Wspomaganie dziecka z parcjalnymi zaburzeniami w rozwoju w osiąganiu gotowości do podjęcia nauki szkolnej poprzez aktywność twórczą

Abstract

Preschool education is a series of interactions with a diverse and complex structure. This interdisciplinary and multifunctional education process is focused on developing children's competences like reading, writing and counting. According to Polish legal regulations preschool education is for children from 3 to 7 years old. The government is obliged to provide all children with a place in a nursery school, a kindergarten department in a primary school or other form of preschool education. Children aged 3-5 can benefit from not obligatory preschool education, but six year-old children must have one year preschool preparation. The preschool is the time when the child should prepare best for school education in the first class. It’s time to prevent school failures and to help children take a new role as pupils. It is also a very important time for the psychomotor development and the achievement of appropriate level of motor, cognitive, social and emotional skills. However, the development does not always go hand in hand with age. In every kindergarten group there are children who have various kinds of difficulties and disabilities, which are resistant to typical didactic and educational interactions. These children can’t cope with the requirements of the core curriculum or they cannot adapt to the rules of the group. Many partial or fragmented disorders can’t be clearly defined and can be detected only in preschool or school education, when they become the cause of many educational difficulties. If the problems aren’t diagnosed early and an appropriate therapy is not taken, consequently there may arise secondary disorders. Usually partial dysfunctions in psychophysical development cause specific difficulties in reading, writing and counting, generally called dyslexia. These disorders affect not only learning, but also can impede proper functioning in the emotional-social and motoric skills, and become one of the causes of school failure. In this context, it is extremely important to notice the symptoms of partial disorders already in preschool age and to provide appropriate help. In pedagogy, especially in special needs education, changes the concept of reeducation focused to eliminate failures and learning difficulties for activities including improvement of impaired functions and prevention of school failures. According to these assumptions, therapeutic programs should be implemented from the elementary education. These programs should correct disorders and difficulties in development, but also prevent them arising, spreading and strengthening. In connection with the context, it is important to answer the following questions: - How to help children achieve school readiness? - How to support the development of preschool children to achieve school readiness? - How to create a corrective and preventive therapeutic program, adapted to the individual developmental and educational children’s needs? One of the most appropriate answer to all questions can be art therapy, which supports the holistic development of children and helps them achieving school readiness. This thesis presents the problems of achieving school readiness by five and six-year old children with partial developmental disorders, and children who haven’t been diagnosed with dysfunctions in this area. Based on the theory of the support process, art therapy assumptions and development determinants of preschool children, art therapy project is proposed and implemented. Its purpose is to support the development of preschool children and to achieve their school readiness. The thesis consists of eight chapters. The first chapter describes the process of achieving school readiness as a predictor of educational success. It presents a terminological discourse on the concept of school readiness, concepts of school readiness in the historical aspect and the contemporary Polish approach to school readiness. It also presents the views of researchers regarding factors that contribute to school success and the possible causes of educational failure. The second chapter presents the predictors of development of preschool children: parenting and preschool education and also individual resources of a five-year old child. These predictors are the basis for taking on new challenges related to learning at school. The third chapter discusses the process of supporting the development of preschool children with partial disorders in the aspect of school readiness. It describes the essence of partial disorders in development, and functioning children with these disorders. It also presents the assumptions of the process of supporting development, and art therapy as one of the ways to support children. The fourth chapter presents the subject, purpose of research, basic problems and the methods used to collect information. The fifth chapter contains an analysis of research results. It describes the individual developmental achievements of five-year old children, including children with partial developmental disorders, in the context of school readiness. The sixth chapter presents the theoretical assumptions of the art therapy project "Children tell stories to children", which is a proposal to support children in achieving school readiness. The seventh chapter characterizes the dynamics of changes in developmental achievements of preschool children under the influence of art therapy. Chapter eight presents a summary and conclusions for pedagogical practice regarding art therapy in the context of supporting school readiness of preschool children, also those with partial developmental disorders.