Student Voice: a tool to collect views and opinions about school inclusion by pupils with Down syndrome

Author(s):

Dario Ianes(presenting / submitting)Silver Cappello(presenting)

Conference:

ECER 2015

Network:

04. Inclusive Education

Format:

Paper

Session Information

04 SES 07 A, Inclusive Research and Young People's Perspectives

Paper Session

Time:

2015-09-09

17:15-18:45

Room:

205.Oktatóterem [C]

Chair:

Clare Woolhouse

Contribution

The main aim of this study is the construction and experimentation ofa tool that collects the point of view of pupils with Down syndrome on school inclusion. Their perceptions, satisfaction and expectations will be investigated.

The interest for this issue arises from two relevant aspects in inclusive education research. The first one refers to the Italian context and its need to develop deeper and more reliable research outcomes about school inclusion. The second one refers both to the national and to the European context and it is the importance of giving voice to the protagonists of educational processes in educational research.

School inclusion has in Italy a history lasting by now forty years, but only in very recent times research data about its quality have been produced. Some studies have investigated general structural aspects of the school system and its inclusive politics, quantitative data often produced by school heads or by administrative staff have been collected (Gherardini and Nocera, 2000; INVALSI, 2006; ISTAT, 2012, 2013, 2014). Although the importance of the student voice approach in educational research has been reflected and discussed both in terms of participation and in terms of reliability of data through triangulation (Levin, 1994; Atweh and Burton, 1995; Booth and Ainscow, 2001; Ianes 2014), in Italian Research this perspective on school inclusion has been left behind almost entirely.

A even more complex issue is the idea of giving voice not only to students in general, but to students with a disability. In this research project we will focus on the group of pupils with Down Syndrome.

Some studies from the international literature offer interesting points of view on the topic. One of them has discussed the effectiveness of instruments for assessing the self-perceptions of students with Down syndrome on their academic competences, physical competences and social acceptance (Begley, 1999). Sheila Glenn and Cliff Cunnigham have conducted two studies on the usefulness of three measures of self-esteem in pupils with Down syndrome. Some people of the sample, the ones with the most severe intellectual disability, could not have access to any test. On all measures the others rated themselves positively (Glenn and Cunnigham, 2001). Mental age is significantly associated with social awareness by youth with Down syndrome (Cunnigham and Glenn, 2004). In 2006 a study on successful experiences of people with Down syndrome was realized. The group demonstrated motivation and perseverance in trying new things and active involvement in extra-curricular activities and volunteer service. Effective family support and ongoing collaboration between family, school and community facilities are reported as vital in enabling people with intellectual disabilities to develop their potential for a life of quality (Ping-ying Li, et al., 2006). Julie Hooton and Anna Westaway (2008) have developed a tool for children with Down syndrome, in order to give them the opportunity to express themselves in an alternative way and to chart visually their self-evaluation of progress.

Method

Planning, construction and experimentation of a useful tool for data collection on perceptions, satisfaction and expectations towards school inclusion with a sample constituted by pupils with Down syndrome is the main issue of this study. The instrument will collect factual information and evaluation on the following relevant topics for studying school inclusion: 1. Didactics methodologies used in the classroom and with the pupil with Down syndrom 2. Push/pull out phenomena 3. Personal evaluation of didactics 3. Self evaluation of learning and social participation results 4. Self evaluation of socialization of the student with Down syndrome in formal and informal situations at school and in other extra-school contexts. In addition to the instrument a guide for the teachers who administer the tool will be developed. The tool will be presented trough a personal computer in a semi structured interview format. There are three levels of complexity, differentiated by the cognitive and communicative competences requested to answer the questions in in order to become accessible to different pupils with Down syndrome. Because of the flexibility the tool needs to maintain in order to be adapted to different pupils, a classical validation procedure can’t be applied. We are trying to develop a reliable tool through the following five- phases-procedure: 1. literature review on already existing and adopted instruments in research with pupils with Down syndrome or with other intellectual disabilities. The instrument’s structure and administration were the main aspects analyzed. The research group developed a first draft of the tool based on this literature review. 2. review by two representatives of the Italian Association of Persons with Down Syndrom were lead to a second draft. 3. the experimentation of the tool with a small group of 5 pupils with disability belonging to the local area will lead to the third draft 4. the toll will be administered to a sample of 50 pupils with Down syndrome attending primary and lower secondary school in different Italian region. Administrator will fill in a questionnaire about difficulties and evaluation of the tool. 5. The research group will develop the definitive tool, taking into account the feedback by the 50 administrators

Expected Outcomes

The expected result is a reliable tool that investigates the point of view of pupils with Down Syndrom on inclusive education day to day practices. This tool is relevant in order to: 1) increase participation of persons with disability in research and 2) increase data collection reliability adding a new point of view that can be triangulated with others (teachers’ point of view, parents’ point of view,…).

References

Atweh B. and Burton L. (1995) Students as researchers: rationale and critique. British Educational research Journal, 21/5:561-575 Booth T. & Ainscow M. (2001) Index for Inclusion, Bristol, CSIE Begley A. (1999) The Self-Perceptions of Pupils with Down Syndrome in Relation to Their Academic Competence, Physical Competence and Social Acceptance. International Journal of Disability, Development and Education, 46/4: 515-529 Cunnigham C. And Glenn S. (2004) Self-awareness in Young Adults with Down Syndrome: I. Awareness of Down syndrome and disability. International Journal of Disability, Development and Education, 51/4: 335-361 Gherardini P. e Nocera S. (2000) L'integrazione scolastica delle persone Down. Trento, Erickson Glenn S. and Cunnigham C. (2001) Evaluation of Self by Young People with Down Syndrome. International Journal of Disability, Development and Education, 48/2: 163-177 Hooton J. and Westaway A. (2008) The voice of the child with Down Syndrome. The Down Syndrome Educational Trust, Advance Online Publication. http://www.down-syndrome.org/research Levin B. (1994) Educational Reform and the treatment of students in schools. Journal of educational Thought, 28: 1:88-101 Ianes D. (2014) Teacher And Student Voices: A Comparison Of Two Perspectives For Studying Inclusion Processes In Italy, ECER 2014, Porto INVALSI (2006) rapporto finale relativo al questionario sull'integrazione scolastica degli alunni con disabilità. http://www.invalsi.it ISTAT (2012, 2013, 2014) Indagine sugli alunni con disabilità nella scuola primaria e secondaria di primo grado. http://www.istat.it Ping-ying Li et al. (2006) Successful experience of people with Down syndrome. Journal of Intellectual Disabilities, 10/2: 143-154

Author Information

Dario Ianes (presenting / submitting)

Free University of Bolzano, Italy

Silver Cappello (presenting)