Mejora de la práctica educativa en el abordaje de la situación de discapacidad, mediante el aprendizaje colaborativo

Abstract

The purpose of this dissertation was to improve the educational practices of teachers in Uruguay, in terms of addressing the situation of disability in the classroom. This purpose arises as a necessity due to the lack that teachers face in their training regarding this subject. For this, eleven professors were invited, seeking to obtain a broad view from the same role (professors, adjunct professors and teachers in training). Virtual meetings were held with teachers, based on the studies of Lev Vygotsky, as well as other theorists on the subject of disability and collaborative learning. The methodology used was the qualitative, applied through a pedagogical intervention, the instruments for data collection were the observation of focus groups and interviews, and a textual discursive analysis was carried out for all the information obtained. The dynamics of the research consisted in promoting several virtual meetings with all the teachers and then, at the end of each one, a semi structured interview was conducted individually. Each meeting began with a virtual presentation where the topic was presented, and then a question was asked that and was used as motivation for the discussion of the topic. The topics of the virtual presentations dealt with the meaning and conception of disability over time. These concepts of Lev Vygotsky were the foundation for the choice of collaborative learning as a methodology to apply in the classroom, as an attempt to improve the educational quality of students with disabilities. The textual discursive analysis led to the creation of two broad categories, the first was the situation of disability, where it was identified what it is to be in that situation, the meaning and change that the conception of disability had over time, and then focused on Uruguay and how that country has dealt with the situation. The second category dealt with the theoretical contributions that were identified in the meetings and provided tools to apply them in the classroom. This analysis revealed an understanding, internalization and, as some stated, application of the topics covered in their own classes.