Abstract:

The purpose of the present work was to foster positive socialization in a multilevel group of a Montessori elementary school comprised by 20 students between 9 and 12 years old and many students with Special Education Needs. Positive socialization refers to the group of behaviors to aid the more vulnerable and concern for the others (Rudolph, 2000). It is important to nurture these behaviors during the school age since this is the stage where students require them to foster healthy coexistence and cooperation, as well as respect for differences and diversity among peers, which is closely related to educational inclusion, which premise is to make a school for all, for which the creation of spaces where coexistence and differences acceptance are nurtured taking into account the needs of each student (Romera, 2008). The Elementary Education Syllabus in Mexico mentions the inclusion principle, which emphasizes the teaching of values, attitudes and behaviors towards helping the others (Secretary of Public Education, 2011). Under this perspective, a traditional empirical quantitative applied field study was conducted. The design was of only one group, with two pretest-posttest measurings in which also 5 teachers participated in the group activities. The group was assessed in Positive socialization by means of the Socialization Battery BAS-3 by Silva and Martorell (1987) which defines a child’s profile by five factors. The pretest results indicated five subjects obtained a scoring below the mean value in the Concern for the others scale, this meant the subjects had little social sensitivity or concern for others. In addition, the Inclusive Practices in the Classroom Evaluation Guideline in its observation and self-report version by Garcia, Romero and Escalante (2009) was applied, which allowed to measure the levels of educational inclusion in the group. The results determined that four teachers obtained a scoring below the mean value in the planning area scale. Based on the pretest results obtained from both instruments, an intervention program was designed based on the Cooperative play proposal by Garaigordobil (2004), to foster prosocial behaviors, while the decision taking according to the students’ needs were worked with the teachers. At the end of the intervention, a posttest was applied to the group and the results indicated a significant increment in the positive socialization, especially, the behaviors towards helping the others in the students with the lowest scores from the pretest; teachers planning also improved to achieve a more inclusive environment in the group. The results were validated with the non-parametric Wilcoxon test using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) software.

Keywords:

Positive socialization, educational inclusion, cooperative play, elementary school children, teacher planning.