Inclusive education between access and learning: an integrative review of SciELO indexed research (2020–2025)

Abstract

Objective: to analyze how scientific production indexed in the Scientific Electronic Library Online (SciELO) between 2020 and 2025 characterizes advances, barriers, and practices associated with inclusive education. Method: an integrative review conducted exclusively in SciELO using the descriptors “inclusive education,” “school inclusion,” “teacher education,” “inclusive pedagogical practices,” and “Universal Design for Learning,” combined with Boolean operators. Full-text articles published from January 2020 to December 2025 in Portuguese, English, or Spanish and directly related to inclusive schooling were included; duplicates, editorials, and texts unrelated to the objective were excluded. The final corpus comprised 12 articles subjected to full-text reading and thematic analysis. Results: the studies indicate expanded access to mainstream classrooms but emphasize that enrollment and physical presence do not ensure participation, belonging, or learning. The main barriers involve insufficient teacher education, inflexible curricular planning, unclear roles of support professionals, weak collaborative work, and persistent ableist conceptions. Promising responses include situated continuing education, collaborative planning, Universal Design for Learning, articulation between general and special education teachers, and stronger institutional accessibility services. Conclusion: effective inclusion requires transforming school culture, curriculum, practices, and management by shifting the focus from individual student adaptation to the systematic removal of barriers to learning and participation.