Development of Social Competencies for Inclusion in Initial Education of Teachers/ Razvoj socijalnih kompetencija za inkluziju u okviru inicijalnog obrazovanja učitelja

Abstract

Abstract: The aim of the research was to examine social competencies of teaching faculties’ students, relevant for implementation and improvement of educational inclusion. The research involved 374 students of two teaching faculties in the Republic of Serbia - 207 first year and 171 fourth year students. The applied instrument was designed for the research purposes, composed as a combination of a questionnarie and the Likert-type scale. The results showed that the examined students have positive attitudes towards situations that indicate the existence of empathy and low social distance towards people who are different; they respect diversity and have a sense of social justice; they approach problems of people with disabilities from the position of their constraints. The fourth year students showed more positive attitudes on these issues, which led us to conclude that they have greater social competencies for participation in inclusive education. The results of the research indicate the need for a continuous assessment of students’ competencies for inclusion, which would be the initial step in improvement of differentiated programs that stimulate and develop these competencies.

Key words: empathy; inclusive education; initial education; soial distance; social justice

Sažetak

Cilj istraživanja je ispitati socijalne kompetencije studenata učiteljskih fakulteta, važne za primjenu i poboljšanje obrazovne inkluzije. U istraživanju je sudjelovalo 374 studenta  dvaju učiteljskih fakulteta u Republici Srbiji, 207 studenata prve i 171 studenat četvrte godine. Primijenjeni instrument je konstruisan za potrebe istraživanja i predstavlja  kombinaciju upitnika i Likertove ljestvice. Rezultati pokazuju da ispitani studenti: imaju pozitivne stavove prema situacijama koje ukazuju na postojanje empatije i nisku socijalnu udaljenosti prema osobama koje su različite; poštivaju različitost i imaju osjećaj socijalne pravde; prilaze problemu osoba sa smjetnjama iz pozicije  njihovih ograničenja. Studenti četvrte godine pokazuju više pozitivnih stavova o tim pitanjima, što nas dovodi do zaključka da imaju veće socijalne  kompetencije za sudjelovanje u inkluzivnom obrazovanju. Rezultati istraživanja upućuju na potrebu stalne procjene studentskih kompetencija za inkluziju, što bi bio početni korak u poboljšanju diferenciranih programa koji stimuliraju i razvijaju te kompetencije.

Ključne riječi: empatija; inkluzivno obrazovanje; inicijalno obrazovanje; socijalna distanca; socijalna pravda