Collaboration among kindergarten programmes

Otroci s posebnimi potrebami (OPP) so glede na stopnjo njihovih primanjkljajev in pomoči, ki jo potrebujejo, v skladu z Zakonom o usmerjanju otrok s posebnimi potrebami (ZUOPP-1) usmerjeni v različne programe, določa pa se tudi prehajanje med programi na šolski in predšolski ravni. Strokovnjaki spodbujajo k prakticiranju čim bolj prožnih oblik prehajanja tudi pri skupinah OPP v prilagojenih vzgojno-izobraževalnih programih, ki so v ločenih oddelkih vrtca in šole. Strokovni delavci naj bi tako načrtovali dejavnosti, s katerimi se spodbuja socialna interakcija med otroki, oblikuje inkluzivna klima in razvijajo nove oblike in metode poučevanja, ter na ta način skrbeli za kakovostno vzgojo in izobraževanje ter zagotavljali možnosti za optimalen razvoj posameznika. Za raznolike oblike inkluzivno in integracijsko naravnanih dejavnosti v literaturi zasledimo različne izraze (npr. prehajanje, druženje), ki jih bomo zaradi boljše preglednosti zajeli v širši izraz povezovanje med programi. Glede na spodbude stroke k izvajanju prožnih oblik prehajanja nas je zanimalo, na kakšen način povezovanje poteka v praksi. V magistrskem delu se osredotočamo na povezovanje med programi na področju predšolske vzgoje. V teoretičnem delu so predstavljene ključne teoretične vsebine, pomembne za razumevanje tematike (vzgojno-izobraževalni programi, inkluzija, integracija, otrokov razvoj, vloga vrstnikov, vplivi povezovanja), v empiričnem delu pa se osredotočamo na raziskovanje uresničevanja povezovanja med programi predšolske vzgoje v praksi. S pomočjo anketnega vprašalnika, namenjenega strokovnim delavcem vrtca, smo raziskovali pojavne oblike in pogostost povezovanja med prilagojenim programom predšolske vzgoje in med programom predšolske vzgoje v slovenskih vrtcih. Ugotavljali smo, kateri dejavniki na to lahko vplivajo, katere prednosti, ovire in potrebe pri izvajanju povezovanja zaznavajo strokovni delavci ter kakšna je njihova naravnanost do povezovanja. V raziskavi je sodelovalo skupno 90 vzgojiteljic in pomočnic vzgojiteljice (v nadaljevanju strokovne delavke) iz 17 enot slovenskih vrtcev, v katerih imajo tudi oddelek s prilagojenim programom predšolske vzgoje. Vprašalnik so izpolnjevale strokovne delavke iz oddelkov s prilagojenim programom predšolske vzgoje ter strokovne delavke iz tistih oddelkov predšolske vzgoje, s katerimi se znotraj enote največ povezujejo. Raziskava je pokazala, da se večina oddelkov povezuje spontano na dnevni ravni, združevanje oddelkov pri načrtovanih dejavnostih pa največkrat poteka enkrat ali dvakrat mesečno. Večina se povezuje tudi priložnostno pri dnevih dejavnosti in projektih, druge oblike povezovanja pa izvaja manj oddelkov. Pobuda za izvajanje povezovanja je največkrat na strani vzgojiteljic obeh oddelkov ali pa na strani vzgojiteljice oddelka s prilagojenim programom predšolske vzgoje, prav tako načrtovanje dejavnosti povezovanja. Skozi celotno raziskavo najbolj izstopa dejavnik izobrazbe oziroma strokovnega znanja, ki se pri četrtini anketiranih pokaže kot ena najpomembnejših ovir, več kot polovica pa jo označi kot pomembno potrebo. Ugotovili smo veliko razlik v odgovorih med skupinami strokovnih delavk glede na izobrazbo, oddelek, v katerem delajo, in glede na delovno dobo. To kaže na pomembnost tako strokovnega znanja kot izkušenj z OPP za uresničevanje dobre prakse povezovanja. Strokovne delavke so navedle tudi veliko primerov dobre prakse, npr. povezovanje v različnih projektih (Igraj se z mano), skupna praznovanja rojstnih dni, igralni dnevi (združevanje obeh oddelkov) in podobno.Children with special needs are, depending on the level of their deficits and needed assistance, in accordance with the Law on the Placement of Children with Special Needs (ZUOPP-1), directed into various programs. A transition between programs at school and pre-school level is also determined. Experts encourage flexible transitions also with groups of children in special educational programs, which are in separate sections of kindergarten and school. Practitioners should also plan activities to promote social interaction among children, create an inclusive climate and develop new forms and methods of teaching, thus ensuring quality education and providing opportunities for the optimal development of the individual. For diverse forms of inclusive and integrative oriented activities in literature there are different expressions (e.g. transition, socializing), which will be captured for greater transparency in the broader term collaboration among programmes. Given the urging of the profession for the implementation of flexible forms of transition, we were interested in how integration takes place in practice. In this thesis we focus on the integration between the programs in the field of early childhood education. The theoretical part presents the key theoretical content relevant for the understanding of the issue (educational programs, inclusion, integration, child development, the role of peer influence, the effects of integration), the empirical part focuses on researching the realization of integration between the programs of preschool education in practice. With the help of a questionnaire aimed at kindergarten employees, we studied the forms and frequency of collaboration among the special program of preschool education and the early childhood education program in Slovenian kindergartens. We investigated which factors affect this, what are the constraints and needs in the implementation of integration that the practitioners perceive and what is their attitude towards integration. The study involved a total of 90 teachers and teacher assistants (hereinafter referred to as professional workers) from 17 units of Slovenian kindergartens, that have a department with a special program of preschool education. Questionnaires were filled out by professional workers from departments with special needs pre-school education and professional workers from those departments of preschool education that are the most connected. The survey showed that most departments connect spontaneously on a daily basis but merging departments in planned activities usually takes place once or twice a month. Many of them connect casually every day in activities and projects, other forms of integration are used by fewer departments. The initiative for the implementation of integration and the planning of activities is usually on the side of teachers of both departments, or on the side of teachers of special needs pre-school education. Throughout the survey the most notable factor that stands out is education or expertise, that a quarter of respondents show as one of the most important barriers, more than half said that it is an important need. We found a lot of differences in answers between groups of professional workers according to education, department in which they work and seniority, which shows the importance of both expertise and experience with children with special needs for the realization of integration. Professional workers also cited many examples of good integration practice, for example. integration in different projects (Igraj se z mano), joint birthday celebrations, gaming days (bringing together two departments) and the like