Knowledge building in special education

The article discusses some unfavourable mechanisms observed in the process of knowledge building in special education. The critical analysis in the text is based on the following points: methodological mistakes in research; the quality of publications in the discipline of special education, including the ways / practices academic handbooks are written and worked out; reviewing monographs and promotion of scientific works.

No outline? About the need of disciplinary self-awareness of special education

Building of disciplinary self-awareness in the field of special education is, as is the case with every science discipline, a historical process. The main field of reference is the idea of discontinuity of sciences, that in the philosophy of sciences has taken not only the form of temporal and epistemological discontinuity, but also that of interdisciplinary discontinuity. Setting the accent on interdisciplinary discontinuity allows us to realize that the disciplines, in their volatility, are not synchronized neither in time, nor the pace of achieving disciplinary maturity, nor the approaches towards dealing with epistemological obstacles. The analysis draws from the premise of broadening boarders of cognitive exploration in special education and focuses on the dangers to special sciences that result from „the obstacle of too broad cognition”. The outline of the discipline’s field is drawn in reference to the category of „disability issues”, which is not clear and does not separate the knowledge about special education from specificity of other disciplines. The reflection is unified by a conviction that the existence of special education (still much less its disciplinary autonomy) is clearly connected to the capacity of the discipline to self-evaluate its ability to create valuable knowledge in new fields.

Dialectics of solicitude and the pedagogical development supporting in the perspective of a “weak thought”: reflexion on the margins of H.-G. Gadamer and G. Vattimo hermeneutic philosophy

Hermeneutical experience of Other is always a kind of ethical experience and can shape the different relations which – according to Gadamer – are the various ways of experiencing of You. The relation rooted in the dialectics of solicitude is a kind of domination act as we be better know who the Other is and what he/she needs. One of the basic goals in the education process is to support the pupils' development but the categories of development and pedagogical support are discursive and polisemantic concepts, constructed in many different educational practices. Pedagogical thinking intensively demands the links between the sphere of “theoretical” interpretations of phenomena and the pragmatic activity area. For the pedagogical praxis the clear, confident, rational and structured knowledge seems to be especially attractive. Knowledge which makes possible to solve the problems and leads to obtain the particular results. All these features shape what we know “strong thought”. While the category of weakness, which constitutes the reflexion characteristic for “weak thought” and inspired by M. Heidegger philosophy, refers to the concept of fortuitousness the existence, thinking and culture. The weak, unconfident, polisemantic and unclear thought, having the liquid borders which blur the clear shapes of concepts, being in a constant movement and exceeding the stable structures of knowledge. This kind of knowledge is not able to give us the unambiguous answers and simple instructions, it does not solve the practical problems and has no power to give the concrete advice ensuring the effective treatment. Such kind of cognitive reflexion seems to be not only inconvenient but simply useless for the educational practice. But going out of the practical activities can provoke the change of quality which can shift our thinking in the direction of multiplicity and heterogeneity logic. It also gives a chance to act in a more conscious way in our everyday, educational work.

Paternalism as a source of dilemmas in the area of special education – the chosen aspects

The paper presents some reflections on a paternalistic approach to people with disabilities that may put the functioning of such individuals at risk. Paternalism, as an authoritarian approach of the physician to the patient, emerged in medicine and is most often analyzed with reference to the medical domain. It should be noted, however, that some activities performed by teachers, therapists and parents limit the autonomy of a child or disabled person. Although such actions undoubtedly aim at important rehabilitative outcomes, they overlook/limit possibilities, desires, and sometimes actually well-being of a person with disability. In this article paternalism is analyzed in three aspects: aim, therapy/rehabilitation and parental approach.

Change, no change, and „Third Space” of disability discourse

This article discusses the analogy between the colonial system and the features of the contemporary disability discourse. In the context of the changes that have already taken place and those   that we still expect and do not follow, I will try to compare the selected assumptions of the contemporary educational system with the features of space limited by the colonial boundaries of freedom and identity of disabled individuals, their depersonalization and subordination. As a possible way to improve, I will try to show the basic assumptions of the Homi K. Bhabha’s concept of the Third Space, extending the still pedagogical boundaries of research into a new area of postcolonial theory.

Phantasm of emancipation? Constructing the sexual discourse of people with intellectual disabilities and the axiological emptiness of subjectivity

This text is intended to show the process of shaping the (anti)subjectivity of people with intellectual disabilities by those who are with them in the educational / therapeutic relationship. By the same token - these activities, centered around the categories of sexuality and constructing them, are some sort of phantasm of emancipation. Emancipation itself is rather an open project and the need for continuous re-definition.

Image of profession in special educators’ perception – ways of defining the term „special educator”

The way of perceiving one’s own profession is a factor connected with the effectiveness of undertaken occupational activities and the starting point for afterthoughts on own professional functioning. Forming this perception is an important challenge during special educators preparation. The purpose of the study is to describe how special educators, working with people with intellectual disability, define the term “special educator”. The article presents definitions, created by the study participants, referring directly to the special educator: her/his attributes and occupational preparation.

Disable person in the globalised world

The article focuses on the main aspects of globalisation as well as selected documents that, within the European Union, guarantee the disabled changes in their life situation. Globalisation is a very complex process which is mainly described as efforts put towards creation of a unified, bordersfree economy. Standardisation of the consumption and the style of living amongst particular societies, is the main feature of globalisation. That phenomena has, certainly, both the positive and the negative aspects. Depriving people of the individual needs, by deluging markets with global products, is of particular concern. Negative aspects of globalisation are still being analysed. Systemic, economy and axiological solutions are being searched for. Knowledge about the disabled, their needs, and the directions countries take is based on multinational documents, such as declarations, conventions or charters. Those ensure that the rights of the disabled are exercised. Not only are they the rights that derive from the documents, but also all the human rights. It is important not to forget about the subjectivity and freedom of a disable individual.

About the superiority of skills over reflection (in the context of student interpretation of matter special pedagogy)

The article discusses the student’s definitions of the matter of special pedagogy. Their analysis points towards two tendencies in student’s thinking. First of them is breaking the connection between thought and action, and show the dominance of methodical orientation, where implementation competences significantly gain in importance at the expense of interpretative competences. In this context the skill’s nature becomes instrumental, reduced to the application of solutions which goals do not depend on people who are acting. The second tendency lies in the recognition of special pedagogy as a scientific subdiscipline, which is to cognise reality and to look for ways to act in it.

Comparing pedagogy and special education students' personality characteristics

This article is an attempt to answer a question whether special education students differ from pedagogy students in terms of personality traits crucial from the point of view of future career. We assume that special education teachers are more exposed to stress in their professional work than other teachers. Therefore the profession of special education teacher requires specific individual resources to cope with stress. Because of that the special education students were expected to show personality traits associated with greater mental resilience. We assume that emotional stability, conscientiousness, extraversion, openness to experience and greater sensitivity to the needs of others (high agreeableness and low cynical hostility) are personality traits associated with higher level of mental resilience. A logistic regression analysis was performed to analyze the relationship between the field of study and the selected characteristics of personality. Total of 355 students participated in the study: 184 pedagogy students and 171 special education students. The traits of the Five-Factor Model of Personality were measured using the Polish version of the Ten Item Personality Inventory (TIPI) questionnaire. Cynical hostility was measured using the Polish version of the Cook-Medley Hostility Inventory – Brief (CMHI Brief) questionnaire. The results of the study showed no differences between education and special education students in terms of the selected personality traits crucial from the point of view of future career.

The value of education in the lives of disabled and able-bodied students

In the article researches were presented which aim is to realize how important education is in the  life of disabled students in specific areas, in the context of selected sociodemographic conditions and considering able-bodied students. The researches were based on survey technique. The results showed that disabled students assign a much more value to independence of life than ablebodies students. Both groups evaluate the quality of educational functioning in the similar way. There are differencies in valuation of the worth of education of disabled students considering their sex, place of residence and kind of developmental disfunction.

Students’ willingness to augmentative and alternative communication in educational and therapeutic activities with a person with speech disorders

The subject of the study is supportive and alternative communication and its importance in educational and therapeutic activities with a person with speech disorders. The article is divided into two parts. The first part discusses the main theoretical assumptions about non-verbal communication from the perspective of special education and speech  therapy. In the second part of the text is devoted to presentation of the results of our own research which eventually attempts to answer the question: how do special education students perceive help in overcoming the communication barriers of people with disabilities?

Perception of people with disabilities by students of social pedagogy with educational care with school pedagogy

The life of a human is based on an active interaction with other people. The right perception of other people plays a vital role in the regulation of the person’s relations with the environment. Understanding other people and the way they are perceived is the foundation of the expectations and allows to predict their specific behaviours. Stereotypes and prejudices accompanying the process of perceiving other people cannot be omitted. Persons with disabilities remain the group of people being especially affected by social stigmatization and therefore the perception of this group of people became a subject of the present article. The work has an empirical character. It presents changes in the perception of people with disabilities by students social pedagogy and educational care with school pedagogy.

The opinions on the creativity of special education students

Creative should be accompanied every person in everyday life. It is inherent in the development of each individual, of any age. Children are naturally creative. However, improperly conducted education can effectively inhibit the spontaneous creativity. Children with various difficulties in development are usually reluctant to take action related to the broadly understood education. Whether the stimulating creativity may mean that classes will be attractive and effective? Definitely yes! So, how special education students understand the creativity and whether it is consistent with the generally accepted views?Howrespondents evaluate their own creative potential? The article is a description of results of research showing the knowledge and opinions about the creativity of students who study of the Special Needs Education in Pedagogical University of Cracow. Special needs educator besides being a competent therapist also should be able to activate their pupils to by creative. In order to fulfill these tasks must know: what it is creativity, who is recognized as a creative person, what are the creative processes and products, and how to stimulate creative thinking their pupils.

Practical training of special educators and integrative education teachers

This article is a reflection on practical training of students of special education. The author presents and discusses the chosen legislation and organizational acts and indicates the basic functions of practical training. Being an integral part of studying, practical training makes students either prepare for future work or creates an opportunity to gain professional experience. The article presents the results of the survey among students of special education; it clearly points out that respondents highly appreciate practical training in all kinds of special institutions

Place of special education in teachers’ training: expectations, opportunities, opinions – the context of legislation acts and school reality

paper presents study of preparing teachers of generally available schools for the inclusive education. It presents legal conditions and compares them with researches amongst teachers – the post-graduate education’s students of the special education and amongst students of nonpedagogic faculty, preparing to the work as teachers. The purpose of research was to know: declared motivations for entertaining the postgraduate study or the teaching education, the opinion on the study of the special education, preferred form of education for students with disabilities. The author used the diagnostic survey, technique of the questionnaire form. Results show that the attitude towards forms of education of pupils with disability can correlate not only with preparing teachers, but also with their motivation to the work with disabled persons. Teachers prefer current, segregation forms of education of pupils with disability. Students have a courage of the work in nonsegregation educational system. They don’t still know the reality of the work as  teachers but they have positive experiences of being pupils of integration classes. Students more willingly study in the special needs education. Teachers aren’t willing for changes disabled pupils require which, but they are motivated by anxiety of loss of the work.

The identity of students from the circle of postmodern culture

The article is an attempt to construct the identity of the academic youth born in the 90s of the 20th – century. It is the youth from the postmodern circle. In the postmodern circle–everything is smooth, fading, deprived of obligations, but with a full possibility of escape from an adverse environment. The model of the identity of this youth – 19–24 years old, oscillates between the moratory morality and the one that is dispersed. The difference between this two models is based on the fact that in the moratory model, life is a constant choice, however this choice is performed from the intrinsic “alternative orientations” and in the dispersed identity the unit does not have a set of intrinsic orientations, it finds the foot holds outside. It can be said that the youth’s postmodern identity (or the students’ identity) very often is dispersed, intrinsically incoherent, reminding disarranged puzzles. It is worth remembering, that “the risk factors of the development of a personality, are connected with the peoples’ actions being significant for the unit in every next period of their childhood and progress of growing up” [Brzezinska 2006, s. 1].