<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><bold><italic>Introduction:</italic></bold> The aim of the study was to find out what is the understanding of relatively new terms coming into the cultures of Middle-European countries – inclusion, diversity, and equality (hereinafter referred to as IDE) – from the point of view of young people (n=30) and youth workers (n=16) in Slovakia.<bold><italic>Methods:</italic></bold> For data gathering, we used a method of focus groups (4 meetings). Data analysis was based on three criteria: consistency in understanding the terms, an overview of types of obstacles that keep young people from self-realisation and an explicit or implicit expression of understanding the basic principles of inclusion in education. The content of IDE terms was mostly from the area of the social field. The term diversity was closely explained in the psychological-personal fields.<bold><italic>Results:</italic></bold> The most frequent obstacles for applying IDE approaches were seen in the social, health and religious spheres. From the pedagogical and methodological point of view, the problem is also in the difficulty of preparing the projects based on the principles of IDE while the youth workers proclaim autonomy in solutions and do not trust the possibilities of using general methods because of specific need resulting from the specific context of their work. Also, they proclaim natural applying of the IDE principles and the existence of specific needs in the informal education does not represent any problem for the inclusion of the group members in the activities of the organisation.<bold><italic>Limitations:</italic></bold> Work with youth is very varied. Performs in different areas of life and also involves working with different groups of young people. The selected research sample consists of youth and youth workers who are only a partial sample of the sample. It is assumed that in a larger group of respondents (both youth workers and youths themselves), respondents' views may differ somewhat in some of the areas studied.<bold><italic>Conclusions:</italic></bold> This research provides information on understanding, implementation and obstacles to applying the principles of inclusion, equality and diversity in practice. We believe that the information we receive is very valuable as it opens the imaginative door to the specific kitchens of individual youth organizations where these principles are directly implemented. They show their nature of application in practice, they suggest some risks, as well as a certain bias towards the application of the terms emerging (probably?) from theory. As can be seen from the results of our research, the emergence of specific needs in non-formal education in practice does not pose a problem in the inclusion of group members in leisure activities.</abstract>

Introduction: The aim of the study was to find out what is the understanding of relatively new terms coming into the cultures of Middle-European countries – inclusion, diversity, and equality (hereinafter referred to as IDE) – from the point of view of young people (n=30) and youth workers (n=16) in Slovakia.Methods: For data gathering, we used a method of focus groups (4 meetings). Data analysis was based on three criteria: consistency in understanding the terms, an overview of types of obstacles that keep young people from self-realisation and an explicit or implicit expression of understanding the basic principles of inclusion in education. The content of IDE terms was mostly from the area of the social field. The term diversity was closely explained in the psychological-personal fields.Results: The most frequent obstacles for applying IDE approaches were seen in the social, health and religious spheres. From the pedagogical and methodological point of view, the problem is also in the difficulty of preparing the projects based on the principles of IDE while the youth workers proclaim autonomy in solutions and do not trust the possibilities of using general methods because of specific need resulting from the specific context of their work. Also, they proclaim natural applying of the IDE principles and the existence of specific needs in the informal education does not represent any problem for the inclusion of the group members in the activities of the organisation.Limitations: Work with youth is very varied. Performs in different areas of life and also involves working with different groups of young people. The selected research sample consists of youth and youth workers who are only a partial sample of the sample. It is assumed that in a larger group of respondents (both youth workers and youths themselves), respondents' views may differ somewhat in some of the areas studied.Conclusions: This research provides information on understanding, implementation and obstacles to applying the principles of inclusion, equality and diversity in practice. We believe that the information we receive is very valuable as it opens the imaginative door to the specific kitchens of individual youth organizations where these principles are directly implemented. They show their nature of application in practice, they suggest some risks, as well as a certain bias towards the application of the terms emerging (probably?) from theory. As can be seen from the results of our research, the emergence of specific needs in non-formal education in practice does not pose a problem in the inclusion of group members in leisure activities.

Inclusion, Diversity, Equality in Non-Formal Education through the Optic of Youth and Youth Workers

Acta Educationis Generalis

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License.

Introduction: The aim of the study was to find out what is the understanding of relatively new terms coming into the cultures of Middle-European countries –...

Inclusion, Diversity, Equality in Non-Formal Education through the Optic of Youth and Youth Workers

Published Online: Jan 03, 2019

Page range: 94 - 108

Received: Aug 27, 2018

Accepted: Oct 22, 2018

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/atd-2018-0019

Keywords
inclusion, diversity, equality, non-formal education, youth, youth workers

© 2018 Martin Brestovanský et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License.

Inclusion, Diversity, Equality in Non-Formal Education through the Optic of Youth and Youth Workers

Published Online: Jan 03, 2019

Page range: 94 - 108

Received: Aug 27, 2018

Accepted: Oct 22, 2018

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/atd-2018-0019

Keywordsinclusion, diversity, equality, non-formal education, youth, youth workers

© 2018 Martin Brestovanský et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License.

Keywords
inclusion, diversity, equality, non-formal education, youth, youth workers