Inclusive education for children with specific learning difficulties : analysis of opportunities and barriers in inclusive education in Slovenia

Kavkler, Marija (author), Košak Babuder, Milena (author), Magajna, Lidija (author)

Inclusive education allows for universal inclusion, participation and achievement of all children, including children with specific learning difficulties (SpLD). Children with SpLD form a heterogeneous group with diverse cognitive deficits, special educational needs (SEN) and strengths, and have a legislated right to the continuum of both assistance and support programmes. Although their intellectual capacity is average or above average, their learning achievements in some learning domains are modest, and they are poorly integrated into their social environment, which often results in their discrimination. Barriers and opportunities in the area of SpLD were analysed with the aid of Ball’s model (1994), with factors and conditions being analysed within the contexts of policy influence, text production and practice. The contexts of policy influence and text production provide the basic conditions for the inclusive education of children with SpLD. The context of influence on inclusive policy for children with SpLD represents a systematic approach to policy initiation and to the prerequisites for its implementation in practice. The context of policy text production focuses on professionals and their impact on the enactment of the rights of children with severe SpLD. The context of practice concerns barriers and opportunities for implementing inclusion in practice. Early identification and diagnosis of pupils’ strengths, deficits and SEN, together with intensified treatment corresponding to the SEN of children with SpLD, could significantly influence the efficiency of the educational process. Barriers, primarily of an immaterial nature, are mainly encountered in those schools that do not implement the five-tier Response to Intervention (RTI) approach. This approach enables children with SpLD a continuum of team-based diagnostic evaluation, effective adaptations and assistance. The main reasons for the unfavourable situation concern education professionals and their attitude towards children with SpLD, poor knowledge of SpLD, a lack of teamwork in problem solving, and a lack of partnership commitment between education professionals, parents and children. It is expected that changes could be brought about through innovations in the education of future teachers, and through positive cases of children with SpLD being treated effectively in practice. The conditions for the development of the inclusive treatment of children with SpLD could be created through legislative and systematic work.

• Language: English
• Keywords: special education, learning difficulty
• Work type: Article
• Typology: 1.01 - Original Scientific Article
• Organization: PEF - Faculty of Education
• Publication status: Published
• Publication version: Version of Record
• Year: 2015
• Number of pages: Str. 31-52
• Numbering: Vol. 5, no. 1
• PID: 20.500.12556/RUL-70262
• UDC: 376
• ISSN on article: 1855-9719
• DOI: 10.26529/cepsj.152
• COBISS.SI-ID: 10511689

Copyright

Podatek o licenci CC BY 4.0 je naveden na pristajalni strani članka (glej zgoraj izvorni URL). (Datum opombe: 20. 8. 2025)

• Publication date in RUL: 10.07.2015

Record is a part of a journal

• Title: CEPS journal : Center for Educational Policy Studies journal = revija Centra za študij edukacijskih strategij
• Publisher: Založba Univerze v Ljubljani = University of Ljubljana Press
• ISSN: 1855-9719
• COBISS.SI-ID: 252707584

Licences

• License: CC BY 4.0, Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International
• Link: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
• Description: This is the standard Creative Commons license that gives others maximum freedom to do what they want with the work as long as they credit the author.

Secondary language

• Language: Slovenian
• Title: Inkluzivno izobraževanje otrok s specifičnimi učnimi težavami : analiza priložnosti in ovir inkluzije v Sloveniji

Abstract

Inkluzivna vzgoja in izobraževanje omogočata vključenost, participacijo in uspešnost vseh otrok, tudi tistih s specifičnimi učnimi težavami. Otroci s tovrstnimi težavami so raznolika skupina otrok z raznolikimi primanjkljaji, s posebnimi potrebami ter z močnimi področji in uzakonjeno pravico do kontinuuma programov pomoči in podpore. So pogosto diskriminirani, saj kljub povprečnim in nadpovprečnim intelektualnim sposobnostim dosegajo nizke izobraževalne dosežke in so tudi socialno slabše vključeni. Analiza možnosti in ovir na področju specifičnih učnih težav je bila izvedena s pomočjo Ballovega modela (1994). V prispevku so analizirani dejavniki in pogoji v kontekstu vpliva na inkluzivno politiko, kontekstu oblikovanja zakonodaje in v kontekstu prakse. Kontekst vpliva politike in kontekst oblikovanja zakonodaje omogočata osnovne pogoje za inkluzivno vzgojo in izobraževanje otrok s specifičnimi učnimi težavami. V kontekstu vpliva na inkluzivno politiko za otroke s specifičnimi učnimi težavami je predstavljen sistematičen pristop k oblikovanju politike in razvoju pogojev za njeno uresničevanje v praksi. V kontekstu oblikovanja zakonodaje pa je predstavljen vpliv strokovne javnosti na uzakonitev pravic otrok s težjimi specifičnimi učnimi težavami. Ovire in možnosti za uresničevanje inkluzije v praksi so prikazane v kontekstu prakse. Zgodnje odkrivanje in diagnosticiranje močnih področij, primanjkljajev in posebnih potreb ter povečevanje intenzivnosti obravnave skladno s posebnimi potrebami otrok s specifičnimi učnimi težavami bi pomembno vplivali na učinkovitost vzgojno-izobraževalnega procesa. Ovire, ki primarno niso materialne narave, so prisotne v tistih šolah, ki ne uresničujejo petstopenjskega modela odziva na obravnavo, ki omogoča otrokom s specifičnimi učnimi težavami kontinuum diagnostičnega ocenjevanja, učinkovitih prilagoditev in oblik pomoči s pomočjo timskega soustvarjanja rešitev. Pomembni vzroki za neugodno stanje so: stališča strokovnih delavcev do posebnih potreb otrok, skromno znanje s področja specifičnih učnih težav ter premalo timskega reševanja izzivov in partnerskega odnosa med strokovnimi delavci, starši in otroki. Spremembe lahko pričakujemo od novosti pri izobraževanju prihodnjih učiteljev in pozitivnih primerov učinkovite obravnave otrok s specifičnimi učnimi težavami v praksi. S sistemskim in sistematičnim delovanjem bi lahko dosegli pogoje za razvoj inkluzivne obravnave otrok s specifičnimi učnimi težavami.

• Keywords: učenci s posebnimi potrebami, specifične učne težave, inkluzija, zakonodaja