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THE ROLE OF PSYCHOLOGY IN INCLUSIVE PEDAGOGY: PSYCHOLOGICAL ASPECTS OF INCLUSIVE EDUCATION, PUBLIC AWARENESS AND TOLERANCE DEVELOPMENT
Makarova E.
Professor, Ph.D. in Psychology Don State Technical University
Abstract
The article presents the most effective methods of students' tolerant attitudes elaboration, teachers and parents' awareness development towards inclusive education and students with disabilities within mainstream educational environment; options for conducting interactive lessons in inclusive classes using art therapy, fairy tale therapy, role-playing games.
Keywords: children with disabilities, inclusive education, disabled children, educational environment, tolerance, pedagogical awareness, tolerant attitude.
Introduction. Inclusive education today in scientific and pedagogical works is considered as a process of teaching children with disabilities in mainstream educational environment. Inclusive education is a whole philosophy of views and it is impossible to fit it into one humble definition. Integration in education is seen as every student's right to choose a place, method and language of instruction. For students with limited abilities, if they choose a mainstream educational organization as a place of study, special conditions and full inclusion in the educational process of a mainstream educational organization (inclusion) should be created adequate to the facilities of special educational institutions. For other students, educational integration (inclusion) means the freedom to choose between an inclusive and a regular classroom both ensuring the quality and pace of learning provided by the state educational standard.
What are the theoretical and methodological foundations of inclusive education and the prospects for its implementation, based on a philosophical understanding of this phenomenon? For philosophy as one of the forms of social consciousness, it is of great importance to develop the ideological foundation of educational integration as a new socio-cultural reality and to develop methodological foundations for understanding the patterns of implementation and development of inclusive processes. This is carried out in such philosophical and methodological aspects as historical and philosophical, ontological, epistemological, axiological, philosophical and anthropological, social and psychological.
Philosophical and methodological background of the problem. Taking into account the existence of the principle of methodological relativity, according to which this or that pedagogical paradigm (tradition, system) is determined by certain (often different) philosophical and methodological attitudes and norms, it can be stated that Russian and foreign researchers in the study of the phenomenon of educational integration and the ways of its implementation in educational practice are based on different (although having much in common) methodological, and therefore philosophical and scientific-theoretical positions. So, for example, Russian researchers [12, 21] in the study of the theory and practice of integrated learning are guided by the ideas of philosophy as the methodological basis of psychology (Blonsky P.P. [6], Vygotsky L.S. [22], Leontiev A.N. [13], Luria A.R., Rubinstein S.L. [16], etc.) and defectology (Boskis R.M.[7], Vlasova T.A. [21], Zu-kov S.A., Lubovsky V.I. [14]) in relation to problems that are significant for special pedagogy and rehabilitation - cultural and historical psychology, the theory of activity, the concept of the unity of the laws of development in 21st century.
Currently, the national educational policy in Russia has been aimed at creating optimal conditions for the inclusion of children with disabilities in mainstream educational institutions, development of inclusive education. This is reflected in the law "On education of the Russian Federation ", the federal target program" Accessible Environment" (2011-2015) [8]. The main goal of the state program "Accessible Environment" is the
development of tolerant attitude towards students with disabilities and its communication aspect. Taking into consideration the practice of joint education of students with disabilities and students without health restrictions, the Federal Law of the Russian Federation on Education 2012 No. 273 - FZ developed the basic educational program, educational approach and methodological foundations, providing not only teaching materials, but comfortable facilities for educational activities, etc.
Laws have been adopted, educational programs have been developed, and school buildings have been provided with ramps, comfortable and wide hallways for students in wheelchairs, Braille tablets for those with impaired sight, hearing aid devices for students with hearing problems, etc. In every school with inclusive education, additional work for psychologists, social workers, and class teachers has been highlighted: children with developmental disabilities should be prepared psychologically for education in a mainstream school environment. But not only students with disabilities need psychologists' help. Who and when will prepare other students without behavioral issues or health impairment for an adequate perception of students with disabilities? Adequate perception, understanding, acceptance, patience for children with disabilities is not a matter of one training session between a psychologist and a mainstream class. Most importantly, this process has to start from the very first day at school in order to cultivate tolerance and acceptance.
Inclusion raises new assignments for education as well as highlights the importance of tolerance as value. Education as an important transmitter of public values and virtues has a task to educate people to be tolerant and democratic in evaluation and acceptance of others.
The new model of comprehensive education along with the accessibility of education for all students has its own gaps - it is necessary to teach children not to humiliate, not to harass, not to persecute or harm, and not to physically infringe upon students with disabilities, i.e. to be tolerant. Comprehensive education is all about coexistence, mutual benefits and communication culture. The position of tolerance and trust is the basis for making the choice of future generations in favor of peaceful coexistence, but not conflicts and war. Constant confrontation with "otherness" demands tolerance and knowledge from everyone who strives for a dialogue, for communication because in the democratic society children with different health issues should not live and study separately, but together with their healthy peers, they should have the same rights to be educated, to socialize and to get a chance for a promising future career.
The phenomenon of tolerance has been widely analyzed in theoretical works on issues of ethics, morality, social work, education etc. The primary meaning of tolerance can be found in Latin, the word "tolerantia " means patience [18, p.1126]. Later "tolerance" was defined as "indulgence or forbearance in judging the opinions, customs, or acts of others; freedom from bigotry or from racial or religious prejudice; the act of enduring, or the capacity for endurance" [19, p.1320].
Although "tolerance" is a universal concept and value, the meaning of the word is ambiguous and controversial in different cultures; it depends on peoples' historical experience and cultural schemas. In English, tolerance is "the readiness and ability to perceive a person or thing without protest or condemnation", in French it is "respect for the freedom of others, their way of thinking, behavior, political and religious views". In Chinese, "to be tolerant" means "to show generosity and mercy towards others". In Arabic cultures "tolerance" is "forgiveness, condescension, gentleness, indulgence, compassion, benevolence, patience and kindness to other people" [4].
François-Marie Arouet known by his nom de plume Voltaire, a French Enlightenment writer, historian, and philosopher famous for his wit, was the most consistent defender of tolerance. In his Treatise on Tolerance (1763) [10] Voltaire does not criticize any particular religion, but shows how they, merciful in their essence, are corroded by prejudice and intolerance. In his opinion, all beliefs should be able to express, but "the height of madness should be considered the conviction that all people are obliged to think similarly." The most important result of the work of philosophers, and above all of Voltaire, was the recognition of tolerance as a universal value and a fundamental component of peace and harmony between religions, peoples and other social groups [3].
Tolerance is a very personal way of thinking, but it influences human social interactions, thus having a complicated social value. It is placed in the space between public and personal values and interests. People have different life experiences, that is why the meaning of the word "tolerance" has a subjective touch: for some people it means discomfort or disagreement, something they have to endure, for example, they have to tolerate noisy people in crowded places or moody boss at work. For others it means a conflict (both hidden and open) when they have to tolerate other people's behavior, opinions, ideas or values, for instance, in scientific discussion or political dispute, or just a friendly conversation. That is why the understanding of tolerance may have subjective evaluation, which is more attractive for scientific research and theoretical discussion, but more difficult for its practical developing in educational environment.
Tolerance and how to develop it. So the question arises: how should tolerance be developed in the educational environment? Tolerance should not be limited to indifference, conformism, infringement of one's own interests; it is developed in a dialogue. First of all, it presupposes reciprocity and an active position of all parties involved. Tolerance is an important component of a life style of a mature person who has own values and interests and is ready, if necessary, to stand out for them, but at the same time acting with respect to the interests and values of other people, understanding of other people's limits. But a teenager is not a mature person and has no fully formed personality, but a developing, emerging one. The question is how to develop a person's tolerance. Education in the spirit of tolerance is not limited to the assimilation of the concepts of "tol-
erance" and "tolerant personality". According to Gordon Allport [15], a predisposition to tolerance or to intolerance is formed in early childhood: "It seems that tolerant children grow up in families with a friendly and conforming atmosphere. These children are loved and accepted regardless of what and how they do. Punishments in such families are not too harsh or inconsistent, and children are not forced to suppress their impulses every minute to avoid parental anger ... In the past, prej -udiced children, in contrast to tolerant ones as a rule were found to be raised in a "threatening environment". The leitmotif of tolerant children's life is safety, not punishment and threat". G. Allport maintained that each and every person is unique and distinguished by peculiar traits [2].
"A person with a huge stock of patience and tolerance goes through life with a special share of calmness and serenity. Such a person is not only happy and emotionally balanced, but moreover has better health and less susceptible to disease. Having a strong will, good appetite, it is easier for him to fall asleep, because his conscience is clear" (Dalai Lama XIV) [1]. Tolerance can be defined as a fair and objective attitude towards those whose lifestyle differs from yours. The level of tolerance in your life can be attributed to levels of happiness and contentment, as many researchers have pointed out; however, the same researchers appear to struggle when examining paradoxical questions such as, 'are tolerant people more happy, or are happy people more tolerant?'
Different students may be divided into punctual and romantic, neat or vulnerable, talented or ordinary, but they cannot be classified into disabled people and non-disabled people. The constitutional right of a child with disabilities to get education close to place of residence can be exercised by developing inclusive education with their non-disabled peers within mainstream educational environment. However, there are many problems connected with the inclusion in our society:
- lack of accessible educational environment and technical means of rehabilitation that facilitate educational process of students with special educational needs;
- lack of special education knowledge, appropriate training and methods for teaching students with special educational needs within mainstream educational environment of an educational institution;
- general public's unawareness and thus unwillingness to acknowledge the rights of school students with disabilities to get education among healthy peers;
- unwillingness of many parents to educate their normally developing children in one classroom with theie disabled peers;
- normally developing children's inadequate perception of their peers with disabilities;
- difficulties in social and psychological adaptation of schoolchildren with disabilities;
- the problem of rejection of schoolchildren with disabilities by other participants of the educational process [9].
In this regard, one of the central tasks of any educational institution in the development of attitudes to-
wards students with special needs is the teachers' special training, parents and healthy students' pedagogical tolerance development, i.e. the ability to understand and accept disabled children as they are. Such tolerance helps see other values, other forms of behavior and respectful attitude towards children with special needs; it needs completely changing the logic of thinking and behavioral patterns within the classroom. Tolerance is expressed in willingness to accept the others (no matter how different they may be, it concerns different ethnic, religious, cultural aspects as well) and to interact with them on the basis of consent and cooperation. First of all, it implies reciprocity and an active position of all concerned parties. Tolerance is an important component of a mature life position of a personality who has own values and interests and at the same time has respect for other people's values and interests.
A culture of tolerance in everyday life is possible only when the unobstructed relationship exists between adults and children, between peers. Tolerance is not only mercy or pity; the main thing in its development is teaching how to respect all forms of life, human rights, free choice and equal opportunities for all. School psychologists should teach schoolchildren that all people are inherently different in appearance, skin colour, speech, behavioral patters, cultural values, religious beliefs and because of all these they have the right to live in peace and to maintain their own individuality under the motto "Equity, diversity and justice" and to have equal opportunities for future life, education and career [11].
Needless to say that such a problem cannot be solved by the school psychologist alone, tolerance development should be carried out by all the participants of educational process in the following target groups:
- teachers and inclusive education specialists (speech therapist, defectologist, psychologist, audiologist, behavioral therapist and rehabilitation teacher);
- parents, guardian or legal representatives;
- students.
Work on a tolerant attitude development towards students with disabilities need to be carried out everywhere and at different levels attracting attention of community, representatives of administrations of different ranks, social services, and media. An important role in this can be played by various educational activities: scientific conferences and seminars, round table discussions, publications in periodicals, retraining organization and advanced training courses for specialists of different profiles for working with mixed audience in educational system, studying foreign experience in the field of social and educational integration of children with disabilities. And of course, such kind of work should be carried out in every comprehensive school in order to be successful in inclusive education.
Tolerance formed during school years is one of the most important conditions for successful realizing of personality potential in the future. An important role in training of tolerant students is played by school, where schoolchildren spend most of the day and where they gain the experience of mutual respect, a benevolent tolerant attitude towards people around [17].
Learning together with special education children contributes to the development of students' essential skills and personal qualities such as social competence, tolerance, decision-making skills, interpersonal communication abilities, self-confidence, self-esteem and others. In the process of joint activities students learn how to discuss a problem, to respect a different opinion, to defend their point of view, to resolve conflicts through negotiations, to listen to opponents' opinions. As a result, they learn to recognize a person's right to be "different".
Psychologists should arrange trainings and therapies with both students with disabilities and regular ones, the age of students taken into consideration those can be role play, psychodrama situations, fairytale therapy, discussions how to overcome barriers and make study together possible and many others. The logic and technology of teaching tolerance, depending on the specifics of the main type trainees' activities will be different. So, since for younger students the emotional component predominates in all kinds of activities, it is logical to plan therapeutically useful activities keeping this in mind. It is important for younger students to use emotionally oriented technologies aimed primarily at rejection of negative emotions and stressful states of children. Helping each other, students get closer, feel support, build trust, and make friends. Against this friendly and mutually beneficial background, emotional hostility between students gradually disappears; they cease to notice existing differences between them, become more tolerant at the emotional level. It is methodologically correct to offer students some new knowledge, talk about how important it is to understand other people and to develop tolerance. And based on this background students can be offered some integration activities or the use of new, tolerant forms of behavior in their usual educational or play activities [5].
The work of a psychologist to form a tolerant attitude towards schoolchildren with limited health abilities can be delivered through interactive lessons in inclusive and regular classrooms using methods of art therapy, fairy tale therapy, role-playing games that contribute to the development of a tolerant attitude towards others, develop advanced communication skills.
A lot of different technologies can be used, for example, the use of the Braille alphabet gets students acquainted with the peculiarities of teaching visually impaired students; the use of hearing aids is used to help students with hearing problems. One of the best ways to let regular students comprehend the importance of inclusive education is to involve a complex of games, during which students are encouraged to complete various tasks blindfolded, using only tactile feeling. During these games, students feel how difficult it is for people with disabilities to adapt to society without outside help. In his activities, the psychologist should use a variety of forms and methods of interaction, contributing to building of trusting relationships, benevolent atmosphere, assisting the growth of self-esteem, the acquisition of tolerant behavior skills.
The efforts of parents and teaching staff in the educational institution involves in inclusive education
should be aimed at overcoming negative social attitudes and stereotyping in relation to students with developmental problems. When developing a tolerant attitude of students to their peers with disabilities in inclusive education the following issues can be identified:
1. Monitoring public opinion about the problems of inclusive education in general, attitudes towards students with disabilities in particular [20]. Based on the data obtained from the results of surveys, questionnaires of parents, teachers, students, it is necessary to assess the conditions for inclusive (integrated) learning, negative aspects, risks, degree of satisfaction of all the participants of the educational process. The information received can be used as a basis for activities planning or special education programmes. It is necessary to include activities aimed at a positive attitude development, avoiding stereotyping and effective measures to be taken in order to make educational environment comfortable for all kinds of students.
2. Entertaining activities within the framework of educational programme should involve parents, teachers and the community in general: these activities can be school holiday celebrations, contests, social events, matinees, exhibitions of students' art, photo exhibitions, cultural trips, excursions, fundraising programmes allowing to draw attention to the problem of children with disabilities access to equal education in the mainstream educational institution, implementation of social projects aimed at creating a tolerant attitude towards people with special needs. Besides, teachers have to improve their teaching skills, get special education within the framework of the school's methodological association. Important role is played by arrangement of cultural, educational and entertaining activities for students with their parents and family. It would teach children to value the differences within their own family.
3. Information activity involves replenishment of materials on this issue on the school's information boards, on the school electronic website, publications in the media and in the school newspaper, discussions at parent-teacher meetings, all of these allow influencing attitudes towards students with disabilities and fighting stereotyping. All these activities will promote the unification of parents and students into a friendly team of like-minded people, assist development of parent-children, parent-teacher, teacher-children and peer-to-peer adequate relations.
Conclusion. Illiteracy is a great enemy of tolerance, so the educational institutions' and the school psychologist's goals coincide. The programme of a tolerant attitude development and students, parents and teachers elimination of illiteracy include:
- organization of seminars, round-table meetings and discussions with the obligatory application of media and video resources and presentations;
- carrying out games and trainings on the problem of a positive image of a person with a disability, getting rid of negative stereotypes and prejudices against inclusive education, obligatory interaction between all the participants of educational process (students, teachers, psychologists and parents), role-plays and fairytale
therapies that are found to be the most effective forms of building positive attitude to inclusive education:
- planning and conducting in-service retraining courses for teachers to learn methods and ways of dealing with issues in an inclusive educational environment, to share and exchange work experience, communication skills, etc.
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