Shylonova V., Klein V., Hladush V. - Inclusive diagnosis and stimulation of lower grades students of the primary school in the Slovak Republic

Contact: PhDr. Viera Šilonová, PhD. – Catholic University in Ru?omberok, Faculty of Education, Department of Special Pedagogy and Therapeutic Pedagogy, Juraj Páleš Institut in Levo?a, Slovakia. Research interests: problems of inclusive education, inclusive diagnosis of children from vulnerable families.

 Doc. PaedDr. Vladimír Klein, PhD. – Catholic University in Ru?omberok, Faculty of Education, Juraj Páleš Institut in Levo?a, Slovakia. Research interests: problems of inclusive education, inclusive diagnosis of children from vulnerable families.

Prof. Viktor Hladush, DrSc. – Catholic University in Ru?omberok, Faculty of Education, Department of Special Pedagogy and Therapeutic Pedagogy, Juraj Páleš Institut in Levo?a, Slovakia. Research interests: history of special pedagogy, problems of inclusive education, inclusive diagnosis of children from vulnerable families.

 The research focuses on the problem of inclusive diagnosis and stimulation of disadvantaged students enrolled in lower grades of primary schools in the Slovak Republic. In recent years, the authors have prepared a number of methodological recommendations for pedagogical staff on the organization of screening diagnostics and stimulation of preschool children potentially to be enrolled in educational institutions with inclusive education. Observations show that a large proportion of preschool children are not ready to take part in primary school curricula for objective reasons, the main one is the lack of parental assistance. It is a category of socially disadvantaged children who need additional attention from the society and teaching staff. Therefore, an empirical study aimed at measuring the effectiveness of the application of a special program to stimulate the educational activity of children after screening diagnosis (by authors V. Shylonova, V. Klein, P. Shynkova, 2018). The purpose of the study was to find out how the differences between the educational performance of primary and secondary school students are statistically significant before and after their stimulation. The authors measured the level by 38 indicators at the input and output (before and after pedagogical stimulation), namely “Visual distinction of figure and background”, “Visual differentiation”, “Visual memory”, “Auditory differentiation of picture and background”, “Auditory differentiation”, “Aural memory”, “Tactile and kinesthetic perception”, “Body posture”, “Visual and auditory intermodality”, “Auditory and visual intermodality”, “Visual variability”, “Auditory variability”, “Drawing Figures”, “Lexical resource”, “Categorization”, “Size, quantity, order”, “Child behavior during group screening”, “Child behavior during individual exam”, “Self-knowledge”, “Speech, language, communication”, “Mathematical abilities”. The results of the indicators are processed using statistical and mathematical methods, which gives the study veracity and reliability. At the end of the article, the authors formulate recommendations for teaching staff on the theory and practice of organizing educational activities based on the research findings. This confirms the high efficiency of screening orientation diagnosis and the further stimulation of socially disadvantaged students of primary school.

Key words: screening, diagnosis, stimulation, socially disadvantaged students, lower grades, primary school, inclusion.