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3. CONCEPTUALIZING PARTICIPATION Many educational and social activities are in progress in the Czech Republic based on the concept of inclusion. In consideration of the resources invested into these programs, it is important to measure the short-term and long-term effects in relation to the main aim, i.e. establishing system of inclusive education and supporting social inclusion. One of the ways of conceptualizing and assessing inclusion is trough the concept of participation (bearing in mind that inclusion and participation are not synonyms, but participation may be considered as one of the indicators of inclusion). The concept of participation has lately entered the discourse of special education that focuses not only on education of pupils with special education needs in schools, but deals also with the education and support of persons with disabilities during their whole life career. Special education understands participation of persons with disabilities as an indispensable mean to the realization of inclusive education and also as a goal of educational and support activities. Participation in the special education approach arises from interconnection of medical and social models of disability. Medical model, which has been introduced already in the chapter Inclusion, sees disability and problems of a given person as caused directly by his/her illness, trauma or by other health problems requiring medical care. The disability management is understood as curing or adaptation of a person and changes of his/her behavior. Medical care is considered to be the main solution, and on the political level, the main attention is given to modification or reform of health care policy. Social model of disability, on the other hand, sees disability as a socially created problem. Disability is not a characteristic of a person, but rather a complex of associated conditions, many of which are created by social environment. That is why dealing with this issue demands social activity. It is a collective responsibility of the society, which has the power to create modifications of environment, necessary for full participation of persons with disabilities in all areas of social life. The World Health Organization blends these two models together, and presents disability as a bio-psycho-social condition. In the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Heath (ICF), disability is seen as complex situation composed of persons health condition, different body structures and functions, activities and participations, all influenced by personal and environmental factors. The concept of Activities and participation is further divided according to ICF into nine domains: Learning and application of knowledge, general tasks and requirements, communication, mobility, self-care, life at home, human acts and relations, main areas of life and communal, social and civic life. For more details on participation as described by WHO, see: http://www.who.int/classifications/icf/en/ In special education, we accept the ICFâs concept of disability with regard to its paradigmatic proximity and universality of the scientific intention, including education, rehabilitation, social care and health care. However, as will be shown later, we do not stick to the general definition of participation provided by WHO as âinvolvement in life situationâ, but, in accordance with ICFâs intention, we develop it further with regard to needs of special education. When thinking about participation in relation to persons with disabilities, we put stress on the social aspect of disabilities, interaction between individuals and society, social roles and cultural values, rather than on a particular diagnosis and health condition of an individual. The definitions of participation include in themselves the assumption that the level of participation varies for different groups of persons, and that besides individual factors, there exist various physical, cultural and social barriers limiting or totally preventing participation.
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