Integration of the students with disabilities, minority and disadvantaged students in public schools correlated with the rate of tolerance (US - Romanian comparative approach)

• Author: Lucian Radu
• Position: Transilvania University of Brasov
• Pages: 39-46

Bulletin of the Transilvania University of Braşov

Series VII: Social Sciences • Law • Vol. 10 (59) No. 2 - 2017

INTEGRATION OF THE STUDENTS WITH

DISABILITIES, MINORITY AND

DISADVANTAGED STUDENTS IN PUBLIC

SCHOOLS CORRELATED WITH THE

RATE OF TOLERANCE (US – ROMANIAN

COMPARATIVE APPROACH)

Lucian RADU1

Abstract: In this paper, we are going to present the correlation between the

rate of tolerance in Romanian society and the integration of the students with

disabilities, students with an economically disadvantaged background and

those belonging to different minorities within Romanian system of public

schools. It is a comparative study taking into account the same phenomenon

in US public schools.

Key words: minorities, disadvantaged students, tolerance, students with

disabilities.

1. Introduction

Integration of the students with disabilities, students with an economically

disadvantaged background and those belonging to different minorities is a phenomenon

that the public schools have confronted with in a lot of countries. The USA is a country

which has successfully integrated these students in the public system of education,

proving that the rate of tolerance in American society is a facilitating factor. For these

reasons we have initiated a research study to observe the perception upon the integration

of this type of students in Romanian public schools and to see how the process of

integration is correlated with the rate of tolerance in the respondents’ view.

The research took place from February to July 2016, and 700 subjects from Braşov

County were involved. The subject population is differentiated according to certain

criteria:

Age: 24.6% (172) belong to the 15-20 age category, 25% (176) to that of 20 -30, and

41.7% (292) to 30 – 50 category, and finally the remaining 8.6% (60) to that of those over

50 years old. It may be noticed that most subjects belong to the 30-50 age category; their

relation to the educational system is either a direct one (as students or teachers), or

indirect as parents.

1 Transilvania University of Braşov, lucianradu10@yahoo.com