Social Representations of Teacher Students about vulnerable groups

Abstract

The research investigates the social representations teacher training students have about some vulnerable groups – elderly, disabled, homosexual, lesbian, indigenous, HIV patients-. It's important to know their beliefs and thoughs, because of the importance of his profession in teaching the next generation of citizens. The goal of the research is to go from the theory of Moscovici (1979) delving into the common sense knowledge of the students. since this kind of knowledge condenses opinions, thoughts, values, beliefs constructed in interactions with the social group and are determinant in the actions and practices related to the object of representation. A questionnaire was applied to 319 students in 5 public teacher training colleges in Mexico City. The results showed greater acceptance of indigenous (82.3%), while the most rejected group were the disabled (66.6%). It was found that institutions with higher levels of acceptance were ENMJN (85.1%) and BENM (80.4%), while the ESEF (65.4%) and ENSM (63.9%) show the lowest percentages of acceptance. ENE was placed in the center (76.2%), which is notable for being an institution whose main mission is educational integration