THE AMERICAN INCLUSIVE EDUCATION OF PEDAGOGICAL COLLABORATION – UKRAINIAN REALITIES

Abstract

On the basis of analysis of psychological and educational literature there have been revealed features of the genesis of inclusive education in the United States (regulatory and legal framework, coexistence of learning models, individualized approach). The research grounds the stages of formation of inclusive education in the USA. A history of the way society has cared for people with disabilities can be captured in five words: isolation, normalization, mainstreaming, inclusion and blended learning. An important hurdle for students with disabilities has been access to education. The following provides a brief chronological sketch of this quest for access. Isolation: The First Half of the Twentieth Century. The concept of special public school classes with special curricula as well as special training for teachers of students with severe handicapping conditions came about first in the urban school systems. The initial purpose of these classes was primarily to remove the most difficult students from the regular classroom. Education Initiative initiated in the late 1980s, the term mainstreaming was still being widely used, as was progressive inclusion. It was not until the early 1990s that the terms inclusion and full inclusion had superseded mainstreaming as preferred terminology.
Notably, the simultaneous use of mainstreaming and inclusion – which to some mean the same thing but to others mean quite different things – has contributed to the muddled, frustrating, and often antagonistic nature of the debate as it has entered the twenty-first century. Through it all, the longstanding concept of integration, while fading in direct usage as formal terminology, remains the fundamental focus of the various debates regarding placement and responsibility for instruction of exceptional children as well as over the proper form and structure of special education itself. Blended learning: Early XXI century and 2013. Blending is a model involving general and special education students of same age or similar ability levels in joint learning experiences, which are developmentally appropriate and beneficial for all students. The content and forms of the process of inclusive education application in American schools have been analyzed. There have been determined the most important aspects of its effective realization. There have been defined the principles of organization of American inclusive schools. The research also finds out the peculiarities of professional training of inclusive school teachers. In this research there have been formulated recommendations to optimize the process of introduction of inclusive education into the educational environment of Ukraine. The recommendations have been made on the basis of adaptation of progressive ideas and experience of the USA.