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25ПЕДАГОГИКА (PEDAGOGICS)
DOI: 10.12731/2070-7568-2015-3-7-24 UDC 37.017.93
MODERN TECHNOLOGIES OF INCLUSIVE EDUCATION
IN THE USA
Bessarabova I.S., Kobzar A.V.
The urgency of the research is stipulated by the leading role of the inclusive education in organizing the work with schoolchildren who have alternative physical or mental development.
The subject of the research is the process of education of the alternative schoolchildren in modern American school.
The purpose of the research is to study the leading technologies of inclusive education in modern American school.
Methods of the research are theoretical analysis of the problem in pedagogy, psychology, sociology; comparative analysis and classification of the approaches of American and Russian scholars concerning the definitions, goals, tasks, concepts and subject matter of multicultural education and inclusive education.
The results of the research showed that there is a variety of technologies, that is why it is rational to systematize them
in the following groups: pedagogical managerial technologies consider the functions of every participant of the educational process, but the teacher remains the leading coordinator of the whole process; technologies of the democratization of the social support consider the creation of the democratic atmosphere at school and community as the most important condition for the inclusive environment; service technologies of the meeting of the special educational requirements denote the providing of the necessary educational services to a child, which facilitate his inclusion into the educational environment; tutoring technologies imply the help of the tutor, whose functions include adequation of the various children's abilities and potential regardless of the degree of manifestation of various alternative forms.
Practical implications of the results. The results of the research provide the basis for project development of the process of inclusive education in Russian educational institutions during working out of the new technologies, methods and means of education of alternative schoolchildren.
Keywords: inclusive education; technologies of inclusive education; multicultural education; alternative children; pedagogical managerial technologies; technologies of the democratization of the social support; service technologies of the meeting of the special educational requirements; tutoring technologies.
СОВРЕМЕННЫЕ ТЕХНОЛОГИИ ИНКЛЮЗИВНОГО ОБУЧЕНИЯ В США
Бессарабова И.С., Кобзарь А.В.
Актуальность темы исследования обусловлена ведущей ролью инклюзивного обучения при организации работы с учащимися, которые имеют альтернативное физическое или умственное развитие.
Предметом исследования выступает процесс обучения детей с альтернативным развитием в современной американской школе.
Цель исследования заключается в изучении ведущих технологий инклюзивного обучения в современной американской школе.
Методами исследования являются теоретический анализ проблемы в педагогике, психологии, социологии; сравнительно-сопоставительный анализ и классификация подходов американских и российских ученых к определениям, целям, задачам, принципам и содержанию поликультурного образования и инклюзивного обучения.
Результаты исследования показали, что по причине многообразия технологий целесообразно систематизировать их в следующие группы: педагогические управленческие технологии позволяют учитывать функции всех участников процесса обучения, но учитель остается при этом главным координатором этого процесса; технологии
демократизации социальной поддержки рассматривают создание демократической атмосферы в школе и общине как важное условие инклюзивной среды; сервисные технологии удовлетворения особых образовательных потребностей альтернативного ребенка, которые означают соответствующий механизм предоставления необходимых ребенку услуг, облегчающих его включение в общеобразовательную среду; технологии тьюторства, предполагающие помощь тьютора, функции которого заключаются в выравнивании разнообразных способностей и возможностей всех детей вне зависимости от выраженности у них различных форм альтернативности.
Область применения результатов. Результаты исследования могут служить основой проектирования процесса инклюзивного обучения в отечественных учебных заведениях при разработке новых технологий, методов и приемов работы с альтернативными учащимися.
Ключевые слова: инклюзивное обучение; технологии инклюзивного обучения; поликультурное образование; альтернативные дети; педагогические управленческие технологии; технологии демократизации социальной поддержки; сервисные технологии удовлетворения особых образовательных потребностей; технологии тьюторства.
Introduction
Today inclusive education is considered by professionals the most advanced form of education of alternative children in American
school, as this form of organization of academic activities provides a means of satisfying of educational needs of every alternative child [2]. It should be noted that social adjustment of children expands its opportunities as well as ways of communication of children improve at school and out of educational institution. The problem of education of alternative children in American school is analyzed in details in the article «Special characteristics of the education process of alternative schoolchildren in the USA» [3]. It should be emphasized that we analyze the problem of education of alternative children in the context of multicultural education rather than correctional pedagogy. Multicultural education underlines primarily the problem of social adjustment of children and explores the question of tolerance and respect for these children on the part of peers and adults [Ibid.].
As P. Mittler, Professor of Manchester University, states: «inclusive education is the first step toward pursuing the ultimate goal of creating inclusive society, which will enable all people take part in the life of the society regardless of gender, age, ethnicity and abilities...» [12]. P. Mittler as a proponent of multicultural education underlines particularly that the differences between people will be respected and appreciated in the inclusive society, and discrimination and prejudice will be fought with.
If we consider the multicultural composition of schoolchildren as well as the differences of mental abilities of children needed for learning educational material, we will see the problem of correspondence of school curricula and instructional methods to individual characteristics of children.
Today the problem of education of alternative children is one of the urgent psychological and educational problems in the USA. The writings of the prominent American psychologists (U. Bronfenbrenner [9], A.J. Artiles, Z. Aguirre-Munoz, J. Abedi [7]) and educators (J.L. Bigge, S.J. Best, K.W. Heller [8], М. Ainscow, T Booth, A. Dyson [6]) prove it. The scholars study such questions as carrying-out of diagnostic procedures of the children's abilities for the purpose of determining demands of special education services; the admissible quantity of alternative children in a classroom; the possibility of every alternative child to study in ordinary school; special training of teachers and the school staff to work with alternative children; working out of individual educational route for a child; family participation in a child's education; the problem of perception of a child by peers and members of school staff, by members of a society and other problems.
There is a wide range of terms in the American scientific educational literature which is used to denote alternative children. It should be noted that the question of terminology to denote this category of children is urgent because it is closely connected with the problem of perception of these children in a society. Analyzing the problem of education of these children in the context of multicultural education, we use the terminology which is adopted in the world pedagogy by the supporters of multicultural education. Thus, the leading terms used to denote these children are «exclusive children» and «alternative chil-dren». American scholars use both terms as synonyms.
The purpose of the research is to study the leading technologies of education of the alternative children in modern American school.
Materials and research methods
The main sources of the research are the fundamental theoretic writings of the American and Russian scholars on multicultural education and inclusive education; encyclopedias, documents of the international organizations (United Nations, UNESCO, UNICEF), statistical information of the field, materials of international and Russian national conferences, educational periodicals of the USA and Russia. The complex of the research methods was used: theoretical analysis of the problem in pedagogy, psychology, sociology; comparative analysis and classification of the approaches of American and Russian scholars concerning the definitions, goals, tasks, concepts and subject matter of multicultural education and inclusive education.
The results of the research and their discussion
The analysis of the technologies of inclusive education shows that it is a complex, ongoing, many-sided process, which demands the combination of various technologies, high level of professionalism of teachers and school staff as well as experts in different fields, who carry out diagnostic procedures of alternative children; permanent enduring participation of parents and other members of the community for the purpose of creating true inclusive educational environment, where every child feels himself as meaningful member of the society regardless of his alternative development.
Let's consider the leading technologies of inclusive education of alternative children. In general, educational technology is a systemic method of creation, implementation and definition of the educational
process as a whole considering technical and human resources as well as their interrelation.
Considering the variety of definitions of the notion «technology of education», the term «educational technology» is closer to our research. «Educational technology» has many approaches to its definition in Russian scientific literature: informatory technique of the realization of the educational process (V.P. Bespalko); the description of the process of the achievement of the planned educational results (I.P. Volkov); art, mastery, skill (V.M. Shepel); integral procedural part of the didactic system (M. Choshanov); organizational methodical instrument of the pedagogical process (B.T. Likhachov); systemic combination and the order of functioning of all personal, instrumental and methodological means used for pursuing of pedagogical goals (M.V. Klarin) and others.
Despite the variety of definitions of «educational technology» most of the scholars unite them according to the general characteristics:
■ planning of the educational process on the ground of the particular intended ideal;
■ programming of the educational process in the form of the strict sequence of actions of a teacher and a student;
■ comparison of the results of education with the initial ideal during the whole process (monitoring) as well as when reviewing the results;
■ correction of the results at any stage of the educational process [5].
It must be emphasized that the abovementioned statements can be related to the technologies of inclusive education.
The analysis of the scientific literature makes it possible to reveal the following groups of technologies of inclusive education: pedagogical managerial technologies; technologies of the democratization of the social support; service technologies of the meeting of the special educational requirements; tutoring technologies [4, p. 139].
Let's consider in details all the abovementioned groups of technologies of inclusive education. According to the American scholars M. Fullan, D. Tajak and L. Cuban [10], pedagogical managerial technologies should be worked out on the basis of the following principles: purposefulness, consistency and relevance of the changes introduced by the teacher which should consider individual characteristics of every student; freedom from the modification limit during the process of creation of the inclusive educational environment; positive teacher's attitude to the problems and their evaluation from the point of finding a challenging decision in a difficult situation; the combination of the practical pedagogical activities and reflexive perspective of a teacher; adequate interrelation between the efforts of a teacher and students concerning the forming of the healthy inclusive environment; the combination of the horizontal and vertical strategies of management of the inclusive class; interaction with local community for the purpose of including a child into social contacts [4, p. 140-141].
In the opinion of the scholars, there are general characteristics which unite pedagogical managerial technologies of the American authors: teacher's comprehensive understanding of the peculiarities of a child at school and out of the educational institution; teacher's
readiness to provide flexible time frame for doing tasks; acceptance of a child as a personality with his own knowledge, skills and abilities; teacher's attention to the outside-school life of a child [Ibid., p. 141]. We support this point of view, because observation of these principles will provide a healthy inclusive environment, which considers the functions of every participant of the educational process, and the teacher remains the main coordinator of the process.
There is a significant difference between American and Russian pedagogical managerial technologies concerning the goal of education. Western technologies are aimed at child's development as an active, independent (according to the child's abilities) member of the society. That is why the relation with the local community of a child is very important. As for the Russian technologies, they concentrate mainly on a child's academic progress.
The next group of educational technologies is technologies of the democratization of the social support. The scholars reveal the following necessary principles of working out of these technologies: creation of the atmosphere of cooperation and mutual help in the inclusive environment; coordinated efforts of every participant of the educational process and adequate response to the educational needs of an alternative child; comprehensiveness of special educational services needed for normal life at school and out of school [13]. Observation of these principles is stipulated by impossibility of creation of democratic atmosphere in the inclusive class without positive personal attitude of every member to the child's individual alternative characteristics. Democratic atmosphere is the main requirement which provides the
adequate response of every participant of the educational process to the peculiar properties of the alternative child's development.
Western technologies of the democratization of the social support differ from the Russian ones as the American authors cover broader categories of the subjects who participate in the formation of the democratic atmosphere not only in the educational institution but also in the community, where a child lives.
The next group of educational technologies is the service technologies of the meeting of the special educational requirements, which mean certain set of educational services to a child, which facilitate the child's inclusion into the educational environment. The notion of «service» in the field of inclusive education denotes the complex of methods and practical means, which allow the child of making individual choice and unlock his potential. The choice of the suitable services is made according to the individual characteristics of a child [11].
The basic principles of working out of these technologies are: the right of every child for the individual choice of the amount of educational material with the teacher's help; the right of every child for the adoption of the democratic rules at school; the right of every child for making independent choice in different school situations; ability of every participant of the educational process to use the suitable ways of communication with alternative children. These educational technologies give an alternative child the opportunity of becoming both the recipient and the producer of the particular services, which contributes to his personal development.
In the opinion of the scholars, there is a difference between western and Russian service technologies, because the latter emphasize
a certain kind of service while the American scientists underline the integrity of the technologies [4].
Let's consider the next group of educational technologies - tutoring technologies. These technologies assume the help of the tutor - an educator, who is engaged in pedagogical, curatorial and educational activities in the field of individual training of a child aimed at personal development and academic progress of a child. It should be mentioned that American system of education carries out successfully English educational experience, as tutoring system of education arose in the medieval English universities and proved itself as an effective way of teaching. Today tutoring is a powerful means of improving the quality of education at all levels in Great Britain (preschool, elementary, secondary, higher education) and has traditional as well as modern forms (on-line tutoring). In general, tutoring system of education deals with individual training, guiding and support of a child based on the idea of pedagogical research, aimed at subjectivity, academic growth of a child and his development in the field of acquiring knowledge and mastering skills. The scholars mean by tutoring - facilitation, support, mediation, and define the main functions of a tutor (help in self-determination; creation of conditions for the search of self; planning and organizing of the child's activities; organizing of the independent work of a child; guiding the child at school) and the ways of activities of a tutor (recording a child's progress; planning near-term perspectives; cooperative activities).
The main tutoring technologies include: working out of the individual educational route, organization of the child's reflexion concerning his activities, making a child's portfolio [1, p. 16-17].
Tutor's activities have specific features in the system of inclusive education. The functions of a tutor include adequation of the various children's abilities and potential regardless of the degree of manifestation of various alternative forms. The scholars underline that a tutor helps to cope with important problems: to work out the suitable educational tasks, and to form the needed level of solidarity of children, when every pupil understands and respects alternative children; speed problem resolution in various situations (having high level of special knowledge and skills, tutor passes them to the teacher); combination of the «tracking» strategy (temporary isolation of an alternative child from ordinary pupils) and «strimming» strategy (including a child into the inclusive class and into educational and social activities where he is the most successful); providing help to the teacher in collecting the complete psychological and pedagogical characteristics of a child; detailed observation and recording of a child's successes and failures [Ibid.].
Conclusion
The leading technologies of inclusive education used in the USA were considered in this article. According to the school and composition of pupils the process of the realization of these technologies may have individual features, but the common characteristics of all technologies are: positive attitude of every participant of the educational process to every alternative child; prohibition of any form of discrimination at school; perception of any alternative form as an individual feature of a child rather than a problem in education; working out of the individual educational route for a child by every participant of the
educational process; close contact with the family of a child and the local community; recognition of possible self-sufficiency of any personality and development of a child's subjectivity; continual training of educators.
It should be mentioned that, on the one hand, there is a great variety of educational technologies, but, on the other hand, it is important to combine them. Not every technology is effective in isolation, but their combination will provide the true inclusive environment in an educational institution.
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DATA ABOUT THE AUTHORS
Bessarabova Inna Stanislavovna, Professor, Dr. Scs, Associate Professor
Volgograd State Social-Pedagogical University
27, Lenin av., Volgograd, 400066, Russian Federation
e-mail: [email protected]
Kobzar Anton Valerievich, post-graduate student
Volgograd State Social-Pedagogical University
27, Lenin av., Volgograd, 400066, Russian Federation
e-mail: [email protected]
ДАННЫЕ ОБ АВТОРАХ
Бессарабова Инна Станиславовна, профессор, доктор педагогических наук, доцент
Волгоградский государственный социально-педагогический университет
пр.им. В.И. Ленина, д. 27, Волгоград, 400066, Российская Федерация
e-mail: [email protected] Кобзарь Антон Валериевич, аспирант
Волгоградский государственный социально-педагогический университет
пр.им. В.И. Ленина, д. 27, Волгоград, 400066, Российская Федерация
e-mail: [email protected]
