Teachers’ Readiness For Inclusive Education

Abstract

The relevance of the study is due to the organization and implementation of inclusive education, which is one of the leading directions of the state educational policy in Russia. New approaches to the education of children with disabilities, focused on meeting their needs, make special requirements for the professional and personal readiness of teachers to do professional activities under the conditions of inclusive education. By readiness, we mean a system of integrative qualities, properties, knowledge, and personal skills that ensure the effectiveness of pedagogical activity in the context of inclusive education of children with disabilities in educational institutions. One of the factors of its success is teachers’ cognitive readiness to organize an innovative educational process. In this regard, this article is aimed at studying the cognitive component of teachers’ readiness for inclusive education of children with disabilities. The leading method for studying this problem is an experimental study and identification of the formation level of the cognitive component of readiness among teachers of educational organizations for inclusive education. During the experimental work, a questionnaire was carried out; questions were presented regarding the necessary knowledge, skills and work skills, characterizing the cognitive component of teachers’ readiness for inclusive education. The questionnaire results determined the optimal, sufficient, acceptable and critical levels of the formation of this component of teachers’ readiness. The materials of the article can be useful for teachers of special pedagogy and correctional psychology, as well as for specialists working with children with disabilities and implementing inclusive education.