The changed and amended legislative framework for education in Slovenia has brought a more quality education to children with special educational needs and mild, moderate and severe intellectual disability differences. Pupils with special needs make up a highly vulnerable and maltreated group that is less able to defend and demand its rights without the help of society. In order to achieve an optimal development of an individual, adequate living conditions should be ensured. This also includes spatial conditions as a medium for the implementation of the “Special Needs Education Programme” that also regulates adequate school furniture, such as table and chair, that meets the special needs of individual.
This paper was carried out to examine the fit between the school furniture dimensions and the pupils’ height by analysing the conditions in parent classrooms at three primary schools in the Savinjska region that provide special needs education programme for children with mild, moderate and severe intellectual disability difference. The study involved 89 pupils from the first to the sixth grade that require a special needs education programme but are not physically impaired. The thesis seeks answers to the following questions: [1] whether and how primary schools with special needs education programme adjust the classroom furniture according to the height of the pupils and [2] how the suitability of chairs and tables is determined to meet the need of an individual pupil. The study is focused on comparing the types of school furniture in parent classrooms by the SIST ISO 5970 standard.
The results show a high percentage of unsuitable height of furniture in relation to the height of the pupils in the special needs education programme. The analysis attests to the data found in the literature which indicate an extremely high percentage of a mismatch between the children’s anthropometry and the classroom furniture. Consequently, the results call for further reflection of the importance of insuring a proper working environment for a pupil with special needs.
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