scholarly journals Implementing Inclusive Education in Lithuania: What are the main Challenges according to Teachers’ Experiences?

2019 ◽  
Vol 43 ◽  
pp. 37-56
Author(s):  
Suvi Lakkala ◽  
Agnė Juškevičienė ◽  
Jūratė Česnavičienė ◽  
Sniegina Poteliūnienė ◽  
Stasė Ustilaitė ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Inclusive Education ◽  
Primary Schools ◽  
Teacher Educators ◽  
Successful Implementation ◽  
Special Educational Needs ◽  
Pedagogical Competence ◽  
Teacher Competences ◽  
Heterogeneous Classes ◽  
Group Interviews ◽  
Teaching Programs

The purpose of this article was to analyse the challenges primary and subject teachers had experienced concerning the implementation of inclusive education in Lithuanian primary schools, progymnasiums and gymnasiums. In this study, 86 Lithuanian teachers reflected on their experiences of teaching in heterogeneous classes. The data were collected from 13 group interviews. The article highlights the challenges encountered by the primary and subject teachers in implementing inclusive teaching. The findings were arranged under four themes. Concerning teachers’ pedagogical competence, the teachers highlighted difficulties in differentiating their teaching and including the students with special educational needs in the classes’ social peer networks. Teachers also pointed out the need for multiprofessional collaboration and dialogue with parents. The themes were then interpreted in the theoretical frames of teachers’ professional competences. At a practical level, the study’s findings may help teacher educators understand the teacher competences needed to implement inclusive education and support them to develop existing teaching programs to target the successful implementation of inclusive education. At a conceptual level, this study presents evidence for preparing teachers to work in the conditions of striving towards inclusive education.

scholarly journals Dialogic Learning Environments That Enhance Instrumental Learning and Inclusion of Students With Special Needs in Secondary Education

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Diego Navarro-Mateu ◽  
Teresa Gómez-Domínguez ◽  
María Padrós Cuxart ◽  
Esther Roca-Campos
Keyword(s):  
Secondary Education ◽  
Special Needs ◽  
Inclusive Education ◽  
Instrumental Learning ◽  
Educational Systems ◽  
Successful Implementation ◽  
Special Educational Needs ◽  
Educational Strategies ◽  
Students With Special Needs ◽  
Documentary Analysis

Across Europe, the enrolment of students with special educational needs in regular classrooms is increasing, although it does not always mean access to high quality educational experience. In this context, inclusive education has been enhanced in most educational systems, but its successful implementation is still limited and has become a challenge in most countries, and specially in secondary education, when segregation due to learning achievement is more frequent. Educational practices that take into account the potential of promoting learning interactions within heterogeneous groups of students have already demonstrated contributing to educational inclusion of students with special needs. In this study we analyse the case of a secondary education school located in Valencian Community (Spain), which educates students with special needs along with their typically developing peers and is characterized by its inclusive ethos. The analysis focuses on three educational strategies implemented in the school and their impact on educational improvement and inclusion of the students with special needs: (1) co-teaching, (2) interactive groups, (3) dialogic literary gatherings. Qualitative data were obtained from communicative focus groups with teachers, communicative life stories with students and relatives, communicative observations of the three educational strategies and documentary analysis. The findings show significant increase in the students' instrumental learning, as well as an improvement in these students' overall inclusion in the school.

scholarly journals Comparative Study on Approaching Inclusive Physical Education from the Perspective of Alternative Pedagogies

2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 123
Author(s):  
Alina Gabriela RUSANESCU ◽  
Ana Maria SORA ◽  
Marius STOICESCU
Keyword(s):  
Physical Education ◽  
Inclusive Education ◽  
Learning Assessment ◽  
Successful Implementation ◽  
Special Educational Needs ◽  
Child Centered ◽  
Assessment Activity ◽  
Teaching Learning ◽  
New Forms Of Learning ◽  
Alternative Pedagogies

This century is characterized by rapid changes in society. In this light, education must help children by guiding the school to new forms of learning that give the students the opportunity to respond to unforeseen situations. Various ways to promote inclusive education are being explored nowadays, as an alternative for children with special educational needs (SEN). In this context, inclusive physical education is a methodological orientation aimed at organizing the learning process with mixed teams, which include pupils with and without deficiencies. A child-centered pedagogy is being promoted in this way, intended to reduce segregation and provide educational solutions regardless of the children’s level of abilities. Alternative pedagogies are one of the resources of conceptual and methodological development of inclusive physical education. These are present perspectives of approaching education by providing the teacher with variants of organizing the teaching-learning-assessment activity in accordance with the needs of students with SEN. This paper aims to highlight the specific way in which alternative pedagogies provide educational resources for the successful implementation of inclusive physical education programs. In this respect, a comparative analysis of educational alternatives is presented according to the organizational, curricular and didactic criteria that apply to the teaching process of physical education to classes in which children with SENs are integrated. At the same time, methodological suggestions are offered on optimizing the teaching of inclusive physical education.

Public awareness of personality - basis for successful implementation of inclusive education in Kazakhstan

2020 ◽  
Vol 42 (1) ◽  
pp. 5-12
Author(s):  
Zhamilya Namazbayeva ◽  
◽  
Aigerim Kalymova ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Inclusive Education ◽  
Public Awareness ◽  
Legal Aspects ◽  
Theory And Practice ◽  
Successful Implementation ◽  
Special Role ◽  
Special Educational Needs ◽  
Public Consciousness ◽  
The Republic ◽  
First Time

This article discusses the general issues of the state and development of inclusive education in the Republic of Ka- zakhstan. The basic psychological and pedagogical problems of the development of inclusive education are disclosed, a significant place is given to solving specific problems regarding the activities of subjects of education. For the first time, an attempt has been made conceptually to reveal the complex relationship between the theory and practice of inclusive education by means of various sciences. A special role is given to highlighting the issue of readiness of the society, future specialists, the socio-psychological and legal aspects are disclosed. In addition, questions of the attitude of society towards people with special educational needs (SEN) were examined and a special place was em- phasized in this process for the psychological support of working with them. The components of psychological readi- ness are highlighted, some forms and methods of its formation in the country’s education system are presented. The development of public consciousness, the formation of a creative, comprehensive personality of persons with special needs is possible only with the implementation of the indicated theoretical, methodological and practical aspects of this great work.

scholarly journals Teacher Engagement Mediates Self-Efficacy and Classroom Management: Focus on Indonesian Primary Schools

2021 ◽  
Vol 19 (53) ◽  
pp. 75-92
Author(s):  
Anisa Rahmadani ◽  
Farida Kurniawati
Keyword(s):  
Classroom Management ◽  
Special Needs ◽  
Inclusive Education ◽  
Self Efficacy ◽  
Primary Schools ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Successful Implementation ◽  
Demand Model ◽  
Students With Special Needs ◽  
Personal Resource

Introduction.  The numbers of students with special needs studying in regular classes is increasing every year. This increase has consequences for teachers, who must manage classrooms to meet the students’ diverse needs and characteristics. The contributing factor to successful inclusive education is teachers’ self-efficacy in practicing it. Successful implementation of inclusive education, on the other hand, classroom management can be viewed as performance influenced by the extent to which teachers are involved in their work, that is, teachers’ “engagement.” Method.  This quantitative correlational study aimed to determine whether teachers’ engagement mediates self-efficacy in inclusive practice and classroom management. A total of 242 inclusive primary school teachers in DKI Jakarta-Indonesia, completed three self-report questionnaires. Results.  Teachers’ engagement significantly acts as mediator in the correlation between teachers’ self-efficacy and their classroom management. Discussion and Conclusion.  Using motivational process in the job-demand model, results show that teachers’ self-efficacy functions as a personal resource in implementing inclusive education. This means that teachers’ self-efficacy conducted by teachers first raises the condition of the teacher involved in the role of work, before finally influencing the extent to which the teacher managed the classroom. Therefore that overall student, including students with special needs, get the optimal educational benefits.

scholarly journals DEVELOPMENT OF PSYCHOLOGICAL AND PEDAGOGICAL COMPETENCIES OF A SOCIAL TEACHER IN INCLUSIVE EDUCATION

2020 ◽  
Vol 66 (2) ◽  
pp. 193-198
Author(s):  
B. Baimenova ◽  
◽  
S. Zhubakova ◽  
B. Kiyassova ◽  
◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
General Education ◽  
Inclusive Education ◽  
Educational Needs ◽  
Speech Disorders ◽  
Teaching Staff ◽  
Special Educational Needs ◽  
Inclusive Process ◽  
Professional Activities ◽  
Pedagogical Competence ◽  
High Level

The development of inclusive education in Kazakhstan determines the renewal and improvement of approaches to the training and professional activities of teachers. Inclusive education involves co-education of healthy normally developing children and children with special educational needs. Children with special educational needs in the international classification are defined as children who experience constant difficulties in obtaining education due to: limited development opportunities – hearing, vision, speech disorders; behavioral and emotional problems; environmental factors – economic, social, cultural, the state of thematic health. The inclusion of children with special educational needs in General education organizations requires a change in approaches to education and the implementation of the pedagogical process. This, of course, increases the requirements for the competence of teaching staff. A special place among them is occupied by such a young profession as a social teacher. Its role is huge in the integral pedagogical process of the school, since one of the most important tasks of inclusive education is the full socialization of children with special educational needs. The article reveals the features of psychological and pedagogical competence of a social teacher as an important participant in the educational inclusive process. The authors offer indicators of a high level of psychological and pedagogical competence of a specialist.

scholarly journals CURRENT STATE OF INCLUSIVE EDUCATION AND WAYS OF ITS IMPROVEMENT

2020 ◽  
Vol 66 (2) ◽  
pp. 49-54
Author(s):  
S.A. Uzakhbayeva ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Inclusive Education ◽  
Education System ◽  
Creative Process ◽  
Children With Disabilities ◽  
Educational Institutions ◽  
Successful Implementation ◽  
Special Educational Needs ◽  
Current State ◽  
Teacher Skills ◽  
Creative Contribution

The article examines the current state and problems of inclusive education in Kazakhstan, reveals the possibilities of inclusive education in the development of children with disabilities, suggests methods of psychological and pedagogical correction of professionally significant qualities of teacher skills necessary for working with children with special educational needs. Inclusive education requires constant creative contribution from everyone; all its participants (teachers, parents, children, administration, etc.) are involved in the creative process of education. For the successful implementation of inclusive education of children with special needs, changes in the education system itself are needed. The difficulty in solving the problem of working with children with disabilities is exacerbated by the professional incompetence of specialists of educational institutions, a lack of understanding in society of the possibilities of such children, who participate equally in society.

scholarly journals Teaching for Diversity with UDL: Analysing Teacher Competence

2021 ◽  
pp. 241-277
Author(s):  
Suvi Lakkala ◽  
Outi Kyrö-Ämmälä
Keyword(s):  
Action Research ◽  
Inclusive Education ◽  
Cognitive Skills ◽  
Teacher Educators ◽  
Universal Design For Learning ◽  
Collaborative Action Research ◽  
Teacher Competence ◽  
Teacher Skills ◽  
Design For Learning ◽  
Heterogeneous Classes

AbstractThis chapter is a description of collaborative action research on teacher competence in the context of inclusive education and universal design for learning (UDL). Our goal was to analyse what kinds of professional competencies teachers need when they are implementing UDL in heterogeneous classes. The action research was carried out as a case study together with two co-teachers and a class teacher, who implemented UDL in their heterogeneous classes. As a theoretical framework for teacher competence, we used the multidimensional adapted process (MAP) model of teaching, developed by Finnish researchers and teacher educators. We identified several teacher skills that are needed when the UDL approach is applied. According to our results, the most overarching necessary competence was the teachers’ cognitive skills. Applying UDL required the ability to flexibly transform one’s own teaching and learning situations. Furthermore, the teachers’ social skills appeared as an important attribute as their pupils were highly heterogeneous with diverse needs, and the teachers needed to collaborate with many other professionals and parents. Also, each teacher’s personal orientation, such as values, beliefs and ethics, played a crucial role in UDL while the teachers shared a common set of values, striving towards inclusive education.

scholarly journals BReflections on a school for all: perceptions of families and teachers regarding the culture, policy, and practice of inclusion in Galicia

Aula Abierta ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 50 (1) ◽  
pp. 525-534
Author(s):  
María José Fiuza Asorey ◽  
Manoel Baña Castro ◽  
Luisa Losada Puente
Keyword(s):  
Inclusive Education ◽  
Primary Schools ◽  
Educational Needs ◽  
Joint Analysis ◽  
Special Educational Needs ◽  
Policy And Practice ◽  
Course Of Action ◽  
Education Administrators ◽  
First Time

This paper examines, for the first time in Galicia (Spain), the culture, policy and practice of teachers and families in six primary schools, with the aim of understanding their reality from an inclusive perspective and, subsequently, being able to establish some course of action for improvement. Within the framework of participatory, descriptive, exploratory and explanatory research, an adaptation of the Index for Inclusion (Booth & Ainscow, 2011) was applied to a sample of 158 families and 85 teachers. Although both groups advocated for an inclusive education, there were some discrepancies between the intentions and the daily reality of schools. Differences between culture and practice were probably the element that most brought those contradictions to light. Some steps towards inclusion have been taken so far, generating a debate on how to improve it in schools. That debate has been led separately by education administrators, teachers or families of students with special educational needs, but a joint analysis of the voices of all families and teachers, key agents to promote a school for all, has been left aside. It is about time new trails were blazed to stimulate reflection and allow for further progress on the path to total inclusion. 

Bridging the Gaps Between Theory and Practice of Inclusive Teacher Education

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Umesh Sharma ◽  
Jahirul Mullick
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Education ◽  
Inclusive Education ◽  
Teacher Educators ◽  
Critical Factor ◽  
Inclusive Classrooms ◽  
Theory And Practice ◽  
Teacher Education Programs ◽  
Successful Implementation ◽  
Teacher Readiness ◽  
Change Framework

Successful implementation of inclusive education reforms in any country depends on several factors. One critical factor is adequate preparation of pre-service teachers. We cannot expect our schools to be inclusive if teachers are not adequately prepared to teach in inclusive classrooms. There are some key challenges that most teacher education programs face, including lack of appropriate inclusive professional placement settings, lack of collaboration between universities and schools, lack of connection between curriculum content and placement activities, and lack of appropriate evaluation tools to measure teacher readiness to teach in inclusive classrooms. We need new ways to address the issues faced by teacher educators to ensure that the persistent gaps between theory and practice can be met. In this regard, a new framework entitled CHANGE (Collaboration, Hands-on activities, Assessment of readiness, Networking, Greater contact with learners with diversities, and Effective coaching) was developed to address the challenges and substantially fill in the gaps between the theory and practice of inclusion. The CHANGE framework guides teacher educators to focus on six different aspects of enhancing teacher readiness for inclusion. The application of the framework is not dependent on extensive resources, but it does require rethinking the way teacher education curriculum is developed and delivered. The framework can be applied in any country context and is likely to appeal to teacher educators who are looking for better ways to prepare confident and skilled inclusive educators.

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