The objective of this paper is to discuss the formation of teachers for special education. The Federal University of Santa Catarina, Brazil, was elected as the empirical field, in the period 1998-2001. Authors like Apple (1982), Sacristan (2000), Popkewitz (1989), Cambaeúva (1988) and Bueno (1993), Skrtic (1996), and Bourdieu (1989, 1992, 2001 and 2003) supported the reflections. One can perceive with this analysis the permanence of the biological basis and in a more accentuated manner, that of psychology, as explanations referring to special education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]