Jugar y construir: experiencias de participación de niños con discapacidad intelectual de segundo ciclo básico en dos escuelas municipales en Chile

Abstract

Participation of children with intellectual disabilities [ID] is promoted from a rights-based approach and inclusive education. However, in Chile these children tend to be segregated by existing educational programs. The objective of this study is to understand the experiences of participation of children with ID in the regular school context. In order to respond to this objective, individual interviews were conducted with 15 children with mild ID who attended the second basic cycle in two schools in the Metropolitan Region of Chile. Production of information was based on narrative-visual techniques such as participatory photography and episodic interviews in combination with photo-elicitation. The analysis was based on the Grounded Theory. The results show that the experiences of participation take place mainly in two types of activities: 1) didactic activities that involve the construction of physical and/or symbolic material and 2) games of a group character. These results allow the identification, from the perspective of children with ID, of universal resources and supports existing in the school community environment to promote their participation, motivation, learning and quality of life.