Professional activity of special teachers of inclusive educational institutions in countries with a high level of development of educational systems (the example of Great Britain, Finland and Israel)

Contact. Martynchuk Olena, PhD in Pedagogical Sciences, the Chairholder of the Chair of Special Psychology, Special and Inclusive Education of the Institute of Human Sciences of Kyiv Borys Hrinchenko University, Ukraine. Professional interests: inclusive education for children with special educational needs, training of future special teachers for work in the inclusive environment; the development of competences of a special teacher of an inclusive institution of education; development of electronic training courses in Inclusive Education for the students of various specialties.

The article deals with the peculiarities of professional activity and functional duties of special teachers who carry out professional activities in the inclusive educational institutions of Great Britain, Finland and Israel. These countries have high level of development of educational systems and significant achievements in the field of inclusive education of children with special educational needs. Functional responsibilities of the coordinator of educational needs (inclusive education) are described. Based on the analysis of the experience of organizing and implementing inclusive education in these countries, it has been found that one of the key figures in ensuring the quality of education of children with special educational needs in the inclusive educational space is the special educational needs (SEN) teacher – a teacher who has a professional education in the field training, education and development of children with special educational needs and carries out their professional activity in institutions of general education; the progress of state institutions on the way of introduction of quality education is singled out, where one of the main aspects is determined by the introduction of training of special teachers for professional activities in inclusive educational institutions and inclusive education coordinators for the provision of management and expert support for the inclusive educational process. The profile of professional activity of the special teacher of inclusive educational institutions in Great Britain, Finland, which comprise direct work with children (individual training, small group training, children's training with a teacher in a classroom) and indirect work (counseling, cooperation with all participants in the educational process , assessment of the state of development and special needs of children, resource search, planning, etc.); factors contributing to the quality education of people with special educational needs (motivation of students, professional skills of a teacher of special education, cooperation). Our analysis of foreign experience regarding the professional activities of special educators in educational institutions enabled us to use it in the process of developing a competent model of a special teacher for inclusive institutions in Ukraine.

Key words: special teacher of inclusive institution of education, coordinator of educational needs, inclusive education, countries with a high level of development of educational systems.