This work is licensed under a Creative Commons

Attribution/NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0

Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0

International Public License - CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-

sa/4.0/legalcode.es

Sinergias educativas

July - September Vol. 8 - 3- 2023

http://sinergiaseducativas.mx/index.php/revista/

eISSN: 2661-6661

revistasinergias@soyuo.mx

Page 76-83

Received: December 09 , 2022

Approved: April 22 , 2023

Motivation in the classroom for the

educational inclusion of students with

special educational needs

La motivación en el salón de clase para la inclusión

educativa de estudiantes con necesidades educativas

especiales

Karla Elke Álvarez Miranda

José Luis Álava Mieles*

Johanna Fernanda Segovia Alcívar*

Abstract

In this research work it is important to mention the work that has

been done to know exactly the problem presented in the research and

to give the respective solution to the problem raised through a

proposal that facilitates the participation of all those involved. The

general objective is to determine the influence of motivation in the

classroom for the educational inclusion of students with Special

Educational Needs with Down Syndrome. The approach of this

research is mixed, since it involves combining and integrating

qualitative and quantitative data with a descriptive and field

research, information was collected through surveys to teachers,

interviews to the DECE and classroom observation of students about

the performance of the teacher and how he/she applies motivation as

* Bachelor's Degree, Universidad Laica Vicente

Rocafuerte, karlitalvarezmiranda@hotmail.com

https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7563-6642

* Master's Degree, Universidad de Guayaquil

Jose.alavam@ug.edu.ec

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2706-5870

*Bachelor's Degree, Instituto Tecnológico Vicente

Rocafuerte, jsegovia@istv.edu.ec

https://orcid.org/0009-0003-5093-4127

Article

Sinergias educativas

July - September Vol. 8 - 3- 2023

http://sinergiaseducativas.mx/index.php/revista/

part of the inclusion of students with SEN with Down Syndrome,

This made it possible to determine the lack of strategies that teachers

have to attend to and include these students in the classroom, which

is why a workshop guide with didactic strategies for the process of

motivation in the classroom is presented as a solution to the problem

posed, aimed at teachers, since it is important to reinforce and

improve the work they do in the classroom to strengthen the

inclusion of students and improve participation.

Keywords: Inclusion, Motivation, Special Educational Needs,

Down Syndrome, Down's Syndrome

Resumen

En el presente trabajo investigativo es importante mencionar la labor

que se ha realizado para conocer con exactitud la problemática que

se presenta en la investigación y dar la respectiva solución a la

problemática planteada a través de una propuesta que facilite la

participación de todos los involucrados. El objetivo general, es

determinar la influencia que tiene la motivación en el salón de clases

para la inclusión educativa de los estudiantes con Necesidades

Educativas Especiales con Síndrome de Down. El enfoque de esta

investigación es mixta, ya que implica combinar e integrar los datos

cualitativos y cuantitativos con una investigación descriptiva y de

campo, se realizó la recolección de información mediante encuestas

a docentes, entrevistas al DECE y observación áulica a los

estudiantes sobre el desempeño que viene realizando el docente y

como aplica la motivación como parte de la inclusión a estudiantes

que presentan NEE con Síndrome de Down, con lo que se pudo

determinar las falta de estrategias que tienen los docentes para

atender e incluir a dichos estudiantes en el salón de clase, por lo cual

se presenta como respuesta de solución a la problemática planteada

una guía de talleres con estrategias didácticas para proceso de

motivación en el salón de clase dirigida a docentes ya que es

importante reforzar y capacidad la labor que realizan dentro del aula

para fortalecer la inclusión de estudiantes y mejorar la participación.

Palabras clave: Inclusión, Motivación, Necesidades Educativas

Especiales, Síndrome de Down

Sinergias educativas

July - September Vol. 8 - 3- 2023

http://sinergiaseducativas.mx/index.php/revista/

Introduction

Motivation in learning is one of the factors that should be considered

very seriously, students need to be cared for in their classrooms and

at the same time be motivated by their teachers since they are the

first link in experiencing the cognitive, social, affective and

behavioral processes, being a process that must be internalized for

students to achieve their goals or objectives. Motivation is also a

reference in the inclusion of students with Special Educational

Needs (SEN) who require a permanent accompaniment, especially

to be attended in the required dimension according to their

difficulties to ensure access to a participatory and inclusive

education for the proper development of their learning skills.

Motivation in learning means to awaken the interest and passion for

what you want them to learn and have the predisposition to work

together with others, therefore, giving sufficient and timely attention

to students is synonymous with educational progress. Motivation is

one of the very important variables in the development of learning,

however, many of these expressive components are not adequately

addressed, on the other hand, the moods of students should be

considered by those who perform the educational work and provide

quality care is essential in the life of the student who positively to

perform their school activities requires a stimulus which must be

generated before, during and after school activities. Affection

encompasses emotions, which become decisive factors in learning,

especially for students with SEN, who must be taken into

consideration in an equal manner so that their educational progress

has positive advances. The United Nations Children's Fund

(UNICEF) mentions that lack of motivation is one of the causes of

deficiencies in the inclusion of students, which causes them to lose

interest in their studies and leads to difficulties such as learning

difficulties. Also, the Ministry of Education of Ecuador

(MINEDUC) has promoted policies aimed at strengthening

motivational activities within educational institutions as a means to

serve students with SEN. As it has been mentioned, the importance

of motivation in the activities that students develop should be

addressed as a strategy to help develop learning so that their

knowledge construction process is more viable, making it possible

for children to have the necessary space to be stimulated,

guaranteeing that their activities are carried out with motivational

Sinergias educativas

July - September Vol. 8 - 3- 2023

http://sinergiaseducativas.mx/index.php/revista/

processes. Learning difficulties are constantly presented at the level

of educational institutions and one of the main causes has been the

lack of motivation during learning where teachers do not apply

adequate strategies during the activities they develop in the

classroom, from this perspective, it can be considered that teachers

lack strategies to generate spaces for interaction, participation and

mainly to provide the student with the ability to feel confident. 3 This

situation has been detected at the Minerva Basic Education School,

where it has been observed that there are middle school students with

learning problems, including children with Down Syndrome, and the

main triggering factor has been a lack of motivation for their studies,

due to a lack of optimism and self-interest, making it difficult to

develop and carry out activities carried out by the teacher in the

classroom, creating an environment that is not encouraging for

academic progress. To achieve a communicative approach where a

good motivational educational environment is achieved, teachers

must redirect their adaptive and individualized learning activities

with good didactic strategies for learning, in this sense it is necessary

to provide adequate attention to each student for their difficulty, in

this case addressing students with SEN with Down Syndrome. For

this reason, the teacher becomes an instrument of motivation to

impart meaningful learning and general knowledge, in the search for

self-interest that allows the student to integrate an unforgettable and

meaningful learning for life, as teachers should motivate and

strengthen those interpersonal links where each student is the one

who builds his own space of knowledge within the classroom

enriching and stimulating their learning according to the educational

need that arises. Likewise, the difficulties of teachers at the Minerva

School of Basic Education in not providing sufficient motivation

before, during and after their learning activities are mentioned. This

is due to a lack of knowledge about Down Syndrome because of

insufficient training by authorities related to students with SEN,

generalizing or specifying their condition or little experience and

making it difficult to be an investigative teacher because they

generally question the beliefs, prejudices and culture about how

students with SEN should be treated. That is why it is necessary to

provide teachers with the knowledge and tools necessary to create

active motivational strategies that help them to fulfill their role with

a cooperative and competitive work training and to foster values and

Sinergias educativas

July - September Vol. 8 - 3- 2023

http://sinergiaseducativas.mx/index.php/revista/

critical thinking that will make their students with Down syndrome

build their own learning.

Motivation in the classroom has become a very important reference

for the development of learning and mainly in the inclusion of

students with SEN, in this aspect different works are presented that

precede the research those with Down syndrome. For Alegre (2016)

where he mentions that a bad demotivation has a negative influence

on educational, value and human processes, therefore, these authors

agree that the principle of normalization recognizes the right of every

person with special educational needs to integrate into society, and

achieve their independence to live a life as normal as possible,

adapting the means and services to their needs taking into

consideration the context in which they develop. In the thesis work

done by Gomez and Martinez (2020) at the University of Guayaquil

with the topic "Teacher motivation in the face of special educational

needs in the educational unit Rafael Mendoza Avilés" refers that it

is important to understand that students who present SEN with Down

Syndrome since they require to be adequately attended and one of

the roles that the teacher fulfills is to motivate the student so that

their learning construction process is benefited. The Educational

Development Program (2019). Interprets standardization as:

Normalization of the educational conditions in which children with

special educational needs (SEN) are served, to achieve the most

normal education possible, of course with excellent motivation will

improve the physical, social and emotional well-being. This means

to generate the educational fact in accordance with the provisions of

the Department of Education, both children with SEN and those who

do not manifest them in the current educational reality". Likewise,

there is another principle that should be considered as an alternative

to incorporate people with special educational needs into society.

This principle is that of integration, which is closely related to

standardization. In the research conducted by Saltos (2022) at the

Universidad Laica Vicente Rocafuerte of Guayaquil with the topic

"Motivation for learning of students with special educational needs

in Higher Basic Education" refers to the importance of motivation in

the learning process, emphasizing the work of the teacher in

motivating by adapting knowledge according to the difficulty or

SEN of each student for a more efficient inclusion.

Sinergias educativas

July - September Vol. 8 - 3- 2023

http://sinergiaseducativas.mx/index.php/revista/

Materials and methods

The contribution to this research has served as a basis to obtain

information on how classes are developed in a motivational

environment, as is the attitude of the teacher in the teaching-learning

process, with a deductive method within the quantitative approach,

collecting data from the sample and questionnaires of questions that

give reliability to the instrument. The methodological tools

implemented to respond to diversity, where educational quality is a

key criterion is equity, i.e. taking into consideration motivation as a

resource for the inclusion of students with SEN with Down

syndrome. The research work has a mixed approach since a

combination of quantitative and qualitative aspects was carried out

to highlight the research process where the specific cases were

deepened to describe the phenomenon to know more reliably the

results of the problem posed in the research. Quantitatively, a survey

was elaborated for teachers of the Minerva School of Basic

Education, who responded to each one of the questions posed

according to each one of the variables of the research, and also

quantitatively, an interview was conducted with the director and

DECE and observation of students to learn how to manage

motivation in the classroom as a resource for the inclusion of

students with SEN with Down Syndrome.

Deductive method: It was applied from the premises found in the

research with the application of the different instruments for the

collection of information that allowed clarifying the problem posed

and knowing how teachers apply motivation in the classroom as part

of the process of inclusion of students to adequately address SEN

with Down syndrome.

Analytical method: A general analysis of the information obtained

was elaborated with which it was possible to verify how motivation

influences the inclusion process in the classroom with which the

respective conclusions on the research topic were established.

Results

The proposal of the work is to dynamize the process and to support

students with special educational needs as the main part of the

motivation in the work done by each of the teachers, it will determine

Sinergias educativas

July - September Vol. 8 - 3- 2023

http://sinergiaseducativas.mx/index.php/revista/

that there is no exclusion and that there is awareness that we are all

equal.

- What is achieved primarily is a real change, a good training of

teachers and then that this teaching-learning process is using various

viable strategies for the work of students. All this involves a good

collaborative and cooperative environment of teachers practicing

inclusion who are more familiar with it.

- By using an active methodology in this interactive teacher-student

process, it is possible to improve and promote clear precepts to

students, which reflect that effort and cooperative work is very

productive in their learning.

- Any change or improvement process in this educational field

requires great perseverance and a commitment of the entire

educational triad, good planning, excellent curricular adaptation, and

flexibility in planning, taking into account a large number of factors

in favor of inclusive education.

Discussion

The proposal established in the research seeks to provide teachers

with strategies that help motivate students in the classroom to

achieve the inclusion of students with SEN. As suggested in the

curriculum, it is important to adopt activities that the teacher in

charge can gradually adapt, starting with the importance of teaching

through play and the continuous development of the child's

perception throughout life. SEN require inclusion for which the

student requires that the activities to be developed within the

classroom provide the facility for the development of activities more

easily in a collaborative manner, therefore the proposed activities

provide such an alternative for teachers to adapt activities with their

students guiding a participatory work and together to achieve the

construction of new learning with simple but feasible tasks in those

students who have learning difficulties.

Emphasize the educational and socialization sensitivities of the

series of activities presented, enhance the implementation and raise

awareness of the importance of developing fundamental skills for the

development of children from birth such as: 62 Guide to

motivational teaching strategies for students with SEN in the

classroom 1. Adapting the environment. 2. Making curricular

adaptations. Establishing visible rules and instructions in the

Sinergias educativas

July - September Vol. 8 - 3- 2023

http://sinergiaseducativas.mx/index.php/revista/

classroom 4. Allowing support material during learning. 5. Allow

students to develop in different areas: music, art, singing, etc.

Implement an integral development that allows children to increase

their abilities and skills, as well as their adaptation to the

environment and their interactions with the members, towards

physical development and their intelligence. Likewise, it is required

that teachers have continuous training, volunteer to meet the needs

of children with special educational needs and be able to attend them

in an educational center.

References

Aguilar, J., González, D., & Aguilar, A. (2016). A structural model

of intrinsic motivation. Acta de Investigación Psicológica -

Psychological Research Records, 6(3), 2552-2557.

Alegre, R. (2016). The evolution of attitudes in human diversity and

education. Málaga. Editores Aljibe PP. 23-50. Retrieved from

https://www.patriciatorresray.com/elibros/124287-

SGHJMMNHCS-diversidadhumana-y-educacion.html

Almazcruz. (July 04, 2019). Bronfenbrenner's Ecological Theory.

Retrieved from Wordpress:

https://almazcruz.wordpress.com/teoria-ecologica-de-

bronfenbrenner/

Barraga (2017). Pedagogical methodology for the care of children

with special educational needs. Journal: Psicología Científica.

Retrieved from https://www.psicolog

iacientifica.com/pedagogia-ninos-especiales/

Calderón, M. (2012). Inclusive education is our task. Retrieved from

La Educación:

http://www.repositoriocdpd.net:8080/handle/123456789/290

Chávez, E. (July 2017). A Classroom Experience: Affective and

Emotional Dimension. Retrieved from A Classroom

Experience: Affective and Emotional Dimension:

https://dialnet.unirioja.es/descarga/articulo/6129686.pdf