Higher Education Teacher Readiness for Inclusive Education

Abstract

Higher education of persons with disabilities and persons with disabilities is among the priorities of the state and society. The solution of the task of vocational education and employment of people with disabilities is determined by a complex of interrelated factors, including the readiness of university staff to implement the practice of inclusive higher education. Teachers engaged in the inclusive education of students with disabilities must have certain professional characteristics. According to the professional standard, the list of professional competencies of a higher education teacher weakly reveals the specifics of the activities of a specialist in the area of inclusive higher education. Available studies confirm the need for a deeper study of the issue of diagnostics and the formation of readiness of university teachers for professional activities in an inclusive education. The long-term studies described in the article were based on the hypothesis that training university teachers for professional activities in an inclusive education environment should include a full cycle of activities including screening diagnostics, the implementation of an additional education program, group support and advisory support, and dynamic tracking of the level of readiness. The study was implemented from 2013 to 2019. The total sample of the study was 562 people, teachers and employees of 25 universities of the North-West Federal District. A representative sample of the study was 327 people, teachers and staff who went through all stages of the study. The results of the study make it possible to assess the readiness of higher school teachers for professional activities in an inclusive education from pre-readiness to inclusive readiness inclusive. The results of the formative part of the study showed that the general and specific personality characteristics that determine the success of activities in the field of inclusive higher education arise in the process of special education, professional activity in the context of inclusion and with mandatory support of teachers from the staff of inclusive education resource centers. This leads to an increase in the proportion of university teachers who have a positive attitude towards inclusive education, demonstrating productive coping strategies, an optimal, advanced and acceptable level of readiness for inclusive higher education.