Supervisors info:
Ευδοξία Ντεροπούλου-Ντέρου, Επίκουρη Καθηγήτρια, Σχολή Επιστημών της Αγωγής, Τμήμα Εκπαίδευσης και Αγωγής στην Προσχολική Ηλικία, Εθνικό και Καποδιστριακό Πανεπιστήμιο Αθηνών
Summary:
Research with children in recent years gives another perspective and approach to the concept of disability and diversity. The value of children's perceptions is crucial as they are the means to radically change society from the womb, school (Cook-Sather, 2014).
The present study researches pupil’s view regarding disability. Pupils through a pleasant activity that took place in their classrooms, were asked to give us their answers either by drawing, writing or both ways, choosing the way themselves.
The research is concerned to be a quality research with research tool an activity paper in which there is an open activity according to which students are asked to answer what they know about disability and deposit their perceptions of it. The sample consists of one hundred fourteen (114) students of a public elementary school in the prefecture of Attica and was chosen by the convenience sampling method, as the entrance in this school unit was more convenient.
The method of analysis of the research findings is based on the analysis of the content of the drawings and the written comments of the pupils. Follow the axial coding, with the words and sentences or the basic characteristics of the drawings to be grouped in the same category and considered to describe the same meaning.
Findings demonstrate a variety of views. The majority of children believe that disability is a great problem or disease, while most of the students mainly refer to physical disabilities and also refer to people who use a wheelchair. The analysis of their written speech also shows that children approach the conditions of disability and diversity in a deficit, while in their drawings there seems to be a match of the terms. Finally, pupils seem to recognize the constraints imposed by society on people with disabilities, with drawings and comments to speak of marginalization and exclusion.
Key - words: perceptions of primary school pupil’s, disability, impairment, diversity.
Keywords:
perceptions of primary school pupil’s, disability, impairment, diversity
