This presentation will focus on the legislation and policy developments in Portugal which intended to develop a national inclusive education system. Two main theories will support our analysis of the Portuguese context: 1) Bernstein’s claim that ‘curriculum, pedagogic practice, and modes of evaluation set the terms for the crucial encounters in the classroom context of teachers and pupils’ (Bernstein, 2003, p. 154); 2) Universal Design for Learning (CAST, 2018) and its principles of using multiple means of engagement, representation, action and expression. These will be used in the context of the recent international policies (e.g., United Nations, 2016; International Bureau of Education-UNESCO, 2016; UNESCO, 2017) to argue that inclusion in education means much more than mainstreaming learners with disabilities, and that it means changing education systems to remove barriers to learning that may be experienced by all learners. Considering inclusive education as a possibility for breaking cultural reproduction and for redistributing power, this presentation will map the Education for All and the inclusive education movements in Portugal. From the 1950s and 60s when a very selective system allowed only a minority of the population to attend education, and extremely low levels of literacy existed. Through to the mid-70s with an awareness of the selective and discriminatory character of education, along with an inflow of migrants from the countries colonised by Portugal (Marques et al., 2007). And, in 1986, through the Fundamental Law of the Education System, which organised schooling into Pre-School, Basic and Secondary Education. Basic education comprises three cycles: First Cycle (Grades 1–4); Second Cycle (Grades 5–6), and Third Cycle (Grades 7–9). Secondary Education includes Grades 10–12. Through an opening of education to children and young people from lower social economic backgrounds (aiming to achieve education for all), and a parallel development of legislation from the late 1970s that expected the increasing presence of some learners with disabilities in mainstream schools (special/inclusive education movement), Portuguese policies have progressively moved towards inclusive education for all, expected to happen in mainstream schools.

Bernstein, B., 2003. Class, Codes and Control, Volume V, The Structuring of Pedagogic Discourse. Routledge, London. CAST. (2018). Universal design for learning guidelines version 2.2 (p. 2018). CAST. International Bureau of Education-UNESCO, 2016. Reaching Out to All Learners: A Resource Pack for Supporting Inclusive Education. IBE-UNESCO, Geneva. Marques, M.M., Valente-Rosa, M.J., Martins, J.L., 2007. School and diversity in a weak state: the Portuguese case. J. Ethnic Migrat. Stud. 33 (7), 1145–1168. UNESCO, 2017. A Guide for Ensuring Inclusion and Equity in Education. UNESCO, Paris United Nations, 2016. General Comment No. 4 (2016), Article 24: Right to Inclusive Education. UN Committee on the Rights of Persons With Disabilities (CRPD), pp. 1–24