The goal of the CIPIE, through the collaborative efforts of SCW, the Ministry of Education, and the Santa Cruz de Yojoa community is
to provide education for every child. This requires that we address how we provide specialized training for teachers, identification of which
resources are needed, and how we can acquire
those resources. In addition, it is important to
include families of children with special needs in
the school and the community. This will send
the message that they are all welcome, in addition to fostering a belief that their children deserve to be educated.
Plan for Change
During the initial phase of interviews with parents, teachers, and community members, we
identified underlying assumptions within the
community that included: (a) children with special needs did not have the capacity to be educated; (b) teachers who believed these children
could be educated, felt unprepared to educate
them, due to lack of formal training; (c) the education system and government systems believed they did not have the knowledge or resources. These assumptions provided a negative cyclical affect within the community and the
education system, allowing the situation to continue. These were strong forces with which to
contend during this process. There were both
internal (parents', children's and teachers' beliefs) and external forces (lack of resources)
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