VALUES FOR CHILDREN WITH INTELLECTUAL DISABILITY: A STUDY OF THE PERSPECTIVES OF SPECIAL EDUCATORS AND PARENTS

Values are the guidelines which give meaning to our life and lead to the development of an integrated personality and character development (Sw. Tathagatananda, 2012). The aim of the present study was to identify, select and prioritize the values to be imparted to children with intellectual disability in order to promote harmonious growth of social, practical and conceptual skills among them. The study also makes an attempt to understand the meaning of some common core values and the justification behind selecting such values according to the views of the target group comprising of educators (N=100) and parents (N=100) using specially designed research tools. The findings reveal the selection of values such as cleanliness, decision making skills, courtesy, kindness and team spirit among others, selected from among 81 values listed under NCERT (1981; 2000) as some of the basic core values and skills which needs to be developed among children with special educational needs especially those with intellectual disability.