PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT OF TEACHERS WORKING WITH STUDENTS WITH INTELLECTUAL DISABILITIES

Abstract

The article deals with the problems of professional development of teachers working with students with intellectual disabilities. The main challenges faced by teachers are outlined, including insufficient training, limited access to specialized trainings and seminars, and lack of proper support from the administrations of educational institutions. It is analyzed that the problem of professional competence and professional growth of teachers is gaining a separate development within the framework of inclusive education. It has been determined that the formation of such competence of an inclusive classroom teacher requires systematic scientific and methodological work and is the basis for professional growth and improvement of the teacher’s skills. It has been found that the process of continuous self-improvement and self-education plays a key role in the formation of professional self-awareness, further growth, contributing to the formation of a unique creative personality. The author outlines the personality's abilities for professional achievement and psychological conditions for the teacher's independent work on this problem. It is experimentally proved that the psychological readiness of the teacher for inclusive education has a positive impact on the self-perception of students with special educational needs and on the psychological positive climate in the children's team. Ways to solve these problems and challenges and to establish the basis for further development of the professional development system for teachers working with students with intellectual disabilities are presented. Strategies for the development of professional self-awareness are proposed that require a special education teacher to study the ways of communication in the classroom, friendly and empathetic attitude towards children, psychological control in the interaction between teachers and students, implementation of ways to modify the content of education in accordance with the psychological characteristics and possibilities of implementing this content for children with special educational needs. It is noted that for teachers of inclusive education it is necessary to organize and carry out, on the basis of self-analysis, their personal qualities, systematic improvement and comprehension of their own results as well as scientific and practical achievements in professional growth. It is proposed to deepen the work on the development of professional self-awareness in higher education institutions.