Browsing by Author "Wizman-Man, Dickla"
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Item A Narrative Intervention Program for the Building of a Preferred Alternative Narrative in light of the Experiences of Adolescents with Multidimensional Learning Disabilities and Attention Difficulties(2021) Wizman-Man, Dickla; Krauze-Sikorska, Hanna. Promotor; Marciniak, Mateusz. PromotorThis research study examines the personal narratives of twenty graduates with multidimensional learning disabilities and attention difficulties who completed their studies in a special education school and integrated into an intervention program that acts in the school. The program “Life Stories for Personal Development” is based on the principles of the narrative paradigm and constitutes an inseparable part of the curriculum in the school. In this research study, use was made of qualitative-narrative research. The findings were collected using semi-structured narrative interviews that were recorded. In addition, use was also made of different quantitative personality questionnaires. The aim of the use of the quantitative questionnaires was to describe the group and to define the narrative of the extensively researched population, with reference to different personality attributes – family support, self-efficacy, self-direction, optimistic approach to life, and future orientation – studies. The interviews and the questionnaires were distributed at the end of their studies in the educational framework at two points of time in their lives – with their entrance into the school and before their integration into the intervention program and at the end of the studies after three years of participation in the intervention The program recognizes the power of the story that the person tells about his life to shape and channel life and recruits this power for the educational treatment activity. The program focuses on the person’s ability to change the narrative, through group and individualized processes. The objective of the research study was to learn about the personal experience and the graduates’ perception about different dimensions in their lives such as family support, peer group, approach to life, future orientation, self-efficacy, and self-image. For this purpose, the phenomenological paradigm was chosen as a theoretical framework that guides the research that seeks to understand the subjective experiences and meanings that the graduates give to their lives as people with learning disabilities and attention difficulties, while building a theoretical framework that will further the understanding. In the qualitative analyses the relationships between past and future personality traits of self-esteem, self-efficacy, optimism, and family support were examined. The results showed that there are differences between past and future scores in the measurements of self-esteem, self-efficacy, and optimism. In the case of each of the personality factors, the score was higher in the future than in the past. However, in the measurement of level of family support, no significant difference was found. A positive correlation was found between past self-esteem and past self-efficacy measured at the same time, suggesting that the higher one’s self-esteem was in the past, the higher one’s self-efficacy was too, and vice versa. Similarly, a significant positive correlation was found between future self-esteem and future self-efficacy, suggesting that the higher one’s self-esteem is in the future, the higher one’s self-efficacy is too, and vice versa. And the same goes for the relation between those characteristics in the future. According to the results of analysis of relations between the scores on the Personality Questionnaires, the higher one’s self-esteem is in the future, the higher one’s optimism is, and vice versa. In other words, if the individual’s self-image in the future is higher, then the level of optimism will be higher, and the reverse is true. No other same time relations were found to be significant. Another important issue is that the higher one’s self-efficacy was, the lower the future optimism, and vice versa. No other significant relations were found in the data. The responsibility of this research study led me to return to the field of education when I am equipped with a greater understanding of the graduates’ narratives. The implications of this research study belong to the field of therapy and the field of education. In the field of therapy, one of the aspects emphasizes the importance of the narrative instrument: life stories as an instrument of treatment and assessment in the education work with children. This trend joins the trend of many researchers who address the profound and therapeutic meaning of the narrative story, since it is an organizing principle in the person’s experience of himself. The research study is intended to help the support factors – the education institutions in general and the special education institutions in particular – to know in-depth the difficulties faced by learning disabled people and to develop awareness regarding their influence and ability to help them effectively promote the quality of their lives.