Didactic Tasks as a Factor of Including Students with Mild Intellectual Disability into the Mainstream of Lesson Work in a General Access School

Abstract

The mainstream category is a constitutive element of the traditionally understood inclusive education (the one based on the reconstruction of special needs education). Most authors of definitions formulated in the early stages of the development of inclusive education theory refer to this category. The presence of a student with (intellectual) disability in the mainstream of lesson work may be viewed in physical, social and cognitive terms. The indicators of the last one are, among others, the ability to provide answers to questions and follow instructions directed to all the students in the class. The aim of this study is to present results of research regarding this issue. While accumulating the data, the questionnaire technique was used, addressed to teachers of general access classes working with students with mild intellectual disability. The presented results are a part of a wider research project concerning the educational situation of this group of students in general access school. The study was conducted in three phases (in years: 2004, 2009, 2014) on the group of 450 teachers (150 teachers in each instalment).