성공적인 장애유아 통합교육의 발전방안에 대한 유아교사의 견해

본 연구는 통합교육 현장에서의 장애유아 통합교육의 발전 방안에 대한 유아교사의 견해를 조사하기 위하여 통합경험이 있는 유아교사 144명을 대상으로 질문지를 사용하여 연구하였다. 통합의 과정에 의거하여 볼 때, 장애유아에 대한 비장애유아와 비장애유아의 부모 태도와 같은 내부 심리적 영역뿐만 아니라 유아교육 프로그램과 유아교사의 장애유아 지도 능력과 같은 상호작용 영역과 수업영역에서도 어려움이 있었다. 통합교육을 성공적으로 발전시키기 위해서는 장애유아와의 직접, 간접 접촉, 그리고 교사의 친사회적 행동 지도 함께 제공, 통합 경험이 있는 비장애유아 부모의 설명이 각 각 비장애유아와 비장애유아 부모의 태도를 증진시킨다고 하였다. 그리고 치료교육 서비스, 장애유아에게 적합한 다양한 활동, 개별화의 요소가 유아교육 프로그램에 포함되어야 하고, 유아교사와 유아특수교사가 통합현장에 함께 배치되어야 한다는 방안을 제시하였다. 그리고 통합이전에 유아특수교육기관에서의 유치원에서의 적응을 위한 전이교육이 필요하며, 원아수가 15명 이하로 감소되어야 함을 강조하였다.

This study investigated the judgments of kindergarten teachers on a Developmental plan for successful inclusion of young children with special needs, using a questionnaire. The participants were 144 private kindergarten teachers who had experiences in inclusion practice for young children with special needs. The participants had been interested in inclusion practice because of the presence of young children with special needs in their classroom. Results indicated that teachers believed that inclusion was a system that needs to be put into practice because: (1) inclusion leads young children without special needs to have open-minded attitudes toward individuals with different levels of ability, and (2) inclusion brings about positive effects of education for young children with special needs. The difficulties met by the teachers in the process of inclusion appear to include not only psychological aspects, such as the attitudes of young children without special needs and their parents toward young children with special needs, but also the interaction between an early childhood education program and the inclusive teaching ability of kindergarten teachers, and the implementation of inclusion in the teaching area. To resolve these difficulties, the participants suggested that an intervention program including direct and indirect contact with young children with disabilities and teachers` prosocial behavior guidance needs to be provided. The participants also indicated that it is desirable for an intervention program to include the explanations of parents of young children without disabilities who had inclusion experiences. The participants suggested that an early childhood education program needs to include therapeutic educational services, various appropriate activities for young children with disabilities, and individualization elements. In addition, the placement of both early childhood education teachers and early childhood special education teachers in a classroom was recommended. Prior to inclusion, transitional education was recommended for young children with disabilities to facilitate the adaptation to their new kindergarten environment. Finally, the participants emphasized that the classroom size needs to be reduced to below 15.