Teachers and students in inclusive education in a difficult pandemic situation ‒ initial conceptualization. Part 1

In 2019, like other countries, Poland faced an unforeseen and difficult problem, which was the COVID-19 pandemic. The regulation of the Minister of National Education (2020) regulated solutions in the period of temporary limitation of the functioning of the education system units in connection with the preventing, counteracting and combating of a pandemic. Many matters and areas of social life have been verified, thus gaining new, sometimes unexpected meanings. This applies to various areas of personal and social life, including adapting the education of children and youth to the changed conditions of their education. The traditional form of education has been replaced by remote home education. For almost a year, teaching took place in changed conditions, some classes in a remote mode, some in a stationary mode, and also in a hybrid mode. In a pandemic learning environment, all participants in the learning process had to face the challenges and try to cope with the situation. Both teachers and students as well as parents faced unpredictable, difficult situations. The aim of this article is to conceptualize the situation of teachers and students in inclusive education in the context of the difficult situations they experience related to the COVID-19 pandemic. The reference to the concept of a difficult situation made it possible to consider it in the context of: (1) deprivation of needs; (2) overload with school duties; (3) difficulties in fulfilling tasks; (4) emerging conflicts; (5) experiencing threats. This article is a theoretical outline of inclusive education in the difficult times of the pandemic. It contains selected assumptions for constructing a measurement tool that diagnoses complex and unpredictable educational situations that fit into the concept of difficult situations.