A Model of Forming a Positive Attitude of Primary School Age Children Towards Their Peers with Disabilities

Development of inclusive education raises the issue of acceptance of children with disabilities by their peers, which is especially important for children with special needs at the beginning of their schooling. The author analyzes the hierarchy of motives which form a positive attitude towards peers with disabilities in children of primary school age, and comes to the conclusion that this hierarchy has the following structure: “achieving success” motive  “achieving an adequate self-esteem” motive  affiliation motive  altruism motive. Using Heider's structural balance theory, the author develops a technological model of forming a positive attitude of primary school-aged children towards their peers with disabilities and describes eight types of social interactions in the children's triads. In addition, the article presents three main styles of teacher behavior, aimed at resolution of unbalanced situations of interaction between students: “action through the reference group” strategy, “support of open position” strategy, “orienting towards deeds” strategy.

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