Psycho-pedagogical conditions for preparing future teachers for their interaction with students' parents in inclusive practice in primary schools

Abstract

The concept of the New Ukrainian School is aimed at organizing effective inclusive education for students, in particular younger students with special educational needs, and their cooperation with healthy peers. The paper aims to theoretically justify and experimentally verify psycho-pedagogical conditions for teaching future primary school teachers how to interact with students’ parents in inclusive practice. The experimental group (EG) involved 203 respondents and the control group (CG) 215 respondents, as well as 12 university teachers, 36 primary school teachers and 115 students’ parents of students with/without special educational needs. The psycho-pedagogical conditions are determined as follows: developing future primary school teachers’ motivational, values-based and responsible attitude to acquiring knowledge, abilities and skills needed for the interaction with students’ parents in inclusive practice; using the opportunities of an educational environment in higher education institutions to develop future primary school teachers’ certain competencies by improving and integrating the content of professional and specialized academic courses, applying innovative and traditional technologies of teaching and learning; focusing academic training and teaching placement towards improving the experience of future primary school teachers in interacting with students’ parents in inclusive practice). The paper employs some author’s methodologies (adapted to Raven’s (1991) socio-pedagogical methodologies): surveys, interviews, student questionnaires, tests, assignments. The ratio between the levels of future primary school teachers’ readiness to interact with students’ parents in inclusive learning is the following: the experimental group – a high level 45.32%, an average level 41.87%, a low level 12.81%; the control group a high level 16.74%, an average level 36.75%, a low level 41.51%. The obtained results indicate some dynamic positive changes in the levels of EG respondents’ readiness under the influence of the proposed psycho-pedagogical conditions.