The master's thesis takes a look at the importance children, parents and teachers ascribe to additional professional assistance. I wanted to learn more about the well-being of the children and their parents, and about the opinions of the teachers that work with these children. I was interested in the following: the expectations that arise after filing an application for the placement procedure; which expectations have been or have not been realised; how the placement order has influenced the problem-solving process; in which areas the participants in the support and assistance process see room for improvement; the emotions they are experiencing, etc. Based on these findings, the Anton Žnideršič Primary School will be able to plan future changes to the education of children with special needs. I decided to conduct qualitative research because I wanted to obtain verbal descriptions. In the theoretical introduction I defined the right of children with special needs to inclusive education and mentioned the factors behind (un)successful inclusion. I explained the difference between the terms ‘integration’ and ‘inclusion’. The master's thesis describes the placement procedure for children with special needs and mentions possible educational programmes. Since the research was conducted at an ordinary primary school, chapter six focuses more closely on this topic. The importance of cooperation from the parents is highlighted, while the penultimate chapter establishes a connection between school and social work. The theoretical introduction concludes with a chapter on the selected primary school. The empirical section presents the results of the survey in which eleven children, eleven parents and seven teachers participated. The interviews focused on general topics (the child's strengths and weaknesses, the course of an ordinary day in the child's life, how the child gets along with his/her classmates, etc.), on the period before an order is issued, on the placement procedure, and on the period after the order has been issued. It has been determined that children's problems emerge in different ways and that the children usually identify them only after starting school. Besides the parents, the teachers are the first to notice changes in the child. The parents react to these problems differently. Sometimes they are in denial and blame others. In school, the teachers are the first to provide help; the special education teacher also gets involved very early on. Parents usually receive information on the placement option only after their child starts school. During the placement procedure the parents have to gather various documentation; the school helps them with this. A great deal of time passes between the initiation of the placement procedure and the final order. Most children accept help well, but there are also some that find it a nuisance. There are also noticeable differences in how they get along with their classmates. Some are still teased and mocked by their peers. After they start to receive help, their deficiencies are usually reduced and their marks improve. In the parents' opinions, all those involved are responsible for this progress; nevertheless, some parents often delegate responsibility to the school alone. As regards the emotions experienced by those involved, the parents' opinions vary the most. In the beginning, they mostly experience negative emotions, but during the placement procedure positive emotions (e.g. relief) slowly join in. After the implementation of additional professional assistance begins, the negative emotions are, for the most part, replaced by positive ones. Despite the prevailing satisfaction with the implementation of additional professional assistance, the interlocutors have also given a few suggestions for changes (taking swifter action, better cooperation among all those involved, all parties involved honouring their obligations, commending the child more often, etc.). Based on the results obtained, I attempted to link the discoveries with the theoretical findings. The suggestions given are based on the results
obtained and act as guidelines which the school could use to improve the implementation of additional professional assistance. Suggestions for further research are also given.
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