Impact of life stories on the profile of the special educator: perceptions from the formative experience of university students.

Abstract

The training of special educators leads to the understanding and interaction with the social, family and school contexts of the subjects who learn. Special education has the challenge of working with students whose biological, cognitive or social conditions do not allow them to functionally develop themselves in a regular school, so its main objective is the development of autonomy and the transition process. In this sense, the application of life stories becomes a fundamental pedagogical tool in the acquisition of knowledge, skills and attitudes towards a professional career. This research is presented in the context of the training of special educators at the Universidad Laica Eloy Alfaro de Manabí. Starting from the naturalistic paradigm with a qualitative approach, the representations of future professionals about the application of life stories in the training process are examined. An ad-hoc questionnaire was developed based on the dimensions: (1) personal, organized by the categories of (a) assessment of experiences and (b) personal conflicts; (2) professional, divided into (a) professional identity and (b) ethics; and (3) community, broken down into (a) interculturality and (b) inclusion. Eleven (11) students of the special education career participated, who have elaborated life stories in cases of intellectual, physical, auditory disability and cerebral palsy in the past. In the personal dimension, positive conceptions about the experience were found, related to feelings of appropriation of the case, institutional support, construction of friendship ties. Motivation towards and understanding of the role of the special educator, learning the implications of ethics in educational research, the importance of continuous training and the improvement of social skills were found in the professional dimension. In the community dimension, representations lead to learning about the individual-family-community relationship, as well as the barriers that hinder inclusion in these contexts. It is concluded that life stories have a positive impact on the profile of the special educator. The exercise of internalization and systematization of the experiences has a high potential in the training processes, allowing to reduce the gaps between research, research practice and teacher training processes.