Summary:
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the opinions of special and general preschool
teachers regarding the evaluation process, its goals and purposes, the involvement of
children in relation to the Analytical Program. All of this is examined in relation to the
practices and forms of assessment proposed in the Curriculum in order to establish whether
the teachers know and apply them in their classroom.
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This is a qualitative research for which it was deemed necessary to use the semi-structured
interview as a data collection tool, and more specifically, the pre-made semi-structured
interview guide which contained five thematic sections. More specifically, the first thematic
axis refers to the theoretical approaches of the curriculum where the teachers were asked to
give a definition in relation to the curriculum and to formulate their opinions regarding the
separation of general and special curriculum but and the existence of different curriculums
for each disability.
Then, in the second thematic axis, the interviewees were asked about their opinions about
inclusive education and who it concerns, while in the fourth axis they talked about the
subject of educational evaluation, its purposes and the degree of participation of the
students themselves in the process she. Finally, in the fifth and last axis, the teachers list the
difficulties they face and whether there are prospects for improvement.
Furthermore, thematic analysis was used as a data analysis method. Eight kindergarten
teachers who work in Athens participated in the interviews and the selection of the sample
was based on the available sample method, according to which the researcher selects
people who can be approached more easily for the research, that is, people who are more
opportune.
Finally, from the analysis it emerged that the teachers as a whole treat the curriciculum as a
compass, a package of knowledge, while in the question concerning the separation or not of
the Analytical Programs for each disability, most of them were in favor of it.
Such a view unquestionably refers to a medically-directed treatment of children where the
degree and type of disability determine their degree of participation in the educational
process and therefore also the type of PA they will be able to follow. With reference now to
the term integration and inclusive education, it seems as if the interviewees have a correct
understanding of the term since they talk about acceptance of diversity, equal opportunities,
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something that raises questions below since it is not consistent with the way they deal with
the evaluation process. The findings show that the teachers' perceptions of assessment are
intertwined with the concept of success and specifically with whether the goals were
achieved and the identification of the children's cognitive level. While below they give
through their answers regarding the ways they apply the evaluation the profile of a
reflective teacher, it is something that again comes into conflict with what they mentioned
in previous thematic sections.
In summary, through their responses it is evident that their views on different issues tend to
be conflicting and confusing.
Keywords:
Key Words: curriculum, traditional and alternative methods of assessment, inclusive education, inclusive assessment, preschool education
