The diploma thesis deals with education of pupils with special educational needs in common elementary schools as well as in special elementary schools. It defines special educational needs of these pupils (syndrome ADHD/ADD, specific learning disabilities, cerebral palsy, autism, epilepsy, mental retardation, hearing impairment, combined disorders) and searches attitudes of parents and teachers to inclusion of pupils with special educational needs in common elementary schools as well as in special elementary schools.

A presente pesquisa está vinculada aos estudos realizados pelo Núcleo de Estudos em Políticas de Inclusão Escolar do Programa de Pós-graduação em Educação da Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul. Tem como objetivo a análise de como ocorrem os processos inclusivos de crianças com necessidades educativas especiais, nas séries iniciais do Colégio de Aplicação da UFRGS. O objetivo geral traduz-se em questões como: Qual o perfil dos alunos do colégio? De que maneira se configura a organização curricular? O que entendem, docentes, responsáveis pelo serviço de orientação educacional e direção sobre inclusão? Quais as relações entre o Projeto Político Pedagógico e a promoção dos processos inclusivos? Que recursos são oferecidos para oportunizar a aprendizagem dos alunos? Foram analisados conceitos como Inclusão, Diferença e Necessidades Educativas Especiais, a partir de estudos da área da Educação e da Educação Especial, com ênfase em reflexões que abordam as inovações educacionais, a história e a política. Houve o resgate das diretrizes que configuram a legislação educacional nacional acerca da Educação Especial e da Inclusão. A pesquisa pode ser considerada de caráter qualitativo, assumindo as características de um estudo de caso, o qual focalizou o Colégio de Aplicação da UFRGS, com especial ênfase nas séries iniciais do Ensino Fundamental (quatro turmas de 1ª à 4ª série). Os instrumentos utilizados para a coleta de dados foram: entrevistas semiestruturadas com professores e gestores, observações do tipo participante e análise documental. Realizou-se um breve resgate histórico do contexto nacional da época de surgimento dos Colégios de Aplicação. A forma de ingresso de alunos no colégio dá-se através de sorteio público, garantindo a heterogeneidade do grupo de alunos e a democratização do direito às vagas. Foram identificados casos de crianças com necessidades educativas especiais, porém essa identificação esteve sujeita à variabilidade de percepção por parte dos profissionais envolvidos. No que se refere à organização curricular, a instituição estudada organiza-se a partir de projetos pedagógicos por etapas, além de oferecer apoios adicionais à sala de aula como Laboratórios de Aprendizagem para as crianças que apresentam dificuldades de aprendizagem. A avaliação é processual, cumulativa e registrada em pareceres descritivos. A formação docente mínima exigida é aquela em nível de Ensino Superior e há incentivo para a educação continuada dos professores. No entanto destaca-se o grande número de professores substitutos, com vínculo temporário, que integram o quadro dos professores responsáveis pelas turmas. Este fator favorece a rotatividade e a ausência de organicidade na relação docente/projeto pedagógico da instituição. A análise da experiência da pesquisa revelou divergências quanto ao entendimento da função do Colégio como lugar de pesquisa em função das dificuldades de acesso ao ambiente escolar. A história da instituição indica pontos de aproximação com os pressupostos inclusivos: flexibilidade, experimentação, busca de qualificação docente e oferta de apoios. Coexistem diferentes compreensões dos conceitos de inclusão e necessidades educativas especiais entre os professores que atuam nas séries iniciais. Os relatos demonstraram que a instituição estudada oportuniza poucas ocasiões de discussão dos temas relativos à inclusão, apesar da necessidade apontada por diversos docentes. Pode-se considerar o apontamento dessa necessidade pelos professores como sinalização da busca inicial de aprofundamento e estudo dos processos inclusivos que se instituem no colégio. / This research is related to the studies developed by the Nucleus of Studies of School Inclusion Politics of Masters Degree in Education Program of the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS). It aims to analyse how the inclusion processes of children with special educational needs goes in the initial years of School of Application of UFRGS.The overall goal is translated into issues such as: What is the scholar profile of that school? How is the curricular organization configured? What the responsible personnel for educational assistance, academic board committee and directors know about inclusion? Which are the relations between the Pedagogic Political Project and the inclusion processes promotion? What resources are afforded in order to provide the student’s learning? Concepts like inclusion, diversity and special educational needs were analysed, starting with Educational area studies and Special Education, emphasizing reflections that approach education innovations, history and politics. The guidelines that configure the national educational laws, concerning the Special Education and Inclusion, were herein rescued. The following research can be considered qualitative, assuming case-study characteristics, which focused on the School of Application of UFRGS, scoping the initial series of the Fundamental Teaching (four groups from 1st to 4th years). The instruments used for data gathering were: semi-structured interviews with teachers and managers, participant-type observations and documental analysis. A short historical rescue was done, back to the national context during the time when the Schools of Application came up. Students are admitted in the school goes by public draw, what drives the heterogeneity of the students' group and the democratization of admittance right. Cases of children with special educational needs were noticed indeed, even though that issue was subjected to the variability of involved professional’s perception. Refering to the curricular organization, the studied institution is organized from pedagogic projects in phases, as well as offering additional support-facilities to the classroom, such as Learning Laboratories, for those children who show learning difficulties. The evaluation is procedural, cumulative and registered by descriptive opinions. The institution demands teachers with, at least, Tertiary or Undergraduate Education and there is incentive for the their continuous education. However, a great number of substitute teachers with temporary bond, who are in the responsible teachers' groups, quits out. It favors the turn over and the organization´s losing relationship betwen the pedagogic project and the teachers. The analysis made in this research revealed misunderstandings of the School’s role as a researching place, specialy those related to the physical access difficulties to the school atmosphere. The institution history indicates approach points with the inclusive presumptions: flexibility, experimentation, research of educational qualification and supportsfacilities availability. Different understandings of the inclusion concepts and special educational needs coexist among teachers that run in the initial series. The reports make it clear that the studied institution offers few oportunities for discussing those themes relative to the children's inclusion with special educational needs, despite several teachers have pointed the needs. When teachers do it, it can be considered as the very-first step for researching and study of the inclusive processes that are instituted at school in a deeper way.

Esta pesquisa, de natureza qualitativa, teve como foco analisar os procedimentos de avaliação adotados por professoras dos anos iniciais do ensino fundamental de uma escola pública da cidade de São Paulo com alunos com necessidades educacionais especiais em suas turmas. Os procedimentos metodológicos consistiram na realização de entrevistas com as professoras seguida da análise de conteúdo. O tratamento dos dados apontou, de uma maneira geral, que os consensos e conflitos existentes quanto à avaliação dos alunos com necessidades educacionais especiais retomam, em grande parte, os fatores intervenientes que dificultam a implementação de uma avaliação formativa para a sala como um todo. Esses fatores parecem originar-se de concepções de ensino e aprendizagem mais tradicionais, que permanecem na escola, sobre as quais as professoras sentem-se pressionadas a construir práticas pedagógicas supostamente adequadas a um paradigma vigente de atenção à diversidade. As evidências encontradas pelo estudo permitiram alguns direcionamentos para a formação continuada, demandando atenção prioritária da escola na organização de espaços e tempos para o compartilhamento de experiências e planejamento colaborativo dos procedimentos de avaliação. / This qualitative research aims to analyze the evaluation procedures adopted by teachers who have students with special educational needs included in regular classrooms in one elementary public school in São Paulo. The methodological procedures were based on interviews with the teachers, and followed by the content analysis. In a general way, the data treatment showed that the existing consensuses and conflicts about the evaluation of the students with special educational needs actually correspond to the intervening factors that make difficult the implementation of a formative evaluation in the classroom as a whole. These factors seem to originate from traditional conceptions of education and learning, that remain in the school, over which the teachers feel compelled to construct pedagogical practices that supposedly responds to the diversity attention paradigm. The evidences found in this study support the statement of some possibilities for the continuous teacher training. Thus, the most important point should be to allow a better set of time and space in the school in order to share experiences and collaborative planning of evaluation procedures among the teachers.

A presente pesquisa está vinculada aos estudos realizados pelo Núcleo de Estudos em Políticas de Inclusão Escolar do Programa de Pós-graduação em Educação da Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul. Tem como objetivo a análise de como ocorrem os processos inclusivos de crianças com necessidades educativas especiais, nas séries iniciais do Colégio de Aplicação da UFRGS. O objetivo geral traduz-se em questões como: Qual o perfil dos alunos do colégio? De que maneira se configura a organização curricular? O que entendem, docentes, responsáveis pelo serviço de orientação educacional e direção sobre inclusão? Quais as relações entre o Projeto Político Pedagógico e a promoção dos processos inclusivos? Que recursos são oferecidos para oportunizar a aprendizagem dos alunos? Foram analisados conceitos como Inclusão, Diferença e Necessidades Educativas Especiais, a partir de estudos da área da Educação e da Educação Especial, com ênfase em reflexões que abordam as inovações educacionais, a história e a política. Houve o resgate das diretrizes que configuram a legislação educacional nacional acerca da Educação Especial e da Inclusão. A pesquisa pode ser considerada de caráter qualitativo, assumindo as características de um estudo de caso, o qual focalizou o Colégio de Aplicação da UFRGS, com especial ênfase nas séries iniciais do Ensino Fundamental (quatro turmas de 1ª à 4ª série). Os instrumentos utilizados para a coleta de dados foram: entrevistas semiestruturadas com professores e gestores, observações do tipo participante e análise documental. Realizou-se um breve resgate histórico do contexto nacional da época de surgimento dos Colégios de Aplicação. A forma de ingresso de alunos no colégio dá-se através de sorteio público, garantindo a heterogeneidade do grupo de alunos e a democratização do direito às vagas. Foram identificados casos de crianças com necessidades educativas especiais, porém essa identificação esteve sujeita à variabilidade de percepção por parte dos profissionais envolvidos. No que se refere à organização curricular, a instituição estudada organiza-se a partir de projetos pedagógicos por etapas, além de oferecer apoios adicionais à sala de aula como Laboratórios de Aprendizagem para as crianças que apresentam dificuldades de aprendizagem. A avaliação é processual, cumulativa e registrada em pareceres descritivos. A formação docente mínima exigida é aquela em nível de Ensino Superior e há incentivo para a educação continuada dos professores. No entanto destaca-se o grande número de professores substitutos, com vínculo temporário, que integram o quadro dos professores responsáveis pelas turmas. Este fator favorece a rotatividade e a ausência de organicidade na relação docente/projeto pedagógico da instituição. A análise da experiência da pesquisa revelou divergências quanto ao entendimento da função do Colégio como lugar de pesquisa em função das dificuldades de acesso ao ambiente escolar. A história da instituição indica pontos de aproximação com os pressupostos inclusivos: flexibilidade, experimentação, busca de qualificação docente e oferta de apoios. Coexistem diferentes compreensões dos conceitos de inclusão e necessidades educativas especiais entre os professores que atuam nas séries iniciais. Os relatos demonstraram que a instituição estudada oportuniza poucas ocasiões de discussão dos temas relativos à inclusão, apesar da necessidade apontada por diversos docentes. Pode-se considerar o apontamento dessa necessidade pelos professores como sinalização da busca inicial de aprofundamento e estudo dos processos inclusivos que se instituem no colégio. / This research is related to the studies developed by the Nucleus of Studies of School Inclusion Politics of Masters Degree in Education Program of the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS). It aims to analyse how the inclusion processes of children with special educational needs goes in the initial years of School of Application of UFRGS.The overall goal is translated into issues such as: What is the scholar profile of that school? How is the curricular organization configured? What the responsible personnel for educational assistance, academic board committee and directors know about inclusion? Which are the relations between the Pedagogic Political Project and the inclusion processes promotion? What resources are afforded in order to provide the student’s learning? Concepts like inclusion, diversity and special educational needs were analysed, starting with Educational area studies and Special Education, emphasizing reflections that approach education innovations, history and politics. The guidelines that configure the national educational laws, concerning the Special Education and Inclusion, were herein rescued. The following research can be considered qualitative, assuming case-study characteristics, which focused on the School of Application of UFRGS, scoping the initial series of the Fundamental Teaching (four groups from 1st to 4th years). The instruments used for data gathering were: semi-structured interviews with teachers and managers, participant-type observations and documental analysis. A short historical rescue was done, back to the national context during the time when the Schools of Application came up. Students are admitted in the school goes by public draw, what drives the heterogeneity of the students' group and the democratization of admittance right. Cases of children with special educational needs were noticed indeed, even though that issue was subjected to the variability of involved professional’s perception. Refering to the curricular organization, the studied institution is organized from pedagogic projects in phases, as well as offering additional support-facilities to the classroom, such as Learning Laboratories, for those children who show learning difficulties. The evaluation is procedural, cumulative and registered by descriptive opinions. The institution demands teachers with, at least, Tertiary or Undergraduate Education and there is incentive for the their continuous education. However, a great number of substitute teachers with temporary bond, who are in the responsible teachers' groups, quits out. It favors the turn over and the organization´s losing relationship betwen the pedagogic project and the teachers. The analysis made in this research revealed misunderstandings of the School’s role as a researching place, specialy those related to the physical access difficulties to the school atmosphere. The institution history indicates approach points with the inclusive presumptions: flexibility, experimentation, research of educational qualification and supportsfacilities availability. Different understandings of the inclusion concepts and special educational needs coexist among teachers that run in the initial series. The reports make it clear that the studied institution offers few oportunities for discussing those themes relative to the children's inclusion with special educational needs, despite several teachers have pointed the needs. When teachers do it, it can be considered as the very-first step for researching and study of the inclusive processes that are instituted at school in a deeper way.

A presente Dissertação de Mestrado aborda o tema da Inclusão Escolar. É uma investigação que utiliza a abordagem qualitativa e elenca como problema de pesquisa as dificuldades que se apresentam na inclusão dos alunos com deficiência mental matriculados no ensino regular e que provocam o ingresso dos mesmos na Escola Especial. Partindo-se do pressuposto de que, cada vez mais alunos com necessidades especiais estão sendo matriculados em escolas regulares, procurouse através desta pesquisa refletir sobre as ações implementadas na escola regular que favorecem ou não um processo de inclusão de qualidade para os alunos com diagnósticos de deficiência mental. Esta investigação teve como sujeitos 3 alunos com deficiência mental que freqüentam, atualmente, uma escola especial, mas que vieram egressos do ensino regular de escolas intituladas inclusivas, ou seja, alunos com um percurso na escola regular. Partindo do relato da trajetória escolar desses alunos, chegou-se às escolas regulares freqüentadas por eles e, tomando como base essas informações, investigou-se os fatores que favoreceram o ingresso no sistema de educação especial. Pesquisar a questão elencada possibilitou desvendar como se deu o processo de inclusão desses alunos, bem como o que causou seu afastamento das escolas regulares, favorecendo a reflexão de novas propostas e novas ações, evitando que os mesmos procedimentos ocorram com novos alunos, desencadeando o processo de exclusão. Constatou-se que não há, por parte dos educadores, uma negação à proposta inclusiva; há, sim, um receio de não saber como agir e o que fazer para promover o desenvolvimento cognitivo desses alunos. Pode-se perceber que, mesmo as escolas ditas inclusivas, apresentam, ainda em relação aos alunos com deficiência mental, muitas lacunas em suas práticas, refletidas pela falta de formação dos professores e falta de recursos materiais para estes e para os alunos incluídos. A inclusão de alunos que apresentam deficiência mental ainda é um desafio para as escolas regulares e, como tal, sujeita a reflexões, construções e reconstruções constantes durante o processo. Fica evidenciada, aqui, a necessidade de maiores discussões, estudos, pesquisas e ações sobre o assunto tanto nas escolas especiais quanto nas escolas regulares e uma formação continuada sistemática e específica a cada situação vivida pelos professores, alunos e comunidade. / This master's degree final paper approaches the theme of school inclusion. It investigates through qualitative approach the difficulties that arise upon including mentally challenged students registered in regular schools, and that cause them to subsequently join schools for "special children". Starting with the assumption that more and more physically or mentally challenged students are being registered in regular schools, it was tried to find out what measures are taken by regular schools that encourage or discourage a quality inclusion process for students diagnosed as being mentally ill. This study took 3 mentally challenged students who currently attend a school for children with special needs, but coming from a regular "so called" inclusive school, i.e., students with some experience in regular school life. Starting from the school background of these students, it was possible to spot the regular schools they had attended. Then it was investigated the factors contributing for their admission into special education system. Studying the focused problem enabled us to find out how the inclusion process of these students took place, as well as what caused their leaving the regular schools; this, in turn, stimulated the reflection upon new proposals and new measures, preventing the same from happening again with new students, which might again trigger the exclusion process. It was concluded that teachers do not deny to participate in the inclusion proposal; in fact, there is a fear of not knowing how to act and what to do to promote the cognitive development of these students. It was also concluded that the "so called" inclusive schools present many gaps in their practices concerning mentally challenged students, shown in the lack of teacher preparation and of material resources that teachers and included students faced. Including mentally ill students is still a challenge for regular schools, and as such, it is subject to constant reflections, constructions and reconstructions along the process. It was clearly shown the need for further discussions, studies, research and measures regarding this issue both in special and regular schools, and a continuous, systematic and specific preparation for each situation experienced by teachers, students and community.

As politicas de apoio a criancas com Transtornos do Neurodesenvolvimento precisam que seus cuidadores sejam responsaveis por prover o ensino especial necessario para o manejo dos problemas de comportamento e evitar que sejam objeto de rejeicao social em funcao de seus deficits comportamentais. Essa carga de trabalho pode acarretar impacto a saude mental e qualidade de vida dos cuidadores e justifica a importancia de estudos voltados para o mapeamento de tais dificuldades, afim de sustentar propostas de prevencao e intervencao destinadas a este publico. Este estudo, de corte transversal, teve como objetivo identificar associacoes entre os problemas de comportamento de criancas com Transtornos do Neurodesenvolvimento e a saude mental e qualidade de seus cuidadores, alem de descrever as praticas parentais educativas utilizadas. A amostra foi composta por 91 diades cuidadorescriancas. Todas as criancas (idade entre 3 e 18 anos) estavam matriculadas em escolas da rede publica do municipio de Barueri-SP como aluno com necessidade educacional especial e apresentavam laudo diagnostico de Deficiencia Intelectual (DI) idiopatica, Transtorno do Espectro Autista ou Sindrome de Down comorbido com DI. Para a avaliacao comportamental infantil foi empregada a Escala de Comportamentos Aberrantes, o Inventario de Problemas de Comportamento e o Inventario dos Comportamentos de Criancas e Adolescentes. Para a avaliacao dos cuidadores, aplicou-se o Inventario de Autoavaliacao para Adultos de 18 a 59 anos, o Instrumento abreviado de avaliacao de qualidade de vida (WHOQOL-Bref) e o World-Safe CORE para as praticas parentais. As analises demonstram nao haver diferenca na saude mental do cuidador em funcao do diagnostico de seu filho. A avaliacao comportamental dos cuidadores evidenciou que suas dificuldades internalizantes foram as areas mais impactadas pelos problemas de comportamento infantis. Entre 3,4% e 20% da variancia dos indicadores de saude mental dos cuidadores foi significativamente explicada pelas queixas externalizantes da crianca, especialmente hiperatividade e agressividade, e as dificuldades internalizantes infantis, principalmente o retraimento. As dificuldades comportamentais infantis nao foram preditores da qualidade de vida total dos cuidadores. Ja a frequencia de comportamento agressivo da crianca foi preditor do Dominio Psicologico do WHOQOLBref. Quanto as praticas parentais, muitos reportaram utilizar metodos coercitivos para tentar controlar o comportamento de seus filhos. As queixas internalizantes dos cuidadores, especialmente Ansiedade/ Depressao e Queixas Somaticas, devem ser alvo de atencao das iniciativas em saude. Assim propostas de intervencao para melhoria da saude mental poderiam ser destinadas a todos os cuidadores independente do diagnostico clinico de seus filhos, dado que muitos reportaram o uso de estrategias coercitivas e que seus problemas de comportamento sao similares / Policies to support children with Neurodevelopmental Disorders need their caregivers to be responsible for providing the special education in order to manage behavioral problems and avoid social rejection due to their child behavioral difficulties. This caregiver\'s workload can impact one\'s mental health and quality of life therefore supporting the importance of studies aimed to investigate this impact in order to support prevention and intervention programs for this specific public. This crosssectional study aimed to identify associations between the behavioral problems of children with Neurodevelopmental Disorders and the mental health and quality of life of their caregivers, as well as to describe their parental practices. The sample consisted of 91 caregiver and child. All children (Aged between 3 and 18 years) were enrolled in public schools in the city of Barueri-SP as students with special educational needs and diagnostic reports of Idiopathic Intellectual Disability (ID), Autism Spectrum Disorder and Down Syndrome comorbid with ID. For the child\'s behavioral assessment, the following questionnaires were used: Aberrant Behavior Checklist, Behavior Problems Inventory and Child Behavior Checklist. For the caregiver\'s evaluation were used the Adult Self-Report, the World Health Organization Quality of Life Instruments (WHOQOL-Bref) and the World-Safe CORE for parental practices. The analysis shows that there is no difference in the caregiver\'s mental health due to their child\'s diagnosis. The caregiver\'s behavioral evaluation demonstrated that their internalizing difficulties are the most impacted area due to their children\'s behavioral problems. Between 3.4% and 20% of the variance on the caregiver\'s assessment were significantly predicted by child\'s externalizing complaints, mainly hyperactivity and aggressiveness, and the child\'s internalizing difficulties, especially social withdrawal. Caregiver\'s overall quality of life were not predicted by child\'s behavioral difficulties, whereas the frequency of child\'s aggressive behavior predicts 4% of variance on the Psychological Domain of WHOQOL-Bref. Regarding parental practices, many caregivers reported the use of coercive methods to try to control their children\'s behavior. Caregiver\'s internalizing problems, especially Anxiety/ Depression and Somatic Complaints, should be addressed by health initiatives. Thus, interventions for improving mental health could be targeted to all caregivers regardless their child\'s clinical diagnosis, given that many of them have reported using coercive measures and the similarity of their behavioral problems

The ability to participate in adequate relationships with peers and with adults is highlighted in research as important for all children’s development and learning. Research also shows that children who have difficulties with social interactions may be excluded from the peer group social context, if observant adults do not take an active and supportive role to facilitate peer interactions. To ensure that all children regardless of needs nor disability are given the opportunity to develop and learn, the preschool systematically and continuously needs to evaluate how they operate with the task of supporting children’s social relationships and participation. Inclusive Classroom Profile (ICP) is a structured observation rating scale developed recently in the UK and used in several contexts (i.e. United States) to measure quality in inclusive preschool settings based on twelve areas that are particularly important to consider for children with special educational needs.The aim of this study is to analyse and discuss two of the twelve contents of the ICP program, and to investigate its usefulness in the Swedish preschool. These contents are adult relationships with children and adult support in child interactions with peers. This study is a part of a project called Play and interaction for all children in inclusive preschool environments, initiated by the Department of Special Education, Stockholm University. The study is based on a qualitative research approach and is based on interviews with five preschool teachers and four observations in preschool learning environments.The result shows that the ICP can be a tool for development of an inclusive early childhood program in a Swedish context, both as a self-assessment tool and as a quality improvement tool. The two areas that have been estimated in the ICP have been perceived as relevant to the studies participants because of its importance for children`s development and its correlation with the Swedish preschool curriculum. However, there are certain concepts and formulations in the ICP that has brought objections during the interviews, for example, adults consistently ignore children´s efforts to interact with peers and adults consistently ignore children´s effort to interact with peers. Based on these reports, it seems that some formulations should be adapted or explained in the comments. The assessments made through the ICP make it possible to capture shifts in the quality of interactions that take place in the various inclusive activities. The quality differences have been made visible and evident by the ICP tool. This indicates that the ICP may be useful to estimate and evaluate operations, both in order to make improvements and also to reduce shortcomings in the learning environments. This is an important goal to achieve, especially considering that an equitable preschool with good quality may have a great impact for children in vulnerable situations.

The ability to participate in adequate relationships with peers and with adults is highlighted in research as important for all children’s development and learning. Research also shows that children who have difficulties with social interactions may be excluded from the peer group social context, if observant adults do not take an active and supportive role to facilitate peer interactions. To ensure that all children regardless of needs nor disability are given the opportunity to develop and learn, the preschool systematically and continuously needs to evaluate how they operate with the task of supporting children’s social relationships and participation. Inclusive Classroom Profile (ICP) is a structured observation rating scale developed recently in the UK and used in several contexts (i.e. United States) to measure quality in inclusive preschool settings based on twelve areas that are particularly important to consider for children with special educational needs.The aim of this study is to analyse and discuss two of the twelve contents of the ICP program, and to investigate its usefulness in the Swedish preschool. These contents are adult relationships with children and adult support in child interactions with peers. This study is a part of a project called Play and interaction for all children in inclusive preschool environments, initiated by the Department of Special Education, Stockholm University. The study is based on a qualitative research approach and is based on interviews with five preschool teachers and four observations in preschool learning environments. The result shows that the ICP can be a tool for development of an inclusive early childhood program in a Swedish context, both as a self-assessment tool and as a quality improvement tool. The two areas that have been estimated in the ICP have been perceived as relevant to the studies participants because of its importance for children`s development and its correlation with the Swedish preschool curriculum. However, there are certain concepts and formulations in the ICP that has brought objections during the interviews, for example, adults consistently ignore children´s efforts to interact with peers and adults consistently ignore children´s effort to interact with peers. Based on these reports, it seems that some formulations should be adapted or explained in the comments. The assessments made through the ICP make it possible to capture shifts in the quality of interactions that take place in the various inclusive activities. The quality differences have been made visible and evident by the ICP tool. This indicates that the ICP may be useful to estimate and evaluate operations, both in order to make improvements and also to reduce shortcomings in the learning environments. This is an important goal to achieve, especially considering that an equitable preschool with good quality may have a great impact for children in vulnerable situations. / Inkluderande Lärandemiljöer och Tidiga Insatser

TITLE: Teaching English and Pupils with Special Educational Needs AUTHOR: Janka Kociánová DEPARTMENT: Department of Special Education SUPERVISOR: PhDr. Lenka Felcmanová, Ph.D. ABSTRACT: The thesis deals with the teaching of English of pupils with special educational needs, focusing on pupils with specific learning disabilities (SLD). The issue of pupils with SLD and didactics of English language are described in the theoretical part. The aim of the practical part was to find out how pupils with SLD are taught English in primary schools, which forms of education, the most frequently aids (textbooks, materials, etc.) and methods are used. Quantitative as well as qualitative methods were chosen for the research - the questionnaire survey (the questionnaire for teachers), aids and analysis of materials, interviews with teachers and case studies. On the basis of the obtained data, the effectiveness of the various activities is evaluated and a list of the recommended teaching aids, materials and resources is presented. KEYWORDS: English, dyslexia, Foreign Language, special educational needs, specific learning difficulties

This research focuses on the perception of the learning support teacher regarding the use of play therapy with learners with special educational needs. The purpose of the research was to determine the perception of learning support educators regarding the utilization of play therapy as an aid with foundation phase learners with special educational needs. In order to achieve this purpose, information was gathered and a theoretical framework drawn up through an extensive literature study in consultation with experts. An empirical study was conducted by means of in-depth interviews with ten different learning support educators, in order to obtain empirical information. The researcher worked from an applied research perspective to attempt to use this newly gained practical information to determine whether play therapy could be utilized to help the learner with special educational needs. The researcher made use of an exploratory research design and the following research question formed the basis of the study: What is the perception of the learning support educator regarding the value of using play therapy as a form of aid with the foundation phase learner having special educational needs? Flowing from the empirical information gleaned during the interview schedule the following points emerged: · Learning support educators identify emotional, social, behavioural, family and academic problems, as well as other forms of trauma, associated with the learner who has special educational needs; · The learning support educator regards it as his or her task to refer problems connected to the learner and the learner’s family, where such problems are outside of his or her field of expertise. · The learning support educator has both positive and negative perceptions, as well as misconceptions regarding play therapy; and · The learning support educator has a need for a working relationship with the play therapist in the assistance of the learner with special educational needs. The research has therefore shown that the learning support educator has a positive perception regarding the utilization of play therapy with the foundation phase learner with special educational needs. / Dissertation (MSD (Play Therapy))--University of Pretoria, 2006. / Social Work and Criminology / unrestricted