Attitudes of preschool teachers toward inclusive education of preschool children with visual impairments

U radu su razmatrani stavovi vaspitača prema uključivanju dece sa oštećenjem vida u predškolske ustanove za decu tipičnog razvoja. Uzorak u istraživanju je činilo 125 vaspitačica zaposlenih u predškolskim ustanovama na teritoriji grada Beograda. Analizirali smo njihov odnos prema inkluziji dece sa oštećenjem vida i povezanost tog odnosa sa godinama života, dužinom rada u struci, prethodnim iskustvom u radu sa decom sa oštećenjem vida, trenutnim prisustvom deteta sa oštećenjem vida u grupi i obukom za rad u inkluzivnom vrtiću posmatranom kroz broj sati provedenih na seminarima. U istraživanju je korišćen Upitnik za procenu stavova vaspitača prema inkluziji. Analizom dobijenih rezultata možemo zaključiti da vaspitači imaju pretežno negativne stavove prema inkluziji dece sa oštećenjem vida. To posebno potvrđuje stepen neslaganja sa tvrdnjama koje su vezane za spremnost, voljnost i kompetentnost za rad sa decom sa oštećenjem vida. Iskustvo u radu sa decom sa oštećenjem vida pokazalo se kao značajan činilac koji utiče na stavove prema inkluziji i ti stavovi zahtevaju detaljnu analizu u odnosu na ponuđene tvrdnje. Dobijeni rezultati pokazuju da postoji niz nedostataka na planu pripreme inkluzivne sredine u vrtićima i obezbeđivanju uslova za inkluziju dece sa oštećenjem vida predškolskog uzrasta.The paper discusses the attitudes of preschool teachers toward the inclusion of children with visual impairments in preschool institutions for typically developing children. The sample consisted of 125 female preschool teachers from preschool institutions in Belgrade. We analyzed their attitude toward the inclusion of visually impaired children and the relation of their attitudes to age, length of professional career, previous experience in working with visually impaired children, presence of a visually impaired child in the group, and training in working in inclusive preschool institutions observed through the number of hours at seminars. Questionnaire for Assessing Attitudes of Preschool Teachers Toward Inclusion was used in this research. The results indicate that preschool teachers generally have negative attitudes toward the inclusion of children with visual impairments. This is especially confirmed by the degree of disagreement with the assumptions related to their readiness, willingness, and competence to work with visually impaired children. Experience in working with visually impaired children has proved to be a significant factor which influences the attitudes toward inclusion, and these attitudes need to be analyzed in detail with regard to the offered assumptions. The obtained results show that there are a number of drawbacks to preparing inclusive environment in preschool institutions and meeting the requirements of including preschool children with visual impairments