Attitude of Primary School Teachers Towards Inclusive Education in Nigeria: Contributions of Personality and Work Experience

Children with disabilities in South-Eastern Nigeria face problems of isolation. This study investigated the roles of conscientious personality and work experience in predicting teachers’ attitude towards inclusive education. Participants included 196 primary school teachers who were selected randomly from 6 primary schools in Enugu, South-Eastern Nigeria. The age of the teachers ranged from 27-51 years (Mean age = 41.85 years; Standard Deviation = 4.63). Results showed that conscientious personality and work experience positively predicted primary school teachers’ attitude towards inclusive education. The results were discussed in terms of determining work-related attributes necessary for improving access to education among children with disabilities. The limitation of the study and recommendation for future research were highlighted.

A curriculum for students with intellectual disabilities in Jordan

This qualitative study describes the status of the curriculum for students with intellectual disabilities (SWID) in Jordan, from their teachers’ perspectives and from field observations. Research data were analysed using content analysis methodology. These qualitative data were gained by interviews with 54 teachers and by field observations of classes of SWID. Data analysis revealed five major themes: teachers’ perceptions of curriculum areas, teachers’ perceptions of curriculum characteristics, levels of teacher professional competence and training needs and teachers’ perceptions of problems of curriculum implementation and curriculum components. The study concludes that there is widespread confusion regarding the curriculum for SWID; genuine problems in access to the general curriculum for SWID; problems in SWID preparation for inclusion; and low expectations regarding SWID. Recommendations are provided regarding the importance of enhancing the SWID curriculum, and of improving teachers’ professionalism and practices.

Engagement of Children with Special Educational Needs in Accordance with the Routines-Based Model

Engagement of a child with SEN during therapeutical and educational activities is important in terms of their development. This construct can be understood as the time the child spends interacting with adults, peers and materials, in a manner appropriate for their developmental age. Routines-Based Model is one of the methods which particularly promotes engagement.This study aims at measuring the level of engagement in certain preschool routines and its changes during the school year. The article consists of two parts; the first one presents issues connected with defining and identifying the levels of engagement, the second one discusses the studies connected with determining the level of engagement of children with special educational needs in the process of education.The analysis of study results indicates that children in the tested group achieve the highest scores in overall engagement and engagement with materials. The highest level of engagement throughout the year has also been observed in those categories.

Psychological correlates of parental burnout in hearing mothers of deaf children: personality, satisfaction with life, and posttraumatic growth

A child’s disability is a risk factor for its parents experiencing parental burnout (PB). Here we investigate this problem in hearing mothers of deaf and hard of hearing (DHH) children. We look at the psychological dimension of the mothers’ personality in terms of the Big Five model, satisfaction with life (SWL), and posttraumatic growth (PTG). The study takes account of the sociodemographics of the mothers and their children and other factors related to the child’s deafness and their type of hearing assistance. The study was conducted through letters sent to 559 hearing mothers of which 29% responded. Responding mothers completed several questionnaires: the Parental Burnout Measure (PBM-12), International Personality Item Pool–Big Five Markers-20 (IPIP-BFM-20), Posttraumatic Growth Inventory (PTGI), and a general questionnaire. A VAS scale was used to assess SWL and satisfaction with the child’s rehabilitation.Results showed that the level of PB the mothers experienced was significantly lower than in mothers of children with non-deafness disabilities. SWL and emotional stability, intellect/imagination, agreeableness, extraversion, and satisfaction with the child’s rehabilitation were inversely correlated with PB, but only SWL and emotional stability were significant PB predictors. PTG in the mothers was at an average level and not correlated with PB. Similarly, the sociodemographic characteristics of mother and child and child’s deafness-related factors were not correlated with PB. Low levels of emotional stability and SWL are associated with vulnerability of the mothers to PB. Our finding of a lack of relationship between PB and PTG suggest that some mothers of deaf children may experience “illusory PTG”, which is related to avoidance-oriented coping strategies including denial coping.

Socio-Pedagogical Determinants of Social Acceptance of People with Disabilities

The social acceptance of people with disabilities is multidimensional and is often analyzed concerning various factors. Both external (demographic) factors, e.g. age, gender, place of residence, type of education or occupation, and internal factors (e.g. level of intelligence, self-esteem, sense of coherence) can be taken into consideration. The study presents the results of an analysis of the relationship between socio-demographic factors, characteristics of the family environment, social relations, contact with people who have disabilities, and the level of social acceptance of people with disabilities. The study uses the Disability Acceptance Scale, which consists of 27 statements and is a tool used to measure the level of acceptance of people with disabilities in three dimensions: (1) the acceptance of support given to people with disabilities; (2) the acceptance of inclusion of people with disabilities in the institutions of social life; (3) the acceptance of competences of people with disabilities to function in social roles. The study involved 313 people living in south-eastern Poland, including 156 women (49.84%) and 157 men (50.16%).The results of the research showed that regarding socio-demographic factors there are no statistically significant differences between the level of acceptance of people with disabilities depending on the gender of the respondent;, while differences are observed between different age groups and people living in different types of living environment. In the context of the family environment, the factors affecting the level of acceptance were the mother’s education and the father’s employment. Concerning social relations with people with disabilities, having a family member with a disability and having contact with a student with a disability at school were found to be significant factors affecting social acceptance.

Robot-Mediated Interventions to Enhance Communication and Social Abilities of Children and Youth with Disabilities: a Review of the Literature

Objectives: The current paper presents a review of the literature discussing the trends in research that conducted robot-mediated interventions to enhance communication and social abilities of children and youth with disabilities. Method: Thirty-two dissertation or research articles published after 2000 were selected and divided into thematic categories for analysis, including participants, setting, research method, characteristics of robot-mediated interventions, roles of robots, and the results of studies. Results: First, the research most frequently focused on children and youth with Autism Spectrum Disorders. Second, most of the research was conducted in educational settings. Third, most research used quantitative research design, in particular a single-subject research design method was the most common. Fourth, in most of the research humanoid robots assisted the intervention, acting as an interaction partner of participants and as an instrumental medium to prompt the participants to demonstrate desirable behavior. Finally, most studies reported positive effects of robot-mediated intervention in the communication and social abilities of children and youth with disabilities. Conclusion: The paper provides the outcomes and limitations of robot-mediated interventions for children and youth with disabilities and the implications for future research.

Arab Prophylactic Measures to Protect Individuals with Disabilities from the Spread of COVID-19

This descriptive research is aimed to assess the prophylactic measures used to deal with individuals with disabilities (IDs) during the COVID-19 pandemic in Arab countries. The United Nations Economic and Social Commission report for Western Asia (ESCWA, 2020) has been reviewed. The report included prophylactic measures employed to protect IDs during the COVID-19 pandemic in 15 Arab countries. The methodology of the research included using an analysis method to identify the nature and viability of the prophylactic measures used in Arab countries during the pandemic. The result showed that 65% of the prophylactic measures were governmental, and 35% were non-governmental. 55% of these measures dealt with all disability categories, 30% with hearing impairment, 10.83% with intellectual and developmental disabilities, and 4.17% with visual impairment. Saudi Arabia and Jordan were the two Arab countries that provided the most prophylactic measures to IDs during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Sense of Support in the Work of Early Education Teachers from Big Cities and Small Towns / Villages: Perspective of Inclusive Education Children with Disabilities in Poland

Inclusive education is a challenge for educational systems around the world. The major issue affecting inclusive education is the limited support for teachers in implementing inclusive education and working with diverse students.The primary aim of this study was to define the differences in the subjective sense of professional support (institutional and non-institutional) of early education teachers from big cities and small towns/villages in Poland via the survey research method.There is a significantly higher reported sense of support in the workplace for early education teachers from big cities compared to small towns/villages in Poland. Regarding the investigated institutional support categories, only support from trained professionals in the education of students with special educational needs (outside the didactic process) and support from other teachers (within the didactic process) was significantly different and ranked higher in teachers from big cities. For the non-institutional support categories, only support from friends and acquaintances was significantly higher in the early education teachers from big cities. Moreover, the poor network of specialist support in small towns/villages in Poland may further exacerbate the inequalities observed in the success of implementing the inclusive education idea.

Trust is knowing that... The subjective meanings and senses of experience-based foundations of trust of students with intellectual disabilities

Trust refers to daily life facilitating factors, to social integration, to a sense of security or quality of life. So far, there have been no studies analysing the trust of students with intellectual disabilities. The analysis of trust of young persons with intellectual disabilities was not attempted. Therefore, a question was formulated: what meanings and senses do students with these disabilities assign to their experiences of the foundations of trust? The study features qualitative research interviews (in-depth and non-structured). The theoretical and empirical assumptions apply the interpretive/constructivist paradigm and phenomenological-hermeneutic perspective based on Alfred Schütz’s social theory. The empirical material was obtained based on 11 interviews conducted with students with mild intellectual disabilities of 6th – 8th grades of special needs comprehensive school. The basis for trust is everyday knowledge manifested in: the knowledge about the essence of trust, knowledge of the study’s participants – their skills and capabilities, the cause that leads to a specific result. Knowledge as the foundation of trust is common and non-reflective, but also authentic and dynamic, revealing ways of coping with everyday life. The meanings and senses assigned to objects, humans and relationships are not a direct representation of the social world, but they constitute in fact the way of life of the subjects.

Tracing conceptual understandings and misunderstandings of science by students with and without vision impairment through a pilot study: the case of density and heat

The purpose of this pilot study was to describe and analyze the perceptions and alternative ideas of individuals with and without vision impairments regarding the concepts of “density” and “heat”. The perceptions of sighted, age- and gender-matched participants were compared with those of visually impaired participants (two groups). Semi-structured interviews were conducted, and the analysis of the data followed the method of tracing and developing categories and sub-categories. The analysis revealed that the two groups held diverse understandings about “density”, while most participants seemed to identify “heat” as “temperature” and vice versa. The results are presented in the form of conception correlation matrices highlighting common concepts and alternative ideas towards the notions of “density” and “heat”. The findings demonstrate that in both groups there are common patterns of alternative ideas, which may lead to the assumption that vision loss or blindness and proficiency in science do not constitute a causal relation. The results may lead to useful implications for differentiated instruction regarding the comprehension of science in an integrated educational setting in conjunction with technological advances and inclusive practices.