The life world of students with disabilities on the university campus: tempora mutantur

Abstract

Introduction. The extensive scientific base on the issues of inclusive higher education is characterized by a class of studies, mainly theoretical, with an emphasis on criticism of social and material barriers preventing access to education for people with disabilities. The article offers a solution to the problem of the gap between the theory and practice of inclusive higher education and provides reasons showing that barrier-free does not completely solve the problem of socialization of students with disabilities. For the first time in the subject area, a solution is proposed to the pedagogical problem of the development of social values of the personality of students with disabilities based on the study of their life world. The research is interdisciplinary in nature. Materials and Methods. The scientific argumentation is based on the environmental approach and the provisions of personal development pedagogy. The research was conducted in line with the phenomenological approach; the author's survey and in-depth interview techniques were applied. The study involved 157 students with disabilities and 12 experts. To identify the characteristic features of the life world of students living on and off the university campus, the study uses the method of comparative analysis. Results. Significant differences have been identified in the design of the life world of students with disabilities living on campus and students living off campus. Living on campus is associated with a variety of communications that contribute to the formation of social values among students, for those living off campus (mainly with their parents), the effect of socialization is not so obvious. For the first time in the subject area, the results characterizing the different ideas of students with disabilities about study, leisure, relationships to others and the prospects of their postgraduate development were obtained. Typical problems associated with on-campus/off-campus living are shown. Discussion and Conclusions. The study confirmed the hypothesis that the development of social values of a student's personality is conditioned by the intensity of communications in the space of joint activity of students with disabilities with the social environment. The problem raised is related to a number of issues that are promising for scientific coverage. The article may be of interest to researchers and practitioners of inclusive education.