Opportunities to optimize socio-educational support services accessible to students with learning difficulties in primary school

Abstract

In Romania, since 1989, new trends have emerged in terms of transforming the educational system, so that it becomes accessible to all and offers equal opportunities for the beneficiaries of education. The aim of this research is to provide a multidimensional image of the socio-educational support environment accessible to students with learning difficulties/specific learning disabilities integrated in mainstream primary education in Oradea, from the perspective of the information, opinions and visions provided by primary education teachers and special pedagogues. The questionnaire based survey conducted among teachers in mainstream education allowed to obtain an overview of the issues analyzed in terms of opinions and evaluations. The focus group interview with participation of expert stakeholders aimed to obtain information from the social actors involved through their expertise and/or professional activity in the educational inclusion of students with learning difficulties. The overall picture of the research denotes that schools can provide specialized educational services for students in need, with only a small minority of schools not having the necessary conditions to provide these services. However, the research also shows that due to lack of knowledge or motivation, a significant share of the surveyed teachers do not use the various compensatory measures put forward in the national methodological recommendations that would contribute to improving students' chances. Primary school teachers would need, in this regard, to gain more expert knowledge from innovative models, experiences and good practices in the field.