INCLUSIVE EDUCATION OF BLIND AND VISUALLY IMPAIRED PUPILS IN SLOVENIA

Вовед: Во последните години, сѐ повеќе се нагласува потребата за вклучување на децата со посебни потреби во редовните градинки и училишта во Словенија. Тоа посочува на потребата за менување на улогата на посебните училишта и установи за деца со посебни потреби и за нивна трансформација во ресурсни центри. Методологија: Извршивме пилот-тестирање во ресурсен центар за поддршка на слепи и слабовидни деца. Вклучивме 15 образовни институции и по еден слеп или слабовиден ученик од секоја институција. Податоците беа собрани на почетокот на учебната 2010/11 и на крајот на учебната 2011/12. Во двата случаја беа употребувани истите инструменти, кои овозможија споредба на прибраните податоци. Резултати: Резултатите покажаа напредок во развојот на компетенциите, ставовите и на компетенциите за рехабилитација на учесниците во студијата. Дискусија: Резултатите ја потврдија ефикасноста на иницијално креираниот модел. Introduction: In the last years, the demand to include children with special needs in the mainstream kindergartens and schools in Slovenia has grown. This brought with it the need for changing the role of the special schools and institutes for children with special needs and for their transformation into resource centres. Methodology: We pilot tested a resource centre for support of blind and visually impaired children. We included 15 educational institutes and one blind or visually impaired pupil from each institute. Data were collected at the beginning of the school year 2010/11, and at the end of the school year 2011/12. In both cases the same instruments were used, which made comparison of the collected data possible. Results: The results have shown progress in the development of competences, attitudes, and rehabilitation competences in the participants of the study. Discussion: The results confirmed the efficiency of the initially designed model.

educators who work with blind and visually impaired pupils; 2. To determine the attitudes of the pupils towards the inclusion of their blind and visually impaired peers in the regular educational programme; 3. To determine the development of rehabilitation competences of blind and visually impaired pupils in the inclusive educational programmes. We predicted that in accordance with the defined objectives, the following hypotheses would be confirmed: H1 -Between the first and last data collection, the competences of the educators working with blind and visually impaired pupils will improve. H2 -Between the first and the second data collection, the attitudes of the pupils towards being educated together with their blind and visually impaired peers will improve. H3 -Between the first and the second data collection, the blind and visually impaired pupils in the inclusive educational programmes will have improved rehabilitation competences.
addition, it also contained a set of statements that measured their general knowledge about blindness and visual impairment. The competences of blind and visually impaired pupils were measured by the external tiflopedagogical experts who used two assessment forms, one for younger and one for older pupils, with which they evaluated a number of activities that included gross motor skills, orientation and mobility, literacy, computer skills, etc. These assessment activities were aggregated to ease the analysis and comparison. The average values were calculated on the basis of 3-point scales (1 = the pupil cannot perform the activity, 2 = the pupil can perform part of the activity or with support, 3 = the pupil can perform the activity without support). Using the form for young pupils, the external experts evaluated a total of 8 blind or visually impaired pupils in each period (at the beginning and at the end of school year), namely those from the early treatment, from kindergarten, and from the first educational period of primary school. Using the form for older pupils, they evaluated a total of 9 blind or visually impaired pupils in each period, namely those from the second and third educational periods of primary school, and from secondary school. The data were analysed using SPSS 14.0 software package. The differences in average values regarding the above time periods of data collection were tested using a t-test for independent samples in the case of determining the educators' competences and pupils' attitudes, and with a t-test for dependent samples when determining the development of the competences of blind and visually impaired pupils. This was conducted to determine any statistically significant differences between the two measurements.

Taбела 2: Мислење на учениците за образованието на нивните слепи или слабовидни врсници
The results in Table 3 further support the findings reported in Table 2. They show that there are no statistically significant differences in the evaluations of the pupils who socialised with their blind or visually impaired peers for two years. This is not surprising since the pupils rated cooperation, socialisation, and help to their blind or visually impaired peer highly already at the beginning of the project.

Табела 4: Компетенции на помладите слепи и слабовидни ученици
The results regarding the competences of older blind and visually impaired pupils are similar to those of the younger blind and visually impaired pupils. The older pupils also exhibited a significant development in the majority of their rehabilitation competences, such as literacy (t-test sig. is 0.042), computer skills (t-test sig. is 0.027), communication (t-test sig. is 0.024), domestic chores (t-test sig. is 0.000), and hygiene and tidiness (t-test sig. is 0.009). There were no statistically significant differences in the development of orientation and mobility (ttest sig. is 0.521), social skills (t-test sig. is 0.405), and visual exercise (t-test sig. is 0.574). The latter competences were highly developed already at the first measurement, which is why little room was left for improvement between the two measurements. At the second measurement, all the measurements were thus rather above the average value of 2, even in the area of food and drink preparation, i.e. the competence that was weak in case of younger blind and visually impaired pupils.
Двегодишната планирана и интензивна работа фокусирана на обезбедување различни форми на обука за наставниците, им даде многу можности за размена на нивните пог-Among the important conditions for successful inclusive school is the development of an adequate profile of inclusive teacher with appropriate competences (9). The results show that over the period of two years, the educators included in this study improved all their competences. Their knowledge of general characteristics of blindness increased, as well as their knowledge of special didactics and their ability to use the teaching strategies appropriate for blind and visually impaired pupils. Especially important is a shift in their attitude towards the inclusion of blind or visually impaired pupils into regular classrooms, which became more positive. The study conducted in 2010 revealed similar results (10).
All the above applies also to the collaboration and socialisation of regular pupils with their peers with visual disability. The data from table 3 reveals no statistically significant differences between the two measurements, however, these areas were rated highly already at the first measurement, which shows that the pupils obviously felt very much in favour of socialising with their blind or visually impaired peers from the start. Nevertheless, it would be advisable to further investigate the latter finding in order to determine whether the pupils who in principle accept their blind peers and express their readiness to socialise with them and offer them help have in fact internalized such behaviour. In connection with this question some authors recommend early peer support as a much more efficient method than the help of a special educator (18). The findings reveal that the second hypothesis is only partially confirmed, which can be mostly attributed to the situation at the first measurement, and to the objective inability of the performed model to significantly improve rather high acceptance and readiness by the regular pupils to collaborate and socialise with their peers with visual disability. The findings of our study reveal the advancement in rehabilitation competences in younger and older blind and visually impaired pupils, indicating important development in most of the evaluated competences. Younger pupils showed improvement especially in the development of manual skills and gross motor skills, as well as in verbal expression, speech comprehension, mobility, orientation, and socialisation. It is important to note that the purpose of including blind and visually impaired children in regular school is not only to improve their academic knowledge but also to develop their social skills, which are essential for forming relationships. Although these skills have long been neglected in the образовниот систем, тие се суштински за успешната интеграција на слепите деца (19). Помладите ученици исто така ги развија компетенциите што влијаат на квалитетот на секојдневниот живот (јадење, хигиена и лична грижа, облекување). Додека развојот на нивните рехабилитациски компетенции може да се припише на созревањето на децата, симултаната интензивна работа што беше спроведена во текот на две години и беше составена од специјална обука обезбедена од идниот ресурсен центар, исто така имаше силно влијание. Напредокот во нивните компетенции би бил уште поголем ако го земевме примерот на многу европски земји и ги вклучевме сите ученици во систематски ран третман (20). Таков третман сè уште не е законски регулиран во Словенија. Развојот на рехабилитациските компетенции кај постарите ученици е видлив најмногу во областите кои беа дополнително поддржани со организираните семинари на кои присуствуваа учениците. Семинарите беа организирани во идниот ресурсен центар и беа составени од описменување, компјутерски вештини, домашна економија и комуникациски вештини. Учениците вклучени во проектот беа во можност да позајмат компјутерска опрема и други дидактички алатки од единицата за инклузија и единицата за помош на наставници. Сите ученици вклучени во експериментот добија лаптопи и беа постојано поддржувани од наставникот по информатичка технологија. Имаа многу можности за здобивање вештини за извршување на домашните задолженија и за одржување хигиена и лична грижа. Ова е уште еден доказ дека инклузијата на слепи ученици во редовните училишта треба да биде спроведена на холистички начин, а најголемо внимание да се обрне на учењето на разни вештини (21). Постарите ученици покажаа помало подобрување во развојот на социјалните вештини, ориентацијата и мобилноста, што може да се припише на фактот дека овие компетенции веќе беа добро развиени уште при првото мерење. Резултатите потврдија дека планираната, систематска и организирана стручна поддршка, обезбедена за учениците од идниот ресурсен центар, играше важна улога во нивното стекнување, развој и подобрување на компе-educational system, they are essential for successful integration of blind children (19). Younger pupils also developed the competences that influence the quality of everyday life (eating, cleanliness and personal care, dressing). While the development of their rehabilitation competences can be attributed to the children's maturation, simultaneous intensive work that was carried out over two years and was comprised of special training provided by the future resource centre had a strong influence as well. The advancement in their competences would be even greater if we took the example of many European countries and included all the pupils in a systematic early treatment (20). Such treatment has not been legally regulated in Slovenia yet. The development of rehabilitation competences in older pupils is visible predominantly in the areas that were additionally supported by the organised seminars, which those pupils attended. The seminars were organised in the future resource centre, and comprised literacy, computer skills, home economics, and communication skills. The pupils included in the project were able to borrow computer equipment and other didactic tools from the unit for inclusion and the unit for teaching aids. All the pupils included in the experiment received laptops, and were continuously supported by the IT teacher. They had plenty of opportunity for acquiring the skills for the performance of domestic chores, and for maintaining hygiene and personal care. This is another proof that the inclusion of blind pupils into regular school should be carried out in a holistic manner, with most attention to be paid to teaching them various skills (21). The older pupils showed less improvement in the development of social skills, orientation, and mobility, which can be attributed to the fact that these competences were well developed already at the first measurement. The results confirmed that planned, systematic, and organized expert support, provided to the pupils by the future resource centre, played an important role in their acquisition, development, and improvement of тенции или вештини потребни за животот и работата на слепите и слабовидните. Без оглед на фактот дека прогресот во некои компетенции беше помал, слободно можеме да изјавиме дека резултатите се индикативни и доволно силни да ја потврдат третата хипотеза.
competences or skills, necessary for the life and work of the blind and visually impaired. In spite of the fact that the progress in some competences was smaller we can safely state that the results are indicative and strong enough to confirm the third hypothesis.
In Slovenia, the resource centre for blind and visually impaired children was implemented and pilot tested in an experimental way. First, the model of the centre was designed, its characteristics were defined, and finally the efficiency of its operation was evaluated.
The results of a two-year evaluation revealed that the educators from kindergartens and schools acquired certain knowledge during the experiment, which influenced their sense of own competence. The schoolmates of blind and visually impaired pupils expressed a positive attitude towards the integration of their peers with a visual disability in their classrooms also at the end of the experiment. In two years, both the younger and the older blind and visually impaired pupils developed their rehabilitation competences, necessary for their normal life and work. The results confirmed the efficiency of the initially designed model. The centre will gain recognition and increase its quality by investing into the development of its staff capacity. In this way, it will be able to realise its developmentally-supportive role for the children with visual disability in Slovenia.

Conflict of interests
Authors declare that have no conflict of interests