The attitudes of future special educators towards persons with developmental difficulties

Abstract

In line with the change of the society attitudes towards persons with disabilities there is increased interest in examining the atitudes twards them. Because of the role in the treatment, education and inclusion of such persons in wider social community, the attitudes of the students of special education become especially relevant. The aim of the research was to determine the attitudes of the future special educators towards persons with disabilities, the level of discomfort they feel in interaction with them, as well as the frequency of fontacts of students of special education with such persons. 103 students of the first cycle of the study program Special Education at the Faculty of Medicine in Foča. In the research we used the Scale for evaluating attitudes towards persons with disabilities, the Scale of interactions with persons with disabilities, and the Scale for assessing the frequency of contacts with persons with disabilities. Special education students on average have mildly positive attitudes towards persons with disabilities and feel somewhat comfortable in direct interactions with them, but the contacts with them are relatively rare. Among the examined variables significant relation was found between the year of study of the examinees and the frequency of their contacts with persons with disabilities. The obtained results indicate the need for a more significant shift of focus from medical to a social model of disability in the education of students of special education.

Uporedo sa promenom odnosa društva prema osobama s ometenošću javlja se i povećano interesovanje za ispitivanje stavova prema njima. Zbog uloge u tretmanu, obrazovanju, ali i inkluziji u šire društveno okruženje ovih osoba, stavovi studenata specijalne edukacije mogu biti posebno značajni. Cilj istraživanja bio je da proceni stavove budućih specijalnih edukatora prema osobama s ometenošću, stepen nelagodnosti koju osećaju u interakciji s njima, kao i učestalost kontakata studenata specijalne edukacije s ovim osobama. Ispitana su 103 studenta prvog ciklusa studijskog programa Specijalna edukacija i rehabilitacija Medicinskog fakulteta u Foči. U istraživanju su primenjene skala za procenu stavova prema osobama sa ometenošću, skala interakcije s osobama s ometenošću, kao i skala za procenu učestalosti kontakata s osobama s ometenošću. Studenti specijalne edukacije u proseku imaju blago pozitivne stavove prema osobama s ometenošću i osećaju se donekle prijatno u interakciji s njima, ali su njihovi kontakti s ovim osobama prilično retki. Među ispitanim varijablama značajan odnos pronađen je samo između godine studija ispitanika i učestalosti kontakata s osobama sa ometenošću. Dobijeni rezultati upućuju na potrebu većeg pomeranja fokusa od medicinskog ka socijalnom modelu ometenosti kad je reč o obrazovanju studenata specijalne edukacije.