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The development of prosocial skills for children with visual impairments in preschool
SCHÖNBERGEROVÁ, Veronika
The bachelor thesis deals with the development of prosocial skills in preschool-aged children with visual impairment. Prosocial skills are very important in human life; therefore we should develop these skills in children in a playful and entertaining form. The main goal of my bachelor thesis was to design a work procedure for group practice and reinforcement of prosocial skills in preschool aged children with vision disorders and to develop a theme of communication and social relations within the school educational programme of the Kindergarten for Children with Vision Disorders in České Budějovice. To achieve the main objective I have created five original worksheets focussed on the development of prosocial skills. When creating the worksheets, I followed the phases of the educational process and basic pedagogical principles. Verification of the worksheets was conducted in the above mentioned kindergarten. The objective of these worksheets was a training to distinguish the voice of a boy/girl, training of greetings and addressing of children, development of self-confidence and trust in others, strengthening of relations among children, collaboration among children and development of the art of helping each other. The research population was formed by two teachers of the kindergarten, one boy with a vision disorder and a group of his peers in the class who attend the Kindergarten for Children with Vision Disorders in České Budějovice. The outcome of my bachelor thesis is an original working material. Based on the evaluation of the worksheets and feedback from the teacher, it was established that the worksheets were a contribution to the development of prosocial skills of preschool aged children with vision disorders. On the basis of the observations and verification of the worksheets I conclude that the course of activities is very much influenced by the amount of time devoted to them. If the prescribed time was adhered to, children were able fully to concentrate on the game. It has been verified that when the time of thirty minutes was exceeded, children were tired and their attention was reduced. It has been confirmed during the activities that one of the possible risks is intolerance to the scarf on the eyes. This risk occurred only in one girl who also refused other offered alternatives to cover her eyes (closing her eyes, covering the eyes with her own hands). Thus this girl did not participate in the role, in which she would have to be blindfolded, however, she happily took part in other games. After the individual activities finished, I received feedback from the children. The children kept asking about when we would play another game, from which I conclude that they liked the games and they were interested in them. The games also rose interest in the teachers. One of the teachers directly participated in one of the activities since she wanted to try this game herself. After each game, I received feedback from the teachers. From these feedbacks I learned that the games were unique for the children and that was why they liked so much playing them. The teachers stated that they considered the worksheets very well prepared since it could be seen that children enjoyed the games and the teachers stressed that do not have available in their classroom worksheets specified in the development of prosocial skills. The worksheets I have developed remain available to the teachers in the Kindergarten for Children with Vision Disorders in České Budějovice. However, they could also be made available to teachers who integrate preschool aged children with vision disorders in mainstream education. Also, they may be used by teachers who work in mainstream kindergartens with intact children.
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