The master's thesis is based on the research of mutual cooperation between special education teachers and parents. It was presented how successfully and in what way they cooperate at the Roje Primary School.
In the theoretical work, we identified different models of cooperation between parents and teachers, documents that ensure the involvement and participation of parents in the schooling process of their children in the field of schooling and presented in more detail the partnership model of cooperation. We presented forms of parental involvement, the principles of successful cooperation, the necessary competences of parents and teachers, and the advantages and most common barriers to cooperation.
In the empirical part of the master's the day, we showed the results of a survey carried out among 16 special educators who teach at Roje Primary School and 20 parents whose children are educated there. We made two survey questionnaires, one for parents and the other for special education teachers. The results were statistically processed and the data were presented descriptively, in tables and in charts.
We found that parents and special education teachers evaluate their mutual cooperation well. Parents evaluated the cooperation even more highly, compared to special educators. They both evaluated very high importance to mutual cooperation. Parents, partly in line with the opinions of special educators, mostly attend formal forms of cooperation, for example parents meetings, parent-teacher conferences and phone conversations, while among informal forms of cooperation, participation in school events stood out. As frequent barriers to cooperation, special educators and parents consistently highlighted the lack of time with parents and the uninteresting topics of workshops for parents. Special education teachers also highly assessed the transfer of responsibility for a child's failure to special educators, overload and lack of time with parents, as well as past poor experiences in working with parents. As suggestions to improve cooperation, parents indicated more regular communication, both indicated more informal meetings, and special educators have pointed out that they want more initiatives for meetings by parents. Special educators have often cited pre-established rules on forms and methods of cooperation, relieving teachers and improving the public view of teachers among suggestions for improving mutual cooperation with parents. All special educators rated their ability to work with parents fairly well. The study demonstrated that special educators with longer working lives better assess their own qualifications to work with parents than those with shorter working lives.
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