Think of ergonomics to foster inclusion of people with disabilities in society, is to think ethically. It is important to highlight that schools do need to provide conditions for the inclusion of children with disabilities in mainstream education in such way that attitude, architectural, communication and other barriers will not prevent them from exercising their rights, thus leading to shunning social interaction and consequently lack of proper education and hopes for the future. It seems to us that these disabled children as well as any other have a right to treatment and opportunities in an equitable and ethical way. Therefore, as part of this process we consider the need of appropriate ergonomics with the intend to prevent barriers from being a hindrance to intellectual development and emotional maturation of disabled children. The article addresses the relationship between the principles of Universal Design and applied ethics, or organization management, as it is called, and has the core matter the inclusion of persons with disabilities in Brazilian schools. The methodology will be supported by a bibliography and documents as well. The main discussion of this article is aligned with the goals of an egalitarian and fair society aiming the social inclusion of children with disabilities into the mainstream education by revealing that the regulation is extremely important but it's not enough when dealing with change of paradigm. Furthermore, it seems to us that effective participation of society is also required to see the full potential development of disabled children despite of their differences and limitations

1. Inclusive Educational Perspective: A reflection for a
future that is already present today
Claudia Borges Paraizo
Teacher of Ergonomics' Specialization Pontifical Catholic University (PUC-Rio) - Brazil
PHD (student) in Applied Ethics, Bioethics and Collective Health Program – FIOCRUZ / UFRJ
PHD (student) in Institut d’éthique apliquée – Université Laval, Quebéc, Canada, 2015
Support CAPES – Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Level Personnel
Email: cbparaizo@gmail.com
Brazil
Luc Bégin
Directeur Institut d’éthique appliquée (IDEA) (https://www.idea.ulaval.ca/cms/site/idea )
Professeur Faculté de Philosophie – Université Laval - Québec
Email: Luc.Begin@fp.ulaval.ca
Canada
Abstract: Think of ergonomics to foster inclusionof people with disabilities in society,is to think ethically.
It is important to highlight that schools do need to provide conditions for the inclusion of children with disabilities inmainstream
education in such way that attitude, architectural, communication and other barriers will not prevent them from exercising their
rights, thus leading to shunningsocial interactionand consequently lack of proper educationand hopes for the future.
It seems to us that these disabled children as well as any other have a right to treatment and opportunities in an equitable and
ethical way. Therefore, as part of this process we consider the need of appropriate ergonomics with the intend to prevent
barriers from beinga hindrance to intellectual development andemotional maturation ofdisabledchildren.
The article addresses the relationship between the principles of Universal Design and applied ethics, or organization
management,as it is called, and has the core matter the inclusion of persons with disabilities in Brazilianschools.
The methodology will be supported bya bibliography and documents as well.
The main discussion of this article is aligned with the goals of an egalitarian and fair society aiming the social inclusion of
children with disabilities into the mainstream education by revealing that the regulation is extremely important but it's not
enoughwhen dealingwith change of paradigm.
Furthermore, it seems to us that effective participation of society is also required to see the full potential development of disabled
children despiteof their differences andlimitations.
Key words: Ergonomics, Child, Disability, Ethics, Education
Introduction
Brazil has approximately 45 million persons with disability, which is 24% of total population
according to 2010 Population Census. The State of the World’s Children 2013 report points out that
children with disability are the most vulnerable to violence, abuse, exploitation and negligence as a
result of social discrimination, or the high costs to raise them.
It is believed that the schools are required to provide accessing conditions to education for
children, by eliminating any attitude, architectural and communication barriers whatsoever that will
hinder them from exercising their rights, and to leave social isolation behind thus enabling them to
enjoy their citizenship in full, egalitarian and fair manner.
The association between Universal Design, Organizational Ethics and organizational
ergonomics is seen as a possible manner to mainstream children with disabilities through inclusive
policies and reorganizations of spaces from physical, cognitive and organizational viewpoints. It is
indorsed that school interaction goes far beyond than the theory can teach. It lies exactly in the
democratization of using spaces and the inclusion process that the autonomy and formation of citizens
with sociological and ethic values will be favored.
Inclusive education involves respect, flexibility and solidarity, and it is clear that just practice
has the powers to teach them. However, the school environment has the moral and civic obligation to

2. foster the socialization and interaction of all children, since not only the formal academic learning is
achieved, but simultaneously learning how to live as individuals as well.
An egalitarian treatment is considered through the development of ethical competences which
lead to an ethical behavior and maturation of social accountability from a systemic vision that includes
cultural and social issues. Organizational ethics principles are based on reflection, justice, and equality
between citizens, and prevention. (Bégin, 2015)
Pursuant to Article 227 of Constitution of the Federative Republic of Brazil of 1988:
It is the duty of the family, the society and the State to ensure children and adolescents, with
absolute priority, the right to life, health, nourishment, education, leisure, professional
training, culture, dignity, respect, freedom and family and community life, as well as to guard
them from all forms of negligence, discrimination, exploitation, violence, cruelty and
oppression. (Text given by Constitutional Amendment no 65/2010)
The abovementioned text ensures the children’s rights regardless of their physical,
psychological or emotional conditions, and therefore it does not seem to be legitimate that the
educational environments are not properly arranged to the compliance with the law. We are aware of
the law, but simultaneously, we see that most part of schools have not been equipped to admit the
students with disability. Although extremely important, the legal aspect does is far from being enough
for the paradigm change.
This study designs to analyze the association between Universal Design and inclusive
ergonomics which will enable the construction of ethical spaces in terms of structural-social
organization, egalitarian treatment and opportunities,and management based on dialogue and ethics.
The article has an exploratory, descriptive and bibliographic nature, and will be divided in six
parts: Introduction, population and educational general data, legal approach, ethical management,
Universal Design and conclusion.
This article herein is expected to broaden the visibility of this educational dimension hereof
for children with disability by focusing on the need of turning these environments into inclusive places
so people can be fully included, regardless of their limitations. It also aims to contribute for the
implementation of public policies that can fulfill the ethical demands of persons with disabilities.
Population and Educational General Data
The players (educators, parents, societies, and the State) engaged in the educational process should
keep in their agendas the dialogue and concern with the integration of children with disabilities by
providing them social and economic conditions for their flourishing.
To accomplish such engagement satisfactorily much more than the parties’ goodwill is
required; it is indispensable having a differentiated pedagogical expertise at schools, guarantee the
structural adjustments of environments, economic conditions for inclusion purposes, and above all the
certainty that all players will be open for new experiences by breaking the physical, social and
psychologicalbarriers.
According to United Nations Organization - UN (2016), 10 percent of the world’s population
live with some kind of disability, and they are the world’s largest minority. In this percentage, 80
percent of these persons with disabilities live in developing countries, according to the UN
Development Program (PNUD).
According to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), persons
with disabilities are significantly higher among groups with lower educational level, and that disability
incidence is reportedly higher among women than men. A comparative study on disability legislation
showed that only 45 percent of countries have anti-discrimination law (UN, 2016).
Brazil has, 24 percent, around 45 million persons living with some disabilities according to
Population Census 2010 of Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE). From these 48.1
percent live with visual impairment; 27.1 percent with physical disability; 16.6 percent with mental
disability, and 8.2 percent with hearing impairment.
In Brazilian Population Census 2000, IBGE found that 33 percent of population, or 1/3 of
illiterate population, or with less than 3 years of schooling were made of persons with disabilities. It
also showed that out of three million children and adolescents with disabilities, only eighty thousand
(80,000) were attending school.

3. In 1998, from 200 thousand persons with disability enrolled in basic education, 13% percent
were studying in regular classes. In 2014, this percentage increased to 79 percent which stands for 900
thousand persons enrolled (Brazil Portal, published in March 2015 and modified in April 2015). The
Education Ministry has stated that investments in this sector were made in order to enhance the
teachers’ qualification on special needs education, by making feasible the multifunctional resources for
accessibility, and delivering resources for structural adjustments of the educational areas.
The right of persons with disability to attend regular classes of regular education is set forth in
Article 205 of Federal Constitution “Education, which is the right of all and duty of the State and the
family, shall be promoted and fostered with the cooperation of society, with a view to the full
development of the person, his preparation for the exercise of citizenship and his qualification for
work”.
It is understood that all children with disability shall have the right for full development as any
other children. They have potential to cooperate with the social, cultural and economic development
which will depend mainly upon the chances they will be given. “The underestimation of the abilities of
people with disabilities is a major obstacle to their inclusion and to the provision of equal
opportunities.” (Unicef, 2013)
Legal Approach
The legal aspects are part of the political and legal framework of a State, and are designed to safeguard
the equality of rights to everyone, even if in practical terms, the belief of all parties engaged therefrom
is required for full compliance with the law, free of any bias
Legal actions have been progressively developed for the inclusion and for the generation of
areas that may avail the equity, the jure or the facto. In this article, some rules of higher relevance for
the matter concerned will be considered such as the Law 7853/1989 that sets out the “social
integration” of persons with disability, and the Law 8069/1990 enacted by the virtue of the Statute of
the Child and Adolescent to ensure the priority of actions and public policies for prevention and
protection of children with disability.
The Law 9394/1996 intended to promote the inclusion of children with disability into the
regular schooling systemas well as the support for its effectiveness thereof. The term“intended” herein
is used to explain that despite of the Law and the efforts resulted-therefrom for its enforcement, the
society has faced a reality that precluded full enforcement of the Law. The schools architecture was not
suitable for inclusion; the teachers were not qualified and trained to teach special education, taught
large size classes, and there was no supportive staff available, and the society delivered the attitude and
discriminatory barriers. In spite of passing the Law in 1996, and all ongoing and tireless efforts of the
State and the society, twenty years later this reality is still strong in Brazil.
In Brazil, these barriers started been hugely fought from the enactment of Law 10048 of 8
November 2000, and Law 10098 of 19 December 2000. Law 10048/2000 stipulates priority service to
persons with disabilities, elderly, pregnant women, persons holding infants, and the Law 10098/2000
sets forth general and basic criteria for fostering the accessibility of persons with disability1 or under
limited mobility.
On February 11, 2001, Brazilian Education Council signed the Resolution no. 2, which stood
for a great progress for the inclusion of children with disabilities in regular schools, backed up by
National Guidelines for Special Education in Basic Education. Fromthat date onwards, several actions
supported by Resolutions, Decrees and Laws were celebrated for the inclusion of children with
disabilities in regular schools, also establishing the adjustments, supportive measures, and specific
qualification of teachers required for such purpose.
The first Brazilian technical standard NBR 9050 from Brazilian Association for Technical
Standards (ABNT) on accessibility was issued in 1985, and was the basis for the implementation of
universal design in Brazil. In 2004, the universal design standard has become law upon Federal Decree
5.296.
Currently, this movement has grown increasingly and in diversified manner in both developed
and developing countries Concerning applicability, the legal scenario ranges a lot and depends on the
culture of each country,and the way each citizen is perceived within his society.
Ethical Management
As indicated earlier, the rules and laws have been enacted and updated over the years. However,
considering the educational scenario, and based on IBGE, PNUD, NU and other surveys, there is too
much to be done. Each action requires much more than a rule to govern it. To make the rule a reality,

4. moral engagement and transparency by the parties involved are lacking. Major condition required for
action and reflective engagement to break and set forth new paradigms, in addition to willingness of
public government to provide legal support,is the need of having free and independent moral agents.
According to Lacroix (2007), ethics may be understood as the analysis on the rule and value,
“a normative speech analyzes more the legal and axiological aspect of human action than the action
itself” (Lacroix 2007,16). Ethics comes up as a possibility for solving the moral dilemmas that may
arise in the institutions and society.
An irregular behavior of human action towards the respect to the other may, to a certain
extent, be considered as formof deviance. Understanding herein “irregular behavior” as a synonymfor
lack of implementation of actions, normatized or not, to the benefit of the minority population.
Irregular is also understood as an inappropriate treatment, the generation or permission of a non-
egalitarian relation between two groups socially labeled as unequal.
It is important to consider that the school, in addition to being a place for learning and
teaching, is also a company subordinated to the economic, social and cultural frameworks of the
society where the school belongs to. To understand the school as such means to assign the school
features of an administration management, having organizational structure, work division, productivity,
methods, processes and technologies. The school has been seen as an educative company tied to
administration and reproduction models so as to meet the demands from the labor market. Alongside
the interactive and participative practices thus bringing up matters related to decentralization,
participation and autonomy, as established in ethics management, have been increasingly put into
practice (OECD, 2009).
According to Lacroix and his colleagues (2015), the ethics management requires exactly the
effort for availment of autonomy and decentralization, so as all players will play participative and
reflective roles. They also states that the complexity and growing individualism in society may produce
divergent standards and values, and believe that the right in its legal aspect will give back to the
community the need of reflective action, and the claim for a new model of social organization targeting
the dialogue, equality and perspective of collectivity.
It is assessed if the ethical management may be used as a strong tool to prevent from an
inappropriate behavior, since it occurs exactly in the cooperation, reflection and engagement.
According to Public Management Committee – PUMA, an ethical structure is defined as the political
engagement, an efficient legal aspect, efficient mechanisms of accountability, socialization
mechanisms supported by education, presence of a coordination body for ethical matters, and a society
made of citizens able to monitor the governmental activities.
OECD (1997) also states that synergy among several components of an ethical infrastructure
will be based on cultural traditions and political-administrative initiatives taken to promote the ethical
behavior.
A conduct that meets positively the social needs will be inseparable from an ethical behavior,
thus being impossible not stress that ethics shall be considered as part of any kind of management, and
as the basis for leadership (Bégin 2014).
In that consideration, education is the main tool for the reduction of discrepancies involving
the social and economical background of persons with disability, and as the means to enhance the
inclusion, School shall be addressed as an Institution guided by the possibility of an ethical
management.
According to Bégin (2014), ethical management is translated as the respect among people, and
integrity within personal and corporate practices. This author also stresses out that ethical sense shall
be an essential quality, and that this sense is part of the fulfillment of ethical principles, rules, values
and competences, which are none other than the capacity to react to conflicts, and solve tensions from
several number of possibilities. Actually, Bégin explains that competence is not inserted in which is
done, but exactly the manner something is done. It is also said as the union of known, to know how to
do, and to know to be in a community, and from the interaction of its participants.
Universal Design
The purpose of Universal Design is the creation of spaces and means of communication to be used by
all people, without discrimination of any kind. The idea in this concept herein is to foster spaces less
adaptive and more inclusive for everyone, irrespective their competences, so as to ensure they are
naturally included in the environment without being noticed by other people.
Flexibility and low physical effort are part of this concept, as well as the intuitive manner it is
presented to enable the userto use it even without any previous experience.

5. In Brazil, universal design is a concept whose potential has to be further explored for fostering more
responsible and engaged projects to be truly inclusive.
Through the total of endless possibilities as for example: Use of non-slippery floor, installation of
handrails, enough space for wheelchairs, ramps and inclusive didactic materials will enable the creation
of educational spaces to be used for all.
Inclusive Ergonomics
Ergonomics, or human factors is a discipline that deals with the comprehension of the interactions
among human beings and other elements of a system in order to transformthe environment, and then to
deliver more welfare for people, and functioning of processes more efficiently (IEA 2014). These
systems may be seen as complexes when each party acts interdependently with other parties, with no
trace of linearity and predictability, as found within the corporate ethics.
Concerning persons with disabilities, ergonomics will promote the adjustments of spaces and
working systems so as to better serve this population in such way persons with disabilities are able to
attend schools,get integrated in regular courses,regular classes,and act independently.
The Universal Design currently adopted in several countries including Brazil aims at
combating barriers, whatever their nature are, and turning the environment more accessible to
everyone. According to Universal Design Center (UDC), this design adopts some principles such as
being flexible, simple, equitable, intuitive, tolerant for error, aims at using low physical efforts, and
sizing the dimensions of spaces in such way to foster autonomy. The Universal Design approach stands
for fostering of the inclusion of students with disability into the schoolenvironment.
When we refer to ergonomics and in Universal Design, we actually mean the existence of
physical, cognitive and organizational environments embedded with the characteristics of Un iversal
Design, having these environments being prepared and adjusted to include the persons with disabilities
and any other public. An ergonomics intervention from the physical viewpoint will consider the
presence of free-barriers architectural structures, use of assistive technology (resources and services
promoting autonomy and inclusion of persons with disability), illumination and sound projects suitable
for special needs,interactive smart boards,and adaptive furniture.
Cognitive ergonomics addresses the problem-solving, decision-making and recognition of
situations but also carries out predictions, monitoring and arrangement of mental calculations
(Marmanas e Pavard, 1999). According to Lida (2005) the cognitive features refer to the user’s
knowledge on how to use a product as per his previous experiences. Ergonomics in association with
Universal Design cooperates in removing the system complexities, using symbols of international
recognition, and devices that promote safety by adopting more intuitive mapping systems, information
of easy recognition and readable, for instance.
Organizational ergonomics aims at organizing the management systems so as to have a
dialogue-based horizontal management, and to keep the equality among the participants.
This association between ergonomics and Universal Design is able to develop and foster the individual
ability of each person in such way.
An ergonomics intervention shall change the environment, and this is accomplished in several
phases: Appreciation, diagnosis, assessment of human costs, design, and ergonomics assessment. It is
also possible to think of an intervention in a practical manner under the micro, meso and macro
aspects. The micro aspect is the intervention itself; meso is accomplished by the environment in which
the intervention is executed; and macro are the public policies that include the practices and
intervention objects (Bellemare, 2015).
Conclusion
The education is believed to be the path outlined to deliver mainstream paradigms shift, which is
related to the education and inclusion of persons with disability into school.
In order to achieve this goal, we propose the interaction between ergonomics, universal design
and organizational management or ethics since we believe that together they could result in a more
inclusive, fair and egalitarian schools.
Ideally, the intervention will always have a starting point, in a certain context, and will target
the attainment of a desirable situation.
It is of paramount importance removing all barriers hinder the intellectual, cultural, social and
economical development of disabled persons, and according to the purpose of this article, the students
with disability, is to deliver conditions for the development of these persons in the mainstream society

6. as citizens able to exercise their rights. It is believed that by granting them better education and more
sounded training, students with disabilities will have more working opportunities in the future.
Empowering this population is important, and in doing so, the principles of inclusive
ergonomics, universal design and ethical management are considered appropriate as their applicability
implies building spaces for discussion, encouragement for reflection, commitment and participation of
all persons in an egalitarian manner and free from segregation. Both employs the dialogue and
reasoning as tools. Both includes an ongoing flow of interactions in a continuous process through
multidirectional and self- organizational moves.
Simultaneously, it is believed that the legal approach backed up by actions towards this public
as a single action is not sufficient to solve all situations resulted from a variety of dimensions, and
despite of having a great deal of laws and regulations governing this context, there is too much to be
done and conquered.
And it is exactly within this context that we challenge the association between inclusive
ergonomics and ethical management and do design universal to draft new public policies for an
inclusive school, as well as it is believed in the strong cooperation that we as citizens, ergonomists, and
ethical persons can deliver.
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Claudia Borges Paraizo
Teacher of Ergonomics' Specialization Pontifical Catholic University (PUC-Rio) – Brazil,
PHD (student)in Applied Ethics, Bioethics and Collective Health Program – FIOCRUZ / UFRJ
PHD (student)in Institut d’éthique appliquée – Universidade Laval, Québec, Canada, 2015
Support CAPES – Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Level Personnel
Email: cbparaizo@gmail.com
Brazil
Luc Bégin
Directeur Institut d’éthique appliquée (IDEA) (https://www.idea.ulaval.ca/cms/site/idea )
Professeur Faculté de Philosophie – Université Laval - Québec
Email: Luc.Begin@fp.ulaval.ca
Canada