Session Information
04 SES 03 A, Professional Learning, and Pupils' Self-Image, Professional Learning, Pupils´Self-Image and Teacher Attitudes toward Inclusion in 1913 and 2009
Paper Session
Time:
2009-09-28
14:00-15:30
Room:
NIG, HS A
Chair:
Susan Tetler
Contribution
In the international pedagogical discourse the concept of Special Educational Need is mainly associated with Special Education. It is understood as an extension of the concept of Disability, but –according to the advocates of the social understanding of disability- still as a labeling way of looking at disability.
The Italian development of the concept has been almost opposite: the recently introduced term of Special Educational Need (SEN) attempts to oppose the labeling process. It is defined as an experience of difficulty in personal development during the school career and – therefore – as an experience that may occur to any student, for a long or short time, in a more or less severe way. The word “special” stays here for the “specificity” of each student’s need, that requires a “specific” response at school in order to make everybody’s participation in school-life possible. This understanding of SEN is based on the theoretical framework of ICF (International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health) which offers the opportunity to look at the human functioning as a result of the interaction of three aspects: body, participation and context.
In our study we introduce into different schools a managerial software that supports the organization of the information about students’ SEN and the planning of resources that can give an effective response to the needs in an inclusive way. SEN are noted in a grid based on the ICF structure. Resources are planned in an inclusive way: starting from thinking the most normal resources the class has (for example time-table and rooms) and, only if necessary, considering more specific ones. The software is meant for teacher teams (teachers and support teachers working with the same group of students) that can get an overview of the different needs in their class and produce a resource-plan to support the participation of all students in the learning process of the class.
The goals of the research are: 1) evaluating the effects of the introduction of the software in the way teachers understand BES and think of responses; 2) describing the way a school-community can introduce the software in the school everyday life.
Method
In the academic year 2006/2007 96 primary schools and kindergartens received the software and started using it. They were introduced to its use through a book and an on-line course. After using it, teachers were asked to fill in a questionnaire about their perception about the presence of children with SEN in their class and the possibility of an effective response. Their answers are compared with those of teachers who did not take part in the use of the software.
In the second part of the study we monitor the process of classes that decided to adopt the software through focus-groups with teachers, support teachers, SEN-Cos and headmasters.
Expected Outcomes
We collected data about the software’s effectiveness in introducing among teachers an ICF-based understanding of SEN and an inclusive way of thinking of resources and planning them.
Moreover, starting from the experiences monitored in part 2 we aim to produce a plan that describes the way schools may introduce the software in school everyday-life.
References
Ianes D. (2005) Bisogni Educativi Speciali e Inclusione, Erickson, Trento Ianes D., Macchia V. (2008) La didattica per i Bisogni Educativi Speciali, Erickson, Trento
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