books distributed free of charge by the State Department of Education to students enrolled in public basic education, the so-called Cadernos do Aluno. Seek to contribute to the inclusion process by evaluating the student notebooks adapted for the sixth grade of Elementary School, in which the principles of Cartography are presented. In addition, this article propose to discuss another possibility of adequacy in which the principles of graphic semiology present in printed maps are respected, in order to promote the development of geographic reasoning in this audience. The results of this research were obtained through face-to-face evaluations of the material with special education teachers and students
with blindness and low vision enrolled in state schools in Ribeirão Preto/SP, with undergraduate and postgraduate students in Special Education and a Geography teacher who teaches classes for students with visual impairment. In practice, this research obtained a teaching of geography and cartography with representation for students with disabilities, for other students and teachers, in addition to the socialization of the knowledge acquired.