Effectiveness of teaching arts in relation to student's disability

Abstract

Art culture as a subject in educational system is an integral part of compulsory primary education both in regular schools and special ones. Children with disabilities/ developmental disorders represent a heterogeneous group characterized by a certain deviation that in greater or lesser extent, affects the process of their upbringing and education. The question is to what extent certain level of disabilities and disorders acts on teacher’s ability to realize teaching of Art culture with these students? Therefore, the aim of our study is to examine effect of different conditions/disorders on effectiveness of teaching Art culture from the perspective of educators. The research was conducted on a sample of 28 participants who teach Art culture to children with disabilities. The research was conducted during the second semester of the school year 2014/2015, in May and June 2015, in five different primary schools, which are located on the territory of Belgrade. Collecting of information were carried out through in-depth non-standardized interview. The interview was carried out on the basis of a questionnaire drawn up for the purposes of the study. Each interview is in agreement with the participant and filmed entirely tonal. The results of our study states that there are difficulties in realization of a class of Art culture, they are unfortunately unavoidable companion of teaching process which is performed with disabled children. Regardless of the fact that it is known that the teaching of Art culture is one of those subjects in which disabled children achieve the best results, research has shown that its realization is imbued with numerous, smaller and larger difficulties, waiting their turn to be overcome. The biggest problems occur in education of multiple disabled children, whose condition exceeds limits of adjustments and requires conditions that participants fail to provide. The variety of conditions and disorders that can befall a child, requires a high degree of creativity and imagination of educators, so that they can in a new way overcome bariers in realization of education. The fact that a great number of disorders are considered as permament conditons, indicates the difficulties with which educators are faced with during the realization of education with disabled children.