Optimizing comprehensive care:

current approaches in pedagogical

didactics for students with

special educational needs

Optimizando la atención integral: enfoques actuales

de la didáctica pedagógica para estudiantes con

necesidades educativas especiales

251

Vicenza Gil Zambrano**

https:orcid.org/0009-0002-2834-6268

Santiago, Provincia de Santiago / Chile

Dustin Martínez Mora*

https:orcid.org/000-0002-5409-0190

San Cristóbal, Táchira / Venezuela

* PhD Candidate in Educational Sciences at the Pedagogical Experimental Libertador University. “Juan Bautista Gar-

cía Roa” Educational Unit. Integrated Classroom Specialist Teacher. Email: martinezdustin690@gmail.com

** Educational Psychologist. Simón Rodríguez International Educational Training Center. Teacher. vicenzagilzam-

brano@gmail.com

Revista Digital de Investigación y Postgrado, 5(10), 251-262

Electronic ISSN: 2665-038X

How to cite: Martínez, M. D. y Gil, Z. V. (2024). Optimizing comprehensive care: current approa-

ches in pedagogical didactics for students with special educational needs. Revista Digital de In-

vestigación y Postgrado, 5(10), 251-262.

Received: February / 20 / 2024 Reviewed: February / 22 / 2024 Approved: April / 4 /2024

252

Dustin Martínez Mora and Vicenza Gil Zambrano

Abstract

Pedagogical didactics is considered an integrating element within the teaching-learning process,

whose objective is to implement in the teacher a linkage of strategies for the education of stu-

dents with special educational needs (SEN) from a social, educational, and pedagogical pers-

pective, in an organized manner to achieve short, medium, and long-term objectives. It is

imparted in various educational tasks by the teacher through a globalizingdidactics that ensures

the application of specific attention techniques, resulting in the real diagnosis corresponding to

the functioning of the psychofunctions according to the interests and needs of each student,

through technocratic education based on experience. This will facilitate the acquisition of com-

petencies guided by the execution of educational programs that allow the application of stra-

tegies to maximize the development of skills and abilities within the different levels or modalities

of the Venezuelan educational system.

Keywords:

Didactics, special educational needs, psychofunctions, globalizing didactics, techno-

cratic education.

Resumen

La didáctica pedagógica es considerada un elemento integrador dentro del proceso de ense-

ñanza-aprendizaje, cuyo objetivo consta de implementar en el docente una vinculación de es-

trategias para la formación del estudiante con necesidades educativas especiales (NEE) desde

una perspectiva social, educativa y pedagógica, de manera organizada para la consecución de

objetivos a corto, mediano y largo plazo, siendo impartida en las diferentes tareas educativas

por parte del docente mediante una didáctica globalizadora que garantizará aplicar técnicas

específicas de atención, que arrojará el diagnóstico real correspondiente al funcionamiento de

las psicofunciones según sean los intereses y necesidades de cada escolar, a través de la edu-

cación tecnocrática basada en la experiencia, lo cual propiciará adquirir las competencias orien-

tadas por la ejecución de programas educativos que permitan aplicar estrategias que facilitarán

en los escolares el máximo desarrollo de sus habilidades y destrezas dentro de los diferentes

niveles o modalidades del sistema educativo venezolano.

Palabras clave:

Didáctica, necesidades educativas especiales, psicofunciones, didáctica globali-

zadora, educación tecnocrática.

Optimizing Comprehensive Attention: Current Approaches in Pedagogical

Didactics for Students with Special Educational Needs

Currently, education has undergone a series of changes where the teacher must be at the fo-

refront of the transformation, driving them to continue researching and innovating to offer edu-

cational alternatives to students with special educational needs. This is due to the need for

implementation of strategies that can foster meaningful learning in students, aimed at the full

development of cognitive and socio-emotional functions, which will strengthen their academic

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ISSN electrónico: 2665-038X

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Optimizing comprehensive care: current approaches in pedagogical

didactics for students with special educational needs

skills. This is achieved through programs that, at the curricular level, the teacher ensures adjus-

tments and adaptations aimed at fostering abilities and skills within the educational institution.

Hernández (2014) highlights the following:

Didactics must be assumed as the discipline that responds to teaching processes, which im-

plies addressing the why, what, and how of teaching. It also attends to the structuring of the

teaching processes of each teacher, who is subject to adapting their methodology to the

educational organization, the conditions of the context, the socio-cultural conditions, and

any kind of conditioning that integrates the environment and the formation of each student.

(p.100)

It is worth noting, the author refers that didactics prompts teachers to face the challenge of

responding correctly to Special Educational Needs (SEN), amidst concerns about how to im-

plement inclusion or which strategies and tools are appropriate, which may result in unresolved

questions (in some cases) becoming barriers that hinder the pedagogical development of the

student, highlighting the need for research and ongoing training to be able to generate learning

situations and positively impact processes.

Subsequently, the review of the concepts of Pedagogy and Didactics, which allows delving into

their definitions and objectives, taking into account the aspects that coincide and make a dif-

ference, impacting from the clarification of notions, in optimizing pedagogical didactics aimed

at addressing Special Educational Needs. To define Pedagogy as a science focused on unders-

tanding the principles, fundamentals, and theories of learning, and Didactics as a branch of the

former, based on the fact that it directly refers to the methodology and means used by the tea-

cher during the teaching and evaluation of learning, it is necessary to have practical aspects

which will provide methodologies, techniques, and specific activities, guiding the selection of

materials and determining the appropriateness when selecting the form of evaluating know-

ledge.

On the other hand, pedagogy, on the one hand, is a broad discipline that seeks to understand

the foundations of education, focusing on philosophical, sociological, psychological, and anth-

ropological aspects, among others, to address not only cognitive but also affective, social, and

ethical elements, pursuing the development not only academic but integral of the individual.

Likewise, didactics is considered a discipline that relates the values, resources, and training of

the teacher at the time of executing their educational practice since, in an operational way, it

designs and formulates strategies aimed at facilitating and evaluating learning, through adap-

tations concerning the interests and needs of their students in order to minimize interferences,

this is achieved through teamwork for integral education.

It is worth mentioning that the construction of knowledge arises from the experiences of the

learners, this construction allows them to understand the information transmitted by the teacher

when diversifying their resources and creating bridges to a diversity of strategies or methodo-

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Dustin Martínez Mora and Vicenza Gil Zambrano

logies to access more efficiently and relevantly the learnings derived from educational practice.

For Abreu, Gallegos et al. (2017) express:

Didactics has been defined interchangeably as the art of teaching, artifice, treatise, norma-

tive, learning scientific study, intellectual education study of man and systematic knowledge,

auxiliary science, incentive technique, instruction theory, speculative science, general doc-

trine, method, technique, procedure, particular discipline, branch of Pedagogy, pedagogical

discipline, normative practical pedagogical discipline, reflective applied discipline. (p.84)

Therefore, the authors present didactics applied to the reality that the teacher experiences within

the learning spaces because they themselves generate a practice aimed at providing an inter-

vention with a psychopedagogical approach, being an experience mediated by the resources

obtained during their training. For this reason, it is possible to promote together with their stu-

dents a set of knowledge that will lead to building a baggage for the acquisition of knowledge

that will provide them with resources for decision-making in solving a certain problem within

and outside the learning space, with this preparation framed in Socratic processes (which gives

it a dialectical character) that allows stimulating and promoting both critical thinking (an aptitude

considered one of the four basic skills for learning) as well as otherness, which supports the

culture of inclusionFollowing this, UNESCO (2021), in its report on inclusion and education re-

flects: "Developing inclusive teaching and learning strategies and practices and ensuring that

they are suitable for all, particularly for those most excluded from ECI and AEPI programs and

schools." (p.5)

Taking as a reference what is stipulated by UNESCO, education is a dynamic and unpredictable

activity, timely of modern societies, which requires continuous review and progress, hence part

of the teaching role which plays an irreplaceable role. At the same time, being able to autono-

mously use the knowledge and distinctive techniques for the benefit of their students, the tea-

cher must deploy very special characteristics of technical, scientific, and why not, social and

cultural techniques.

Exactly, educational quality concerns the experience of everything that dignifies the student's

life, through a school environment rich in experiences and possibilities that encourage students

with Special Educational Needs to examine theory and practice in a continuous innovation pro-

cess, which strengthens overcoming failures and highlighting the achievements of teaching per-

formance, circumscribed within the realm of quality and assimilated with professionalism. This

generates a positive and supportive school climate, to develop actions aimed at achieving its

noblest objective, efficiently promoting student learning.

The teacher is a professional who relates technical experience and whose social function is in

daily tasks such as assessing knowledge, pedagogical and didactic action, whose level of deve-

lopment of intercultural competences as corresponds, the teacher's autonomy starts from evo-

king effectively and efficiently every learning process, such as assessing and acting. In addition

to understanding and proceeding with educational practice, which are fundamental when per-

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Optimizing comprehensive care: current approaches in pedagogical

didactics for students with special educational needs

forming teaching, as a promoter of educational experiences, with the capacity to monopolize

strategies and resources that lead to the improvement of creativity in students, good use of

knowledge, skills and abilities for real-life situations and the development of attitudes and va-

lues.

Therefore, teaching as a socializing practice forms a dimension that is directed towards the so-

cialization of students with Special Educational Needs, guiding them through the learning pro-

cess. Specifying an action originated through knowledge, where teaching as an institutional and

community practice is organized by explicit and implicit cultural mandates, contained within

the designated institutional culture. With all this, the dimension of the teaching exercise is sought,

through institutional and community insertion, according to the complexity of this social skill,

as well as the multidimensionality of the profession, requiring a systemic understanding that

every decision made, whether it be from work contexts, school organization, curriculum policy,

is managed in the profession as a whole.

In this way, the objectives of didactics are to favor the adequate teacher-student relationship,

and this adequate relationship is based on the fact that the teacher must know their students

in order to then develop a didactics adjusted to both their interests and needs, as well as the

educational curriculum and context. This form of knowledge is directly associated with unders-

tanding their abilities, talents, and skills, as well as socio-cultural, family, and clinical realities.

Now, Rojas (2022) infers:

With the passing of the years, didactics has been manifesting various changes or contributions

due to new knowledge in education. There are several definitions of didactics such as: the

art of teaching, study of intellectual and intelligent education, erudition, technique, discipline

of pedagogy, teaching theory, practice, among others, but it mainly focuses on science. (p.34)

That is to say, the author reflects the importance of didactics as the means that allows the tea-

cher to transmit effective teaching through a positive climate where the student with Special

Educational Needs strengthens their desire to learn based on the imparted dynamics, in this

way developing their cognitive processes according to their interests and needs.

Therefore, it is clear that didactics as a branch of pedagogy allows for a clear vision of the tea-

cher's profile, defined as the grouping of knowledge, skills, and personal, occupational, specia-

lized, or prospective abilities that an educator must have or obtain to carry out their work. Some

of its functions are to facilitate, guide, and motivate in the learning process, allowing the teacher,

a researcher by nature, to create their own hypotheses by reflecting on their pedagogical work

and the adaptation of their practice, acting as a mediator in the dynamics developed in the

learning space, which, it is worth saying, is not limited to the classroom but encompasses the

school as a living, changing, and dynamic entity.

In this way, didactics guides the pedagogical action of teachers and facilitates student learning,

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Dustin Martínez Mora and Vicenza Gil Zambrano

in an educational context that seeks social inclusion and attention to diversity. Didactics must

be flexible, innovative, and adapted to the needs of each student, especially those with special

educational needs. In this way, the role it plays in the classroom reflects the educational reality,

with strengths and weaknesses, and where improvements can be made to enrich the teaching

practice and experience for all stakeholders involved.

At the same time, optimizing didactics involves expanding, diversifying, and improving the di-

dactic resources that teachers use when designing and planning their activities, allowing them

to offer a more effective and personalized educational response. This optimization benefits not

only students but also teachers, as it enhances their role and professional prestige, as well as

their self-confidence and ability to face educational challenges.

Adding to the above, educational didactics is directed towards meeting the needs of students

with special educational needs, where it is vital to emphasize encouraging assertive and efficient

communication that will, first and foremost, allow access to a fundamental right: being part of

a learning space, and subsequently, responding to positive stimuli for the development of skills

that will facilitate the appropriation of the range of knowledge provided by the teacher and,

therefore, consolidate the competencies required by the curriculum of the grade being pur-

sued.

To this end, didactics manifests a set of pedagogical knowledge implemented by teachers to

set objectives that, through diagnoses, neuropsychological characterizations, and knowledge

of the student's socio-family and cultural context, establish a comprehensive vision by develo-

ping academic and pedagogical objectives. This is part of the development of psychoeduca-

tional programs and attention aimed at both minimizing interference and developing skills,

which is carried out through family support, exchange with specialists, review of clinical reports

and educational backgrounds, interviews with previous teachers and family members, as well

as evaluations aimed at observing their academic performance during different situations pre-

sented in educational practice, so that their performance can be assessed.

In light of the above, as expressed by Pila et al. (2023): "Didactics is a discipline of the educational

sciences committed to teaching-learning processes, in order to achieve the integral formation

of the student. There are many definitions and what teachers expect from this discipline to guide

their work with students." (p.375)

It is essential to highlight that the authors emphasized that building a more comprehensive vi-

sion of students with special educational needs exponentially improves the chances of inter-

vention success. It is also fundamental to set goals and develop objectives related to personal

growth and coexistence, situated within the four pillars of educational inclusion.

It is worth considering the impossibility for teachers to develop tailored care plans if the student

is not present; necessary actions must be taken to ensure the student's presence not only in

the classroom but in every class. Participation refers to the fact that the student is involved in

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didactics for students with special educational needs

activities, and in a way, these pillars are staggered, where on must be achieved to move on to

the next.

Once the student with special educational needs is present, it is time to encourage their parti-

cipation through strategies and techniques tailored to their physical and cognitive profile. The

educator's contribution, through knowledge of the student's abilities, skills, and needs, generates

avenues for them to contribute to the development of activities, as well as being part of the

educational process. Thus, the student must contribute, and it is the teacher who, through the

design of the action plan, will seek ways for this to happen. This contribution should, as far as

possible, be visible to their peers, which impacts the recognition and appreciation of the stu-

dent's abilities, thereby granting them a place in the social universe of their peers.

In the case of relationships, the student's relationship with the teaching staff prevails, linking the

student's relationship with their peers and the student's relationship with a natural peer. The de-

velopment of pedagogical didactics designed for the student should allow, first and foremost,

and by virtue of the teacher's holistic understanding of the student, the establishment of a bond

with them, which will then facilitate appropriate interaction with the rest of their peers and, in

turn, the encounter with a natural peer who accompanies the student with Special Educational

Needs in their journey through the institution through the bond of friendship.

Teachers in the different modalities of the Venezuelan educational system create didactic stra-

tegies that provide the teaching and learning process for students with special educational

needs. In these strategies, they must consider work that enhances social skills as a cross-cutting

element, seeking to train a student capable of solving problems according to their level of de-

velopment. This work is aimed at stimulating individual and social thinking that enables them

to navigate the educational social environment and grasp the relevant contents of the curricu-

lum, extrapolating this experience to their immediate family and social environment.

To this end, interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary approaches play a significant role in optimizing

educational didactics for the attention of Special Educational Needs in schools, carried out by

the teacher and interdisciplinary team to build, from a comprehensive and holistic vision, the

cognitive profile of the learner, a didactic proposal that allows them to navigate the school while

respecting their individuality.

In all educational planning, it starts with the teacher's creativity as well as the resources available.

Teachers innovate to tailor curricular adjustments and adaptations to the student's interests and

needs so that they can grasp the objective corresponding to each presented content. The cons-

truction and consolidation of this content should facilitate the subsequent evaluation of the di-

dactics used through the student's performance and their acquisition of knowledge, allowing for

the reevaluation or maintenance of teaching methods, techniques, activities, resources, and time

frames that favor the development of the school day and thus positively impact school inclusion.

With each planning, the teacher must bear in mind the guidelines for breaking down content