Good practices in collaboration between mainstream and special school

The study addresses an element of the support for inclusive education that can be spotted in the sphere of possible relations between mainstream and special school. This mostly aims at presenting some good practices in collaboration between these schools, identified in the author’s own research. An additional aim is to confront the collected information with the concepts and assumptions/proposals formulated in this area in the literature on the subject. The research was conducted within the project: Badanie praktyki ogólnodostępnych szkół podstawowych w zakresie edukacji włączającej [Studying the practices of mainstream primary schools in the field of inclusive education], financed by the Ministry of National Education and commissioned to the University of Silesia in Katowice in 2020. The data were collected with the use of focus group interview technique. The study group consisted of mainstream school head-teachers, teachers, specialists, non-teaching staff, students of public schools and their parents. The study comprised over two hundred respondents from forty schools. The research results reveal a limited scope of good practices in collaboration of both types of school. The greatest number of examples occurs in the area of common organization of ludic and educational events. Much fewer cases of collaboration can be spotted in the field of methodological support and of creating self-education groups in counties or municipalities. The first part of the study is a presentation of the own research concept. The second part comprises some identified practices in collaboration between special and mainstream school, which have been confronted with a few suggestions for partnership of both these types of school presented in the literature on the subject. The whole article is completed with final conclusions.

Research on the Negative Implications of Shadow Education for Primary School Students

In today’s era, shadow education is becoming an important form of education in the education system. The pursuit of shadow education among parents and the dependence of students on it heightens its value. However, with the continuous development of shadow education, its profit-seeking nature has begun to appear, and many educational problems are surfacing in the development process. This paper studies shadow education on the basis of Marx’s educational theories, such as the theory of all-round development and game theory. It analyzes the implications of shadow education which are not conducive to social or personal development, in order to continuously improve shadow education, provide better assistance for mainstream school education, and promote the comprehensive development of primary school students.

Inclusion from the Perspective of Pupils with Autism

The concept of inclusion remains a topic of many discussions between professionals and researchers. At the same time, many children with autism are included in mainstream school with their neurotypical peers. Research has shown that many children with autism are socially excluded in mainstream schools. This review paper aims to explore the perspective of pupils with autism on inclusive education. The main results were grouped by the following themes: relationship with peers, relationship with teachers, environment and sensory issues, interests, and what children need in mainstream schools. This narrative review has shown that from the perspective of pupils with autism educational inclusion is still not achieved.

Neurological and clinical outcomes in infants and children with a fetal diagnosis of asymmetric ventriculomegaly, interhemispheric cyst, and dysgenesis of the corpus callosum

OBJECTIVE Advances in prenatal imaging have facilitated improvements in the fetal diagnosis of congenital anomalies. Asymmetric ventriculomegaly, interhemispheric cyst, and dysgenesis of the corpus callosum (AVID) is a constellation of congenital anomalies reported in fetal imaging. However, few data are available regarding postnatal outcomes of infants and children with a fetal diagnosis of AVID. The authors sought to report the neurodevelopmental outcomes of patients diagnosed with AVID before birth at a single institution. METHODS An institutional fetal imaging database was queried to identify cases with ventriculomegaly, interhemispheric cyst, and dysgenesis of the corpus callosum over a 10-year study period from 2000 to 2019. Overall, 41 maternal-infant dyads who met imaging criteria for AVID were identified; medical records were reviewed for prenatal variables including gestational age at birth, perinatal complications including fetal demise, and postnatal variables including demographics, mortality, hydrocephalus diagnosis and management, epilepsy, and neurodevelopmental outcomes at 2 years or the last follow-up. RESULTS Among 41 patients, 25 (61%) were male. A slight majority of patients (55%) were born before 36 weeks of gestational age, and 27 patients (68%) were delivered via cesarean section because their head size precluded vaginal delivery. There were 8 incidences of fetal demise, 1 pregnancy was terminated, and 32 patients were born alive. Neonatal or early infant death occurred in 5 patients. Two children died during follow-up after the neonatal period (ages 7 months and 7 years). Twenty-six children survived to at least the 2-year follow-up, all of whom required treatment for hydrocephalus. Of those 26 children, 12 (46%) had a diagnosis of epilepsy, 14 (54%) could sit independently, 4 (16%) were in mainstream school, 16 (62%) had expressive language, and 7 (28%) had near-normal development without seizures. CONCLUSIONS Among 41 maternal-fetal dyads with AVID, a majority of children survived to the 2-year follow-up, although all developed hydrocephalus. Many continued to have seizures, but expressive language use, attendance at mainstream school, and near-normal development without seizures were not infrequent. These data are critical for prenatal counseling and to establish the natural history of a diagnosis with limited outcome data.

The story as a tool for cognitive stimulation for children with mild intellectual disabilities integrated in mainstream school

The study focused on students with liminal intellect integrated in the mainstream school and was based on adapting the teaching-learning-recovery methods to the students` developmental particularities. It started from the premise that students’ cognitive Rehabilitation process would be improved through cognitive stimulation programs based on the storytelling method. The storytelling as a therapeutic method accompanied a set of exercises for cognitive stimulation influenced children` s cognitive performances. Participants in the research were 32 students from the second grade based on the results they obtained on „Progressive Reaven Matrices” test (QI values in the range 68-85). Participants were organized in two groups: 16 in the experimental group and 16 in the control group. Test-retest method with a single dependent variable was used. Qualitative results of this research are: the metaphors used in the stories taught the students to overcome the emotional barriers, they learned that they can ask several times about something they did not understand, without being criticized or stigmatized for their lack of knowledge; the symbols used in the construction of the stories led to the development of an efficient communication between the parents and the students included in the experimental group; the cognitive stimulation program facilitated the structuring and restructuring of learning leading to the improvement of learning difficulties.

FROM INCORPORATION TO INTEGRATION AND EDUCATION OF DEAF CHILDREN IN THE MAINSTREAM SCHOOL

The term integration means the systematic placement of something within something else and the completion of the subject as an independent, whole part of a larger whole. The term incorporation (mainstreaming) denotes the one-way attachment and assimilation of one to a whole or, in other words, the acquisition of a body or flow by acquiring the characteristics of a heteroid set and losing the original characteristics. The term inclusive education replaces the terms inclusion and integration. The adjective inclusive comes from the Latin verb includere, which means "include". The term can be abbreviated as "inclusive education" or "non-exclusion education". This article focuses on the integration, integration and inclusive education of deaf children in the public school.