TRENDS IN SPECIAL EDUCATION TEACHER TRAINING IN THE USA DURING GLOBAL PANDEMIC LOCKDOWN

Abstract

The issue of quality teacher training has always been recognized with international acts, but the UNESCO Global Education Monitoring Report (2021) found the current state of teacher training insufficient due to the paradigm of inclusion, lack of consistency, and ineffective professional cooperation. Among the reasons for this is the introduction of global COVID-19 pandemic. In the modern conditions the main problems of special education teachers training quality are related to lack of self-efficacy, ability to manage class activities, apply instructional strategies and involve students in educational activities. In-service teachers complain about the increase in workload, working hours, professional burnout and leave the profession. To stabilize the situation in the education system, the US government has introduced a number of financial, institutional and teaching support measures. In order to attract young people to the profession, 15 states have changed the conditions for enrolment in educational programs, including special education, simplified some organizational procedures, and proposed alternatives for field experience. However, the basic requirements of such innovations remained unchanged: maintaining the quality of field experience, the use of defined requirements and terminology for its organization and professional support of early career teachers. Analysis of researches on this issue allows us to conclude that all educational process stakeholders are not ready for the full transition to distance learning due to insufficient quality of existing tools and cyber security for effective virtual learning and the need to improve teachers training for teaching in various formats (distance, in-person, blended, hybrid) with the ICT means. Since having gained distance learning experience while obtaining their professional education, the graduates can more easily adapt to the changing and unpredictable conditions of the present situation, teacher preparation programs introduce disciplines aimed at relevant skills developing. Therefore, the scientific community should unite the efforts to develop the latest teaching methods considering the needs of all students within a school are catered for, including those with special educational needs.