Attitudes of typically developing secondary school students towards peers with sensory disabilities

Uvod: Efekti inkluzivnog obrazovanja se često u literaturi sagledavaju kroz stavove učenika tipične populacije prema vršnjacima sa smetnjama i poremećajima, pri čemu veliki broj istraživačkih nalaza sugeriše da neposredni kontakt učenika predstavlja jedan od preduslova za formiranje pozitivnijih stavova. Cilj: Cilj istraživanja je bio da se ispitaju i uporede stavovi učenika tipičnog razvoja u zavisnosti od toga da li pohađaju nastavu sa vršnjacima sa senzornim smetnjama i poremećajima. Metod: Prigodni uzorak za istraživanje činilo je 174 učenika prvog i drugog razreda iz tri srednje škole, od kojih je 52 učenika imalo neposredni kontakt u razredu sa vršnjacima sa senzornim smetnjama i poremećajima. U istraživanju je korišćena Čedok Mekmaster skala za procenu stavova prema osobama sa hendikepom. Interna konzistentnost je utvrđena Kronbahovim alfa koeficijentom i iznosi 0,73 za skalu u celini. Rezultati: Prosečni skorovi dobijeni na skali ukazuju da učenici tipičnog razvoja imaju pozitivne stavove prema vršnjacima sa senzornim smetnjama i poremećajima, ukupan skor iznosi 78,86. Utvrđeno je da postoje veoma male razlike u stavovima srednjoškolaca na skali u celini, njenom kognitivnom i bihevioralnom domenu, dok je jedina razlika pronađena u afektivnom domenu skale, gde su učenici koji su imali kontakt sa vršnjacima sa senzornim smetnjama i poremećajima pokazali značajno viši skor (t=2,473; df=172; p=0,01). Zaključak: Pretežno pozitivni stavovi prema vršnjacima sa senzornim smetnjama i poremećajima ukazuju na pozitivne efekte inkluzivnog obrazovanja, a da li su nastali usled samog prisustva učenika sa senzornim smetnjama i poremećajima ili kroz druženje i zajedničke aktivnosti je otvoreno pitanje za buduća istraživanja.Introduction: The effects of inclusive education in the literature are most often observed through the attitudes of typically developing students towards peers with disabilities where a large number of research findings suggest that direct contact between students is one of the prerequisites for forming more positive attitudes. Aim: The aim of this study was to examine and compare the attitudes of typically developing students depending on direct contacts in classes with peers with sensory disabilities. Method: A convenient sample for the research consisted of 174 first and second grade students from three high schools, of which 52 students had direct contact in class with peers with sensory disabilities. The study used the Chedoke-McMaster scale to assess attitudes toward people with disabilities. Internal consistency was determined by the Cronbach’s alpha coefficient of .73 for the scale as a whole. Results: The average scores obtained on the scale indicate that typically developing students had positive attitudes towards peers with sensory disabilities and the total score was 78.86. It was found that there were very small differences in the attitudes of high school students on the scale as a whole as well as its cognitive and behavioral domain, while the only difference was found in the affective domain of the scale, where students who have peers with sensory disabilities in their immediate surrounding showed significantly higher scores (t=2.473; df=172; p=.01). Conclusion: The majority of positive attitudes towards peers with sensory disabilities indicate a positive effect of inclusive education, and whether that is due to the presence of students with sensory disabilities or socializing and joint activities remains an open question for future research