Students with Disabilities and Challenges in Educational Practice/Učenici s teškoćama i izazovi obrazovne prakse

Abstract

It is well known that all educational policies promote inclusion as the major idea in a contemporary system of education. Inclusive education allows children with and without disabilities to attend the same age-appropriate classes at their local school, with additional, individually tailored support if needed. However, large equity gaps in education access and outcomes still exist between groups of children, because some marginalized groups of children experience shockingly low rates of access and learning. Children with disabilities are still faced with a lot of challenges in realizing their right to education and they are one of the most marginalized and excluded groups in education. The Croatian laws clearly indicate that disabled children have the right to an inclusive education and that schools have to provide conditions which lead to successful education of all children. A question arises, however, regarding the level at which the Law is implemented in educational practice, due to the fact that it is unknown whether the conditions for its proper implementation exist in Croatian schools. Some results of the research which was conducted in the frame of the project “Evidence-based early educational interventions” are presented in this paper. The main goals of the research are (1) to determine areas in which students with disabilities need additional support and (2) to analyse differences in the perceived inclusive dimension of the quality of educational processes, from the perspective of teachers as well as from the perspective of students, in five mainstream Croatian primary schools. The research was conducted on a sample of 97 students with disabilities and 97 of their peers without disabilities. Students and their teachers filled in two Questionnaires about students’ behaviours that were developed for the purpose of the Project (the Questionnaire for students and the Questionnaire for teachers). The results suggested that students with disabilities have a need for additional support in the educational process, as well as support in developing appropriate relationships with peers. However, they do not reach the expected level of socialization and academic success, which indicates that the policy of inclusion is still not well implemented into educational practice. Different reasons for such results and suggestions for overcoming this situation are discussed. Key words: inclusive education; inclusive policy and practice; quality of education; socialization; students with disabilities.--- Dobro je poznato da sve obrazovne politike promoviraju inkluziju kao glavnu ideju svakog suvremenog obrazovnog sustava. Inkluzivno obrazovanje omogućuje djeci s teškoćama i bez njih da zajedno uče u istim razredima, u skladu sa svojom dobi, uz dodatnu, individualno prilagođenu podršku djeci koja je trebaju. Međutim, u obrazovanju još uvijek postoje velike nejednakosti u pristupačnosti obrazovanja i ishodima učenja nekih skupina djece, budući da postoje marginalizirane skupine koja doživljavaju izuzetno nisku razinu pristupačnosti obrazovanja i kvalitete učenja. Djeca s teškoćama još su uvijek suočena s mnogim izazovima u ostvarivanju svog prava na obrazovanje i ona u tom smislu predstavljaju jednu od najmarginaliziranijih i isključenih skupina. U hrvatskom je zakonodavstvu jasno naglašeno da djeca s teškoćama imaju pravo na inkluzivno obrazovanje i da su škole dužne osigurati uvjete koji vode uspješnom obrazovanju sve djece. Pitanje se, međutim, postavlja u odnosu na razinu u kojoj se zakon provodi u odgojno-obrazovnoj praksi, budući da je nepoznato postoje li uvjeti za njegovu primjerenu primjenu u hrvatskim školama. U ovom je radu prikazan dio rezultata istraživanja koje je provedeno u sklopu projekta „Rane odgojno-obrazovne intervencije temeljene na pokazateljima uspješnosti“. Osnovni ciljevi istraživanja su (1) utvrditi područja u kojima učenici s teškoćama trebaju dodatnu podršku i (2) analizirati razlike u doživljenoj inkluzivnoj dimenziji kvalitete obrazovnog procesa iz perspektive učitelja i iz perspektive učenika, u pet hrvatskih redovnih osnovnih škola. Istraživanje je provedeno na uzorku od 97 učenika s teškoćama i njihovih 97 standardno razvijenih vršnjaka. Učenici i njihovi učitelji ispunili su dva upitnika o ponašanju učenika koji su razvijeni za potrebe projekta (Upitnik za učenike i Upitnik za učitelje). Rezultati pokazuju da učenici s teškoćama imaju potrebu za dodatnom podrškom u obrazovnom procesu, ali i za podrškom u razvoju primjerenih odnosa s vršnjacima. Međutim, oni ne postižu očekivanu razinu socijalizacije i akademskog uspjeha, što pokazuje da se inkluzivna politika još uvijek nedovoljno dobro implementira u obrazovnu praksu. Autori raspravljaju o različitim razlozima dobivenih rezultata i mogućim načinima prevladavanja uočenog nesuglasja. Ključne riječi: inkluzivno obrazovanje; inkluzivna politika i praksa; kvaliteta obrazovanja; socijalizacija; učenici s teškoćama.

Improving Self-Resilience in Students with Special Needs through the Counseling Teachers’ Roles: A Case Study on Grounded Theory

“…erefore, there is a need to apply a holistic approach to improve social skills [2]. Bouillet and Kudek Mirošević identified that students with special needs require exceptional support in many aspects, including learning process and adequately implemented school policies to help the students obtain good academic grades [6].…”

“…ere is a set of supporting factors to accelerate the academic performance of students with special needs, including emphasizing learning strategies [7], applying a holistic approach [2], inclusive schools policy [6], and teachers' rules [8,9]. However, the recent studies ignored the other essential factors, such as the role of Counseling Teachers in inclusive schools.…”

“…is implies that a teacher's soft skills depend on the students' contextual and objective needs [6]. Various existing studies show that self-resilience and soft skills improvement in students with special needs are two important factors.…”

Attitudes of University Members toward Accepting Students with Intellectual Disabilities: a systematic review study

“…However, an examination of the prevailing literature suggests that studies on the attitudes towards accepting students with ID displayed by university members (including administration, management, and the teaching staff) are sparse. Instead, focus is on the goals and requirements of universities for enrolling such students (Hayes and Bulat, 2017;Bouillet and Mirosevic, 2015). Additionally, there is a lack of research on accepting students with ID and their status in the various universities where programs are offered (Obiozor, Onu, and Ugwoegbu, 2010;Kabuta, 2014).…”

Social Skills of Students with Disabilities at Elementary Level in Inclusive School Setting

“…Schools then become a place where children not only learn academics but also how to get along with their peers and older people. As Bouillet & Kudek-Mirošević (2015) stated that the inclusive dimension of education is lost, if we consider school as institutions which deliver only knowledge rather than student' social outcomes. For some children getting along with others and developing their social skills can be a hard task, especially for children with disabilities.…”