| Popis: |
Picture books have a prominent place in the development of children's literacy and speech development, as well as the development of moral and ethical values. They often cover topics that can have a healing influence for children who are faced with different developmental problems, and in the context of bibliotherapy, they have an important place in educational work. In inclusive groups including children with disabilities, educators play a key role in the promotion of inclusive values. The aim of this study was to examine familiarity, availability and the use of problem picture books and picture books about children with disabilities. The study included 141 preschool teachers from five Croatian counties. The preschool teachers expressed greater familiarity with problem picture books and consider them more accessible when compared to picture books about children with disabilities. Compared with the conventional picture books they use picture books that promote inclusive values and relate to children with disabilities to a much lesser extent. They commonly use picture books for standard reading activities, and relatively rarely use them in the preparation of performances or when celebrating important dates related to children with disabilities. The results indicate that educators are informing themselves through personal commitment and use problem picture books and picture books about children with disabilities in educational work, although not sufficiently. Therefore, it is necessary to systematically educate them through initial and continuing professional development about picture books in the context of possibilities for the promotion of inclusive values. |
