The Special School has a primary objective within the partnership with schoolchildren with special educational needs.
One of the main challenges facing Contemporary Pedagogy is to offer a quality education for the diversity of students. In this context, the role of national educational systems is increasingly growing, to carry out actions that guarantee the rights of all.
By promoting the multilateral education of schoolchildren with special educational needs, MINED of Cuba carries out the necessary actions that promote preparation for an independent adult life, the primary purpose of special education.
Education can not only transmit knowledge and experiences about the facts and phenomena of life, but also has to teach schoolchildren to "know how to do" and "how to do it", with the development of the intellect and the hands. In the teaching of any subject in general, whether in the field of science or technology, there are two components, one theoretical and the other practical, which must be tried to integrate to achieve the effectiveness of teaching and learning.
One of the ways in which the student acquires knowledge and is educated is through practical activity, thinking and reasoning about what they do and how to solve problems. It is necessary to guarantee a developing teaching, where practical activity constitutes a starting point to apply what is known and allows to discover new knowledge.
The purpose of education is the multilateral and harmonious formation of the personality, with the transmission of basic knowledge for the social and productive life that the country demands. This particular preparation is materialized through the subjects conceived in the teaching curriculum, with the Labor Education subject playing a primary role.
In the education of mentally handicapped schoolchildren, this subject occupies 30% of the total class hours of the study plan in the special school. The fundamental objective is to train manual skills and psychomotor strengthening. The practice predominates where the school participates actively in obtaining the results, it is based on the criterion that love of work is only possible to achieve in the work process itself. This allows to stimulate the creativity and independence of the mentally disabled schoolboy with an activity of a marked work nature.
The subject has an educational character, it is proposed as a priority objective to develop feelings of love and respect for work and workers, and that they become an active producer from first grade. It is proposed as a subject to train schoolchildren skills and work habits, based on practice in making objects that have meaning for them and learn to build items that can be used by themselves or by others.
Labor Education is an effective means to carry out corrective work with schoolchildren, by carrying out work tasks that allow psychomotor development, cognitive activity, language, creative abilities, strengthen habits of self-validation and independence for the development of projects. Other activities that are derived are socially useful work and coexistence as a social function of the school, family and society, fostering an awareness of producers.
Distinguished educators have highlighted the role of manual work in the education of special educational needs children with mental disabilities. VP Kashenco (1912) believes “that manual work should occupy a primary place among the different subjects, which constitutes the basis of all the educational and instructive influences that are organized”. For VP Kashenco and O. Decroli (1913) manual work, in the first order, is a means for the development of motor skills.
These criteria acquire greater validity from the materialist dialectical approach that LS Vigotski (1931) confers on it. This author referred to the role of the Special Pedagogy of collective work and stated that a specially organized collective work activity facilitates the full development of the personality of children with intellectual deficits.
The Cuban educational policy has among its objectives the scientific - technical, polytechnic and labor training of schoolchildren, under the study - work principle. The great Cuban pedagogues of the 19th century Félix Varela, José de la Luz and Caballero, José. Martí and Enrique J. Varona advocated for a more rational and scientific education. José martí expressed: "Man grows with the work that comes out of his hands" (Martí Pérez, J. Complete Works, Volume 8 p. 285).
The collapse of the socialist camp and the disintegration of the USSR, had repercussions on Cuban society and in particular on the school as a source of development to face the advances of science and technology, having to initiate a process of modifications in the integral formation of schoolchildren, and with it the process of job preparation.
There is research that shows the need to use new resources to increase the material bank of this subject. For example, Fernández Y. and Brito M. (1995) make a proposal for a class system to obtain paper by hand and use it in practical activities carried out by schoolchildren, it is an alternative that allows the development of manual skills and create a producer awareness.
It is in the job orientation stage when manual skills begin to be systematized, based on the interaction of the student with the contents and their actions with the materials. At this stage, the lack of stimulation can have permanent and definitive effects in the psychomotor sphere, disrupting their training and the possibility of building efficient learning conditions. The preparation for an independent adult life of the mentally retarded person in the first cycle should be considered a necessity, which implies that the planned activities should be aimed at the acquisition of manual skills and strengthen the psychomotor sphere.
When content improvement programs are not designed based on the aforementioned requirements, difficulties arise in acquiring the expected knowledge that is then reflected in the teaching-learning process in general and particularly in the pedagogical process.
Therefore, it is necessary to search for methodological alternatives that are sufficiently motivating and that allow them to experiment, by themselves and as far as possible, obtaining the materials; which the schoolchildren will later use to give shape and color to the objects created by them. All this encourages the teacher to discover the potentialities of his students and how to prepare them objectively for an independent adult life.
The scholar acquires knowledge and educates himself by thinking and reasoning about what he does and how to solve the problems necessary to guarantee a developing teaching, practical activity, constitutes a way to find solutions, where they apply what is known and discover new knowledge.
To influence the preparation for independent adult life of the Mentally Handicapped, the following methodological alternative is proposed.
First stage
Objective:
- Prepare the master in obtaining inks and glues from different plants of nature, emphasizing their medicinal importance.
Activities integrated into the teaching-educational process are conceived, aimed at improving the personnel of special schools specifically the teacher, so that in the teaching-learning process it emphasizes the development of manual skills, job orientation, the importance of nature and This contributes to the integral formation of the mentally disabled schoolchild, with the preparation for an independent adult life.
In the development of this first moment of the alternative, the processes for obtaining inks and glues of nature are systematized, in order to prepare the teacher to introduce these results in the Labor Education work units.
Description of the activities to obtain inks and glues from nature.
The following is the process for obtaining inks and glues
- First: process for making the glues. Second: process for making inks.
These glues are of vegetable origin and can be found around the city or in the homes of schoolchildren because they are some fruit trees.
The glue is obtained from the resin of trees.
- Natural glue made from mango resin. Natural orange resin glue. Natural copal resin glue. Natural pine resin glue. Natural cupey resin glue. Natural Cedar Resin Glue. Natural glue made from grape resin. Plum resin natural glue. Natural mahogany resin glue.
These glues are of vegetable origin and can be found around the city or in the homes of schoolchildren because they are some fruit trees.
The glue is obtained from the resin of trees.
Obtaining process:
- A small perforation is made in the trunk using a sharp object, placing a channel below the perforation in which the selected resin is collected. Then water is added to the resin in the same proportion since they are soluble in each other, achieving the formation of the glue by means of the agitation of the two components.
For its conservation it is necessary when it is used not to keep it uncovered and place them in clear and ventilated places.
Its duration is approximately one to two years if the requirements for its care are met.
To obtain these glues, it is recommended that the teacher perform the drilling in the first, second and third grades because it is in the fourth grade where the blade is introduced as a cutting object, in addition, greater muscular strength is required and comply with the protection standards and security.
The colorants are made from the seed of the plant, it contains a liquid that when squeezed on paper, cardboard or cardboard acts as a colorant.
|
Plants |
Parts of the plant |
Color you get |
| Pendejera |
Leaves |
Green |
| Copetuates |
Flower |
Yellow |
| Red Mangrove |
Stem |
Pink |
| Red Majagua |
Flower |
Olive green |
| Zarza Mora |
Flower |
blue |
| Spinach |
Fruit |
Red |
| Poppy or Pacific Sea |
Flower |
Gray |
| Banana |
Strain |
Gray |
For their conservation, they are put in well covered knobs and can last up to six months.
It is recommended that these actions of the obtaining process are advised, controlled and directed by the teacher and that the students participate according to their individual characteristics. They can be made in fourth grade by schoolchildren and donated to the rest of the first cycle grades for use, but everyone must observe the process of obtaining the inks so that they can set the steps and contribute to raising awareness among producers.
Second stage
objective
- Propose activities for obtaining and using inks and glues in the Labor Education work units by schoolchildren.
The proposed activities are materialized through the forms of organization of the educational teaching process, considered as different ways in which the teacher-student relationship is externally manifested, that is, the confrontation of the school with the way of teaching under the direction of the teacher (Guillermina Labarrere Reyes and Valdivia G. Pedagogy, 1988).
It is recommended that the teacher use the different types of classes as a fundamental way to organize the teaching-educational process to influence the formation and development of manual skills. The author suggests that the potentialities of the different types of class be exploited.
In addition to the classes it is necessary to use other forms of organization:
Excursion: to collect materials from nature and visits to craft centers so that they can observe the use of these in the elaboration of articles, allowing them to orient them to work.
- Extra-educational activities:
Glue and ink can be obtained after extra-teaching hours by preparing the conditions for use in the Labor Education class.
- Hold meetings with artisans to exchange experiences of the trade. Search for information in the library to learn about the characteristics of nature plants to use.
- Extracurricular activities:
- Create circles of interest to expose the results achieved in the use of materials of nature of social utility Circles of interest to show the methodology of obtaining inks and payments from plants of nature Display the works created by schoolchildren in activities that are perform in the community.
The teacher selects the activities depending on:
- The psychopedagogical characteristics of their group and their individualities The ability to combine the contents with each thematic unit and the level of education With the number of hours of classes (job orientation stage) With the conditions and material resources that it has Involvement of the school, the family and the community in the implementation of the methodological alternative for the preparation of the mentally disabled schoolchild for an independent adult life.
The school is a cultural center in the community that must prepare the family, it has a staff that has a scientific-methodological level to influence the preparation of the mentally disabled in independent adult life.
The school together with the teacher, schoolchildren and the family must coordinate activities in which they can exchange with neighbors and work centers in the community with the objectives of:
- Become familiar with the production and service centers of the community Exchange with the family about the preparation of schoolchildren for an independent adult life Prepare the family in the job orientation of the mentally disabled schoolboy Explain to the family the need to prepare the students students in correspondence with the possibilities and needs of the territory or community where they live.
In the context of the pedagogical intervention process in the different forms of organization, the family must participate in:
- The excursions with the search for raw materials and visits to workshops and production centers Encourage the development of manual and psychomotor skills of schoolchildren In activities carried out by the school with the community Conversations to stimulate the preparation of the school for a independent adult life.
There must be a close relationship between these factors because they are the most important elements to be able to influence the work preparation of schoolchildren from the early grades.
Based on the importance that the Cuban educational system gives to the study-work link, as a premise for the education of generations in and for diversity, and the objective proposed in this research, the following conclusions are formulated:
• Labor Education occupies a prominent place in the contemporary school curriculum, this subject provides mentally disabled schoolchildren with the necessary preparation to function actively and independently in society.
- Limitations are in force in the psychomotor development of the mentally disabled schoolchild, however they have potential to develop coordinated, complex and creative manual activities.
• When designing a methodological alternative for the subject of Labor Education that affects the preparation for an independent adult life, the following must be taken into account:
- Preparation of teaching staff in alternatives that allow the development of manual skills in a creative way. Active incorporation of schoolchildren in the process of obtaining and using materials in the manufacture of articles.
As part of this work it is recommended:
• Conceive a course to improve teachers in order to prepare them in the search for alternatives in the teaching of Labor Education supported by the use of natural resources, where these are a way in the preparation of mentally disabled school children to independent adult life.
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