Comparison of the treatment of children with learning disabilities in Slovenia and Croatia

Učne težave pri učencih se včasih že zelo zgodaj pokažejo v šolivplivajo lahko na učenčevo počutje v šoli, na njegov občutek lastne kompetentnosti, na odnose s sošolci, šolsko uspešnost. Povedano drugače: vplivajo na njegovo celotno življenje in nenehno ustvarjajo občutek ne tako svetle prihodnosti, saj imajo dolgoročno negativni vpliv na različna področja njegovega življenja. Da bi zmanjšala tveganje, šola tem učencem ponuja različne vrste pomoči, ki se od države do države razlikujejo, čeprav obstajajo smernice, ki niso odvisne le od zakonodaje ene države, temveč so širše usklajene s svetovnimi trendi, deklaracijami, konvencijami idr. Kljub zakonodaji, načrtovanim konceptom dela in smernicam se ovire, ki se pojavijo zaradi razhajanja med zakonodajo in dejansko prakso v vzgojno izobraževalnem delu, včasih ne zmanjšajo v pričakovani meri. V pričujočem magistrskem delu preučujemo stališča o kakovosti izvedbe individualiziranih programov strokovne pomoči ter raziskujemo, ali obstajajo razlike v zakonodaji in praksi med sosednjima državama Slovenijo in Hrvaško. Preučili smo tudi sociološke dejavnike, ki povečujejo tveganje za nastanek in razvoj specifičnih učnih težav v času otrokovega razvoja ter šolanja. V delu smo najprej predstavili teoretično ozadje osnovnošolske zakonodaje v vsaki državi posebej, nato smo primerjali zgodovinske razlike med državama pri obravnavi otrok s posebnimi potrebami, preučevali pojavnost otrok z učnimi težavami, raziskovali smo tudi, kako je vsaka država oblikovala načine strokovne pomoči, individualizirane programe in prilagoditve za učence. Rezultati empirične raziskave, v kateri je sodelovalo 182 slovenskih in hrvaških osnovnošolskih učiteljic ter učiteljev, so pokazali pomembne razlike med državama. Hrvaški učitelji so izkazali večjo podporo inkluzivnemu pristopu k učencem z učnimi težavami, medtem ko so slovenski učitelji potrdili boljšo kakovost sistemov podpore za učence z učnimi težavami. Naši rezultati so primerljivi s finančnimi pogoji v obeh državah ter ostalimi dejavniki, ki so vplivali na razvoj sistemov podpore in kažejo smer razvoja inkluzije učencev z učnimi težavami v obeh državah.Learning difficulties often appear very early when students start attending schoolthey can affect student’s emotional state, his/her sense of personal competence, relationships with classmates and success at school. In other words, those difficulties influence student’s entire life and, having a long-term negative effect on its various parts, they continuously produce an impression of a not so bright future. In order to lower those risks, the school offers various kinds of help, which differs among many countries. Nevertheless, there are some general guidelines independent of one country’s legislation, but coordinated with world trends, declarations, conventions etc. However, as a result of divergence between legislation and everyday practice within the educational field, certain obstacles that appear are not dealt with properly. In the present master’s thesis, the quality of the performed individualized programmes for professional help are analized. We also research differences of legislation and practical work between two neighbour countries – Slovenia and Croatia. We have also studied sociological factors which increase the risk of appearance and develoment of specific learning diffculties during child’s development and education. The first part of the thesis deals with theoretical background of primary school legislation of each of the countries individually. Furthermore, we also examined the historical differences between the two countries treating special needs children, analized the incidence of special needs children and researched the methods each of the countries used for developing professional help, individualized programmes and adjustments for students. The empirical research results, which 182 both Slovenian and Croatian primary school teachers participated in, showed important differences between the two countries. Croatian teachers demonstrated higher support to inclusive approach to pupils with learning difficulties, while Slovenian teachers revealed better student support system quality. Our results correspond to financial situations of the two countries and show the direction in which the inclusion of the students with learning difficulties is being developed