Attitudes of mainstream school students towards students with visual impairment

Inkluzivno obrazovanje jedno je od najznačajnijih izazova i inicijativa u obrazovanju s kojim se susreću obrazovne zajednice širom svijeta (Sharma, Forlin i Loreman, 2008, prema Martan, 2018), a i Hrvatska gdje je proces inkluzije u obrazovanju započeo devedesetih godina prošlog stoljeća (Wagner Jakab, Lisak, Cvitković, 2016). Inkluzija podrazumijeva prilagodbu i otvorenost obrazovnog sustava svim učenicima; bez obzira na vrstu i stupanj poteškoće, kulturu kojoj pripadaju, materinji jezik ili neku drugu različitost (Kranjčec Mlinarić, Ţic Ralić i Lisak, 2016). Stavovi, mišljenja, uvjerenja i predrasude svih onih koji su uključeni u proces inkluzije su vaţni jer o njima ovise oblici svakodnevne interakcije s učenicima s teškoćama u razvoju (Sajković, 2006). Učenici s teškoćama nisu uvijek dobro prihvaćeni od strane svojih vršnjaka (Igrić i sur., 2015), zbog čega je moguće da će se učenici s teškoćama osjećati usamljenima, izoliranima, napuštenima, pa čak i nepoţeljnima (Sajković, 2006). Istraţivanja o stavovima vršnjaka prema učenicima s oštećenjem vida je vrlo malo, a ona koja postoje provedena su osamdesetih i devedesetih godina prošlog stoljeća. Cilj ovog istraţivanja bio je dobiti uvid u stavove učenika redovne osnovne škole bez oštećenja vida prema učenicima oštećena vida. U istraţivanju je sudjelovalo 83 učenika redovne osnovne škole bez oštećenja vida, od kojih je njih 17 pohaĎalo drugi razred, 53 šesti razred te njih 13 osmi razred osnovne škole. Za prikupljanje podataka korišten je Anketni list za procjenu stavova učenika redovne škole prema odgojno-obrazovnoj integraciji učenika oštećena vida (autora M. Oberman-Babić, V.Knezović, S. Kobešćak). Rezultati istraţivanja pokazuju da učenici redovne škole imaju dominantno pozitivne stavove prema inkluziji učenika oštećena vida. Pokazalo se da razlike u stavovima s obzirom na spol učenika postoje, no one nisu statistički značajne. Statistički značajna razlika s obzirom na dob utvrĎena je kada je riječ o stavovima prema druţenju i pruţanju pomoću učenicima oštećena vida pri čemu učenici šestog razreda imaju najmanje pozitivne stavove. Učenici osmog razreda imaju najpozitivnije stavove prema druţenju, a učenici drugog razreda prema pruţanju pomoći. U posljednja tri područja (stavovi prema pruţanju pomoći učenicima oštećena vida od strane nastavnika, stavovi prema njihovim sposobnostima i generalno prema odgojno-obrazovnoj integraciji) pokazalo se kako ne postoji statistički značajna razlika s obzirom na dob učenika redovne škole.Inclusive education is one of the most significant challenges and initiatives in education faced by educational communities around the world (Sharma, Forlin and Loreman, 2008, according to Martan, 2018), as well as Croatia where the process of inclusion in education began in the 1990s (Wagner Jakab, Lisak, Cvitković, 2016). Inclusion implies adaptation and openness of the educational system to all students, regardless of the type and degree of difficulty, the culture to which they belong, their mother tongue or some other diversity (Kranjčec Mlinarić, Ţic Ralić and Lisak, 2016). The attitudes, opinions, beliefs and prejudices of all those involved in the process of inclusion are important because the forms of everyday interaction with students with disabilities depend on them (Sajković, 2006). Students with disabilities are not always well received by their peers (Igrić et al., 2015), which is why it is possible that students with disabilities will feel lonely, isolated, abandoned, and even undesirable (Sajković, 2006). There is very little research on peer attitudes towards students with visual impairments, and existing ones were conducted in the 1980s and 1990s. The aim of this research was to gain insight into the attitudes of regular primary school students without visual impairment towards impaired students with visual impairment. The study involved 83 students of regular primary school without visual impairment, of whom 17 attended the second grade, 53 sixth grade and 13 eighth grade elementary school. For data collection, the Questionnaire was used to assess the attitudes of regular school students towards the educational integration of visually impaired students (authors M. Oberman-Babić, V. Knezović, S. Kobešćak). The results of the research show that regular school students have predominantly positive attitudes towards the inclusion of visually impaired students. It turned out that differences in attitudes regarding the gender of students exist but they are not statistically significant. A statistically significant difference with regard to age was found when it comes to attitudes towards socializing and providing assistance to visually impaired students, with sixth grade students having the least positive attitudes. Eighth grade students have the most positive attitudes towards socializing, and second grade students towards providing help. In the last three areas (attitudes towards the provision of assistance to visually impaired students by teachers, attitudes towards their abilities and in general towards educational integration) it was shown that there is no statistically significant difference with regard to the age of regular school students