ATTITUDINAL RESEARCH ISSUES IN INTEGRATION OF CHILDREN WITH MENTAL HANDICAPS
Abstract
Attitudinal research in the integration of mentally handicapped children into regular schools has tended to ignore the ecological validity and meaningfulness of its results and interpretations. Yet an ethnographic approach to such research has the potential to capture the culture of the school site in relation to integration practices especially when as many relevant school groups as possible are included in the study. Educational researchers need to transcend the idea of the school as an isolated setting and draw on the theoretical and empirical knowledge of the sociology of education when interpreting their results. The methodological and interpretative issues of such an approach are discussed in relation to a pilot integration project of children with Down's syndrome. RÉSUMÉ Les recherches d'attitude sur l'intégration des enfants handicapés mentaux dans les écoles ordinaires ont laissé de côté la validité écologique et l'importance des résultats et interprétations de cette formule. Or, l'approche ethnographique est capable de saisir la culture de l'école par rapport aux pratiques d'intégration, d'autant plus qu'on intègre le plus grand nombre de groupes scolaires dans l'étude. Les chercheurs en pédagogie doivent transcender l'idée de l'école comme cadre isolé et s'appuyer sur les connaissances théoriques et empiriques de la sociologie de l'éducation lorsqu'ils interprètent leurs résultats. Les problèmes méthodologiques et interprétatifs de cette approche sont analysés par rapport à un projet pilote d'intégration d'enfants atteints du syndrome de Down.Downloads
Published
1990-09-01
How to Cite
Karagiannis, A., & Cartwright, G. F. (1990). ATTITUDINAL RESEARCH ISSUES IN INTEGRATION OF CHILDREN WITH MENTAL HANDICAPS. McGill Journal of Education / Revue Des Sciences De l’éducation De McGill, 25(003). Retrieved from https://mje.mcgill.ca/article/view/7938
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