CONCEPTIONS REGARDING LEARNING DIFFICULTIES FROM STUDENTS IN THE PSYCHOPEDAGOGY COURSE

In this paper we present a part of research which investigates the ideas and conceptions of psycopedagogues and pedagogues in relation to learning difficulties. Here we analyze the answers of students 0in psychopedagogy courses from private institutions in the States of Sao Paulo and Minas Gerais, Brazil. Students who were in the beginning, middle and end of a specialization course were chosen at random, giving a total of 52 participants in the research. All participants answered a questionnaire with nine essay questions. Here we present data regarding three of them: 1) What is a learning difficulty? 2) At what moment do you judge it necessary to direct a student to specialized attention? 3) Have you already met students with learning difficulties in your teaching practice? If yes, give your opinion regarding the child, your student, that presented difficulties. If not, give a hypothetical explanation. Data obtained from the responses were categorized according to content analysis and simple statistical analysis. The principal results indicated that 56% of future psychopedagogues believe that learning difficulties refer always and only to the incapacity of the subject who doesn't learn; 46% feel incapable in the face of a situation of a student who doesn't learn and they don ' t know how to intervene, requiring that they resort to specialized attention; and 33% describe students with learning difficulties as those that have problems related to the content worked with in the classroom, principally mathematics and reading and writing. This initial data presents the ideas and concepts that future professionals have and highlights the importance of discussing these themes in Psychopedagogy courses.