Preparing highschoolers for coeducation with peers with impaired eyesight: Workshop approach

Abstract

Workshops are a specific form of active and experiential learning which takes place in exchanges within a certain group. The objectives of the workshop are acquisition of knowledge or skills, the development of empathy or positive attitudes and to enhance motivation. The starting point in work is the experience of the participants, followed by its sequential generalizations and, finally, increasing it to a higher level which allows the application of the acquired experience in a wider range of real situations. The aim of this paper is to present some workshop activities with students in regular high schools in order to prepare them for coeducation with their peers with eyesight impairment. The workshops included seven sequels in which we elaborated the following themes: the attitudes of the individuals without any impairment towards invalids; sight-impaired person's perceptions, the blind person's walking techniques, reading and writing; readiness to form different types of relationships with persons with impaired eyesight and capabilities of persons with impaired eyesight.

Radionice predstavljaju specifičan oblik aktivnog, iskustvenog učenja koji se ostvaruje zahvaljujući razmenama unutar određene grupe. Ciljevi radionice obuhvataju usvajanje znanja ili veština, razvijanje empatije ili pozitivnih stavova, jačanje motivacije. Tokom izvođenja radionice polazi se od iskustva učesnika, zatim njegovog uopštavanja kroz sekvence i, na kraju, postavljanja na viši nivo koji omogućava primenu stečenog u širem rasponu realnih situacija. Cilj rada je prikaz radioničarskih aktivnosti srednjoškolaca u redovnim školama radi povećanja spremnosti za zajedničko školovanje sa vršnjacima oštećenog vida. Radionice su obuhvatile sedam sekvenci putem kojih smo realizovali sledeće teme: stavove osoba bez oštećenja vida prema osobama s invaliditetom; opažanje osoba oštećenog vida; tehnike kretanja, čitanje i pisanje slepih; spremnost za stupanje u različite tipove odnosa s osobama oštećenog vida i sposobnosti osoba s oštećenjem vida.