Valentina Gulevska
“St. Kliment Ohridski” University – Bitola, Vasko Karangelevski, 7000 Bitola, Macedonia valentina.gulevska@uklo.edu.mk w Krakowie. DOI 10.24917/9788394156893.15
only to the natural-scientific expertise of the new ideas, but also to the ethical element of the enlightenment. In that sense, the norms of pedagogical ethics have a particular im-portance in the modern society. Pedagogical ethics explores and analyzes the behavior of the teacher (the educator) towards the student, and vice versa, the behavior of the stu-dent towards the teacher. There are a number of essential tasks: the teacher should deeply appreciate the personality of the student, and the student, on the other hand, should also respect the teacher, follow his advice and gain his confidence. As said the experts: “we do specify an appropriate aim such as the development of individual potentialities or the development of intellect and character, then the aim would be intrinsic to what we would consider education to be” (Peters, 2015, p. 27).
In that line, next generation competencies should be based on knowledge, skills, atti-tudes and values which will lead to the wel-being of the individual and the whole soci-ety. Key features of quality education for all are the human right approach and inclusive learning environements. Inclusuve education is human right and brings social, econom-ic and educational benefits. It is a process wheconom-ich should be recognised as involving both legal reform and transformation of awareness, values and policies (i.e. systems, envi-ronements and sustainability). The right to education without discrimination and on the basis of equal opportunity is a fundamental human right. Therefore, educational policy is slowly, but steadily, trying to move from content focus to focus on educational (learn-ing) outcomes.
The world is changing fast and expectations of schools and schooling are continuing to grow. Social invisibility, exclusion from learning, vulnerability and poverty still are serious obstacles for many children towards their inclusion in education. In this con-text, “loss a home is a traumatic experience for anyone… for children this loss comes at a point in their lives when the absence of stable, nurturing settings is most injurious, when they are developing a sense themselves, of their own identity, a sense of what they are capable of doing and their own self-worth” (Rivlin, 2014, p. 9). Homelessness is a re-ality for many coutries in the world. Current research establishes a strong connection between a young child’s early experiences and the developing of their brain structure be-cause the early years of life can provide a strong or weak foundation for all future learn-ing, behavior and health.
Homelessness is defined in a number of different ways. Homeless children are children who:
– are sharing the housing of other persons due to loss of housing, economic hardship, or a similar reason;
– are living in motels, hotels, trailer, parks, camping grounds due to the lack of alterna-tive adequate accommodations;
– are abandoned in hospitals or are awaiting foster care placement.
For example, there is a historic high number of homeless children in the United States, based on the most recent U.S. Department of Education count of homeless children in public schools and on the 2013 U.S. Census data. There was an 8% increase nationally in
the number of children experiencing homelessness from 2012–2013. In the United States 1 in 30 children are homeless (Costa et al., 2016).
As a result of the transition and the unfavorable economic situation, the numbers of homeless children and famiies have increased dramatically in the Republic of Mac-edonia over the past decade. The statistical data showed that 233 children on the street were registered in 17 cities around the country. Most children who face this kind of destiny are in Skopje, Bitola, Kumanovo, Veles, Gostivar and Kichevo. Among them, there are even babies with just a few months, and the biggest ones are at the age of 17.
Every day the large number of homeless children wander on the streets and in the most unfavorable weather conditions offer some services. Most often they wipe the wind-screen of cars, sell small items, beg on boulevards and streets where there is a high frequency of traffic imperiling their lives and the lives of the other participants in the traffic. They often do other things, such as collecting scrap metal, food or old clothes from waste containers or just wander. Such children are rarely educated and not have the opportunity to gain the qualifications needed to get employment and make a liv-ing. Usually, they come from families where parents are with less education and unem-ployed (A Multidisciplinary Protocol for Treatment of Street Children in the Republic of Macedonia, 2010).
In the Municipal Center for Social Work in Bitola 23 street children aged 4–13 are reg-istered (9 children are male and 14 are female). All children are members of the Roma community. The Center has a capacity for work with 10 street children. Otherwise, 15 children live with both parents, and 8 children with one parent. Children or the family use social financial assistance and folk cuisine. The Municipal Center for Social Work has good cooperation with the health institutions in Bitola and provides adequate health care for street children. Of the registered children 11 are involved in the educational process and regularly attend classes, and 6 children are not included.
Homelessness in early childhood is associated with poor educational well-being and low academic achievement and engagement in elementary school. Because of that, the re-searches in this field underscore the importance of ensuring that young children who are homeless have access to education together with their peirs (DeCandia et al., 2012).
The ultimate aims of research are to generate data regarding the readiness of future teachers and pedagogues from the Faculty of Education in Bitola to work with homeless children and to gain knowledge, skills and competences in accordance with the needs of the democratic multicultural society.
Methods
This research, the results of which are outlined in the subsequent pages, was conducted in order to gain insights into how the students’ attitudes and beliefs influence their readi-ness to work with homeless children.
Additionally, a broad-based analysis is made regarding “ethical dilemmas” as an um-brella term for all explicit and implicit issues arising in front of future educators in the field of homelessness.
The methodology of the research rests upon the preparation and design of a standard questionnaire adapted to the four mentioned categories. The representative sample com-prises 30 students from the Faculty of Education in Bitola. Of the total number of in-terviewees, 10 students are enrolled in Elementary School Teacher Programme, 10 are enrolled in Pree-school Teacher Programme, 10 are enrolled in Social and Rehabilita-tion Pedagogy Programme. QuesRehabilita-tionnaires were handed out to all students selected to participate in the survey, providing enough time for their completion. Once completed, the questionnaires were collected in a way that ensured anonymity. Data collection was worked on from January 29th, 2018, through February 5th, 2018. Respondents were giv-en two tasks. First, to evaluate the contgiv-ents of curricula regarding the frequgiv-ency of ele-ments which are connected with homeless children education. Second, to explain their attitudes regarding homeless children education. Answering of the questions was by checking one of the offered options: “sometimes”, “often” and “very often”.
Results
In order to explore student familiarity with homeless children education, the Figure 1 provides an overview of the responses of the three categories of students to the following question: Are you familiar with the contents of the curriculum that refer to the education of street children?
The survey data shows that students from the three diferent study progammes at the Faculty of Education in Bitola have an modest experience regarding learning contents connected with the homeless children education. Most of them (22 students) sometimes have learned about homeless cildren education issues. Only 7 students claimed that are familiar with such a curriculum content often, and only 1 student declared that very of-ten is in the position to learn about above mentioned issue.
To examine the students’ attitudes and beliefs regarding their readyness to contribute for surpassing of homeless children abuse and neglect, the questionnaire offered four affirmations on which the students were asked provide their opinion with regards to the degree of his adoption. The affirmations are described in the Figure 2.
Of the total number of surveyed students (30), 24 agree with the affirmation that home-less children should be educated in special institutions, or 22 respondents disagree with the affirmation that homeless children should be educated in public schools. Also, only 8–10 students feel ready to create individualised support measures for homeless chil-dren and flexible approaches to learning for homeless chilchil-dren. Generally, all three cat-egories of students show a low degree of development of competences for work with homeless children.
Ethical dilemmas in inclusive education: the case of homeless children