FUTURE EDUCATORS' PERCEPTIONS ABOUT VICARIANCE AS A DESIGN TOOL IN EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION SERVICES IN THE CASE OF THE PRESENCE OF VISUALLY IMPAIRED CHILDREN

Neuroscience studies have demonstrated the centrality of the body within cognitive processes, highlighting the deep connection between perception, action and cognition.Vicariance would be configured as a creative capacity of the brain that would allow human beings to find alternative and original solutions to resolve the complexity and unpredictability of reality.Vicariance would therefore represent human beings' adaptive capacity and respond to their need to be available to flexibility and change, which is indispensable for their survival.In the presence of visual impairment, this creative force would allow the body to vicariate the functions of the organ of sight, enhancing the development of the other senses and movement.This evidence can be fully applied in educational research, where biological and cultural elements meet.Within educational processes, and particularly those involving visually impaired children, vicariance can take on a dual perspective.Firstly, it refers to the biological capacity of the visually impaired child's body to identify solutions that compensate for the absence of sight and secondly, to the educator's capacity to identify solutions that respond to the specificity of the child's educational needs, adopting an Adaptive Decision-Making perspective.Based on these considerations, a questionnaire was administered to a group of students enrolled in the degree course in Educational Sciences at the University of Salerno during the teaching of "Inclusive design of Early Childhood Services" in the first semester of the current academic year.This questionnaire was aimed at investigating the perceptions of future educators regarding the design of educational activities in early childhood contexts where there were children with visual disabilities.Therefore, the present study aims to analyse whether the scientific evidence regarding the function of vicariance in education is reflected in the results of the questionnaire and how future educators imagine they can use this creative ability as a tool to design educational activities in early childhood contexts with visually impaired children to realise inclusive educational processes, which respond to the needs of all and each one.