Katarzyna Ćwikrynało

25 years of functioning of the Education Act. Tendencies in educating students with special educational needs

The paper presents the changes that have taken place in the education of students with special educational needs in the last 25 years after the introduction of the “new” Education Act in 1991. In the article the authors analyze the changes that have taken place in the terminology used to describe these students and the educational offer that has been created for them. The paper shows that this was the time working out a wider range of support for students manifesting a variety of special needs. The opportunities to use a varied education, including the integration / inclusion have been expanded. Quantitative effect of these changes can be seen when one takes into account the number of students with disabilities in different types of schools, with a tendency to increase in mainstream and integrative schools and decrease in special schools (especially at the primary level).

Choć rośnie zainteresowanie kwestiami płci w studiach nad niepełnosprawnością, wciąż niewiele jest badań dotyczących kobiecości bądź męskości w kontekście niepełnosprawności intelektualnej. Przedmiotem analiz w prezentowanych badaniach jest percepcja kobiecości przedstawiana przez kobiety z niepełnosprawnością intelektualną włączone w ruch self-adwokatury. Badania zostały przeprowadzone w trzech miastach w północno-wschodniej Polsce i wzięły w nich udział trzy grupy kobiet od 6 do 9 osób (w sumie 21 kobiet w wieku 21–60 lat). Zastosowaną metodą gromadzenia danych był wywiad fokusowy. Główne problemy badawcze brzmiały: 1) jak kobiety z niepełnosprawnością intelektualną postrzegają swoją kobiecość? 2) w jakich kontekstach rozpatruj ą własne bycie kobietą? Wyniki badań pokazują istnienie u badanych identyfikacji z własną płcią oraz dostrzeganie różnorodnych aspektów związanych zarówno ze sferą fizyczną, jak i społeczną bycia kobietą. Kobiecość rozpatrywana jest w kontekście wypełnianych ról społecznych, cech (zewnętrznych i wewnętrznych) oraz zestawiana z męskością, jako drugim biegunem płciowości. Postrzeganie kobiecości jest wyraźnie inspirowane doświadczeniami własnymi oraz wzorcami występującymi w najbliższym otoczeniu. Wyniki wskazujące na dużą świadomość badanych kobiet z niepełnosprawnością intelektualną można tłumaczyć przynależnością do grupy self-adwokatów, w której samoświadomość uczestniczek jest intencjonalnie rozbudowywana.

Femininity as defined by females with intellectual disability – a focus group research report

Although there is a growing interest in the issues of gender in disability studies, there has been little research on femininity or masculinity in the context of intellectual disability. The paper focuses on the perception of femininity presented by female self-advocates with intellectual disabilities. The research was conducted in three towns in north-eastern Poland with three focus groups of females who took part in focus interviews (a total amount of participants – 21 women aged of 21–60). The main research question was: how do females with intellectual disabilities conceptualize femininity? In which contexts do they consider their own femininity? The findings show that the participants identify themselves with their gender and acknowledge various aspects of femininity connected both with the physical and social sphere. Femininity was perceived in the context of fulfilling social roles, traits (appearance and personality) and compared with masculinity. The perception of femininity by the participants was evidently inspired by their own experiences and patterns occurring in their surroundings. The results, which showed a high level of gender identity of female participants with intellectual disabilities, could be explained by belonging to the groups of self-advocates in which the participants’ self-awareness is intentionally developed.

Integrative school teachers’ opinions about education of children with emotional and behavioral difficulties

The article presents the problem of teachers’ perception of education of children with emotional and behavioral difficulties / emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD). The research was conducted among teachers (N = 90) working in schools with integrative classes (elementary school, middle school and high school). In the study a  iagnostic survey method was used. The aim of the study was to find out how teachers view the education of children with behavioral and emotional difficulties in mainstream and special classes, as well as whether they need support in teaching a child with this type of problems. The findings show a high degree of openness of teachers towards educating a student with EBD in an integrative / mainstream class as well as perceiving the positive effects of their education with typically developing students. The respondents were less supportive towards the idea of placing such students in special classes. Furthermore, they are open to acquiring knowledge and new skills that would contribute to a better education and care of a student with EBD.