In my master’s thesis, I examine the increase in the number of children with special needs in kindergartens and its impact on the work of kindergarten counselling centres. In the theoretical part, I start by defining key terms, identifying children with special needs and describing specific categories of these needs. I then provide an overview of counselling work in kindergartens, focusing on counselling children with special needs and their parents. In addition, I discuss the education and upbringing of children with special needs in the preschool years, early intervention and inclusion and integration into the education system. The theoretical part concludes with a brief discussion of the increased number of children with special needs in Slovenia.
In the empirical part, I first define the research problem, formulate research questions and choose an appropriate methodology. Based on the theoretical framework, I conducted a qualitative study. The data was collected through semi-structured interviews, with my interviewees being kindergarten counsellors. I then analysed the data qualitatively. In this study, I investigated how counsellors in kindergartens recognise children with developmental differences and how they deal with them afterwards. I also explored the counsellors’ views on the increasing number of children with special needs, their perceptions of the reasons for this trend, and how this affects their work. I also explored the challenges they face and who or what supports them in addressing these issues. I presented the findings according to the research questions and then summarised and supported them in the discussion with theory and my own findings. I concluded with recommendations and suggestions for further work.
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