Scientific and Methodological Basis for Formation of Teachers Working with Students with Disabilities Acquired during Special Military Operations

The article analyzes modern approaches to adult education in the context of preparing teachers to interact with students with disabilities acquired during combat and special military operations. Existing research and teaching methods for people with disabilities do not take into account the specifics of this population. We describied the socio-psychological characteristics of persons with disabilities , affecting the possibilities of adaptation and retraining. We formulated the main areas of necessary changes in educational practice: the formation of motivation for retraining, the creation of a friendly educational environment, the adaptation of the educational process to psychological characteristics of the students and their special educational needs. Emphasis is placed on the methodological aspects of organizing the interaction of teachers and students in the process of professional preparation: the use of pedagogical screening, digital technologies, the gamification method, and the universal design of educational and methodological materials.

Introduction

Within the framework of the professional and psychological rehabilitation of people with disabilities acquired during the performance of official duty during combat and special military operations (hereinafter referred to as people (persons) with disabilities of this category), the key area is professional and pedagogical. Since most of them lose the opportunity to continue their professional activities as military personnel, there is a need to organize secondary career guidance and professional retraining.

The methodological basis of these processes is the approaches of domestic scientists towards the problems of adult education (L.N. Bengali, T.A. Vasilkov, M.T. Gromkov, S.I. Zmeev, A.I. Kanatova, I.A. Kolesnikova, A. O.A. Kondratyeva, E.S. Koroleva, A.I. Kukueva, V.I. Podobed, N.A. Toskin, V.K. Shapovalov, etc.), organizations of additional professional education (V.I. Bidenko, V.P. Bespalko, T.Yu. Lomakina, V.G. Bocharov, S.I. Grigoriev, B.Yu. Shapiro, etc.), professional retraining of former military personnel (L.V. Mardakhaev, I.A. Lipsky, S.L. Rykov, etc.), professional and labor adaptation of former military personnel (S.B. Volkov, L.G. Shatvoryan, L.A. Sapozhnikov, etc.).

However, the given range of scientific research is focused on training normative people in peaceful life conditions. While the modern social situation associated with conducting  the Special Military Operation in Ukraine gives rise to a fairly large social stratum of people with acquired disabilities who need to receive additional educational services adapted to their capabilities and special educational needs.

Main Part

In the context of state and social policy, educational organizations of professional and higher education become an environment for restoring the lost social and professional functions of persons in this category, who are provided with benefits when entering and receiving education. Consequently, teachers must be prepared to organize accessible and effective additional professional education both at the level of selecting the forms, methods, means of the educational process, and the readiness for productive interaction.

Today, thanks to the activities of the network of Resource Educational and Methodological Centers for training people with disabilities (hereinafter referred to as REMC HE), a fairly large reserve of scientific approaches and inclusive practices in teaching persons with disabilities ) has been accumulated, with various educational needs in universities (G.G. Saitgalieva, L.G. Vasina, V.K. Shapovalov, N.M. Borozinets, G.Yu. Kozlovskaya, etc.) [11; 13], including training teachers to implement an inclusive approach in education (L.A. Guterman, O.A. Denisova, T.F. Krasnopevtseva, N.A. Palieva, etc.) [7].

At the same time, the scientists did not set a special task of studying the essence and content of the professional education of persons with disabilities in this category. At the same time, they are characterized by psychological characteristics that must be taken into account in the educational process.

In domestic and foreign studies, in relation to their psychological state, the term “normal psychological disorders” is used, which include: fear, physical exhaustion, emotional exhaustion, hypervigilance, poor sleep, the “survival effect”, anxiety, emotional indifference, etc. Along with this there are also “long-term” stresses: depression, isolation, sudden anger, indifference, alienation, a guilt complex for being alive, anxiety, frustration, hysterical states. For combatants, experiencing a severe stressful event of a threatening nature entails mental trauma, a symptom of which is the motive of avoiding help. Therefore, experts are faced with the fact that, when returning to civilian life, former military personnel do not seek help and often hide negative conditions (A.V. Korovnikov) [8].

According to V.S. Gziryan, people with disabilities in this category have great problems in communicating and understanding situations; they lack the opportunity to organize their lives. They distrust those people who are called upon to provide for their most pressing needs (for example, provide benefits, education, help with employment, etc.). Difficulties also arise in determining one’s place in the field of professional activity, which are caused by the narrowness of knowledge about social life in general, the world of professions, available specializations, and opportunities for obtaining professional education [6].

Also, in the works of V.G. Levkina and O.A. Letskaya, it is shown that persons with disabilities in this category have restrictions on self-care, movement and work activity. As a result of disability, people lose part or all of their ability to perform normal activities. After returning to civilian life, they, as a rule, do not have work experience, or sometimes the necessary education or qualification level. The stresses received during combat are superimposed with new ones associated with professional self-determination and employment [9].

However, in order to continue a normal life, persons with disabilities in this category need to obtain new or improve existing professional training. Consequently, thanks to professional retraining, a positive effect of their rehabilitation can be achieved.

However, not everyone has the motivation to receive professional retraining. Based on the analysis of the motivational resource of a serviceman’s personality conducted by N.M. Borozinets, O.D. Salnikova, N.N. Kryzhevskaya, we can conclude that, in general, the motivation for learning, in the usual sense, among the majority of persons with disabilities in this category is insufficiently formed. At the same time, it is the external motivation for learning activities that is specifically highlighted. Individuals with a high level of motivation are characterized by the presence of internal motives, the ability to set goals, the desire to achieve significant academic, scientific and creative results, and a personal meaning of learning. Individuals with a low level of development of motivational resources were noted to have weakly expressed motives for learning in general [1].

In connection with these reasons, teachers, according to M.M. Tavakalova, should be focused on improving the quality of professional training and the motivation of the subjects of the educational process by adopting a value-based approach towards disability; the formation of mechanisms for destigmatization of the educational environment; on improving the methodology and technology of inclusive education, creating a favorable educational or “friendly” environment [12].

Existing studies of “friendly environments” do not take into account the experience of social trauma (“societal trauma”) by persons with disabilities, which manifests itself in the experience of misunderstanding, non-acceptance, rejection and discrimination in society. However, despite the lack of relevant context in this area, it would be legitimate to base our research on the works of V.E. Popova, V.D. Bulavtseva, E.V. Mitasova, V.I. Kutinova, P.P. Ivanova, M.M. Tavakalova, N.V. Ageeva, V.A. Petrosyan, E.S. Shcheglova and others.

A friendly environment, according to V.D. Bulavtsev, is one of the central factors in ensuring the successful interaction between teachers and students with disabilities, and is also the central starting point for eliminating possible barriers of various origins that arise during training and socialization [12].

And finally, teachers are faced with the task of adapting the educational process and presenting educational material to the psychological characteristics and special educational needs of persons with disabilities in this category.

First of all, it should be noted that in the educational process it is necessary to focus on the real capabilities and educational level of students. Therefore, before starting the implementation of an educational program, it is necessary to establish contact and identify the level of training, learning ability, motivation to acquire a new profession and awareness of the employment prospects in it. Such a screening will help to communicate with the student “in the same language,” arouse an interest in learning, and stimulate the motivation to master a particular profession.

In the learning process, the main approaches will be individual, personality-oriented and practice-oriented. Each of them, independently or in integration with the others, will make learning meaningful and personally significant. For a teacher, a subject-object position will be ineffective and may cause protest from a student who has significant life experience. Therefore, it is important to take a partner position and provide consultation and support to students, similar to that of a tutor (V.N. Vinogradova, E.K. Isakova, A.A. Makarenya, N.N. Surtaeva, etc.) [10].

When choosing methods and technologies, the static presentation of information in oral language (lecture) or text formats should be avoided. Here, digital technologies come to the aid of the teacher (M.V. Vakulenkova, A.I. Shutenko, O.D. Garanina, etc.) [2].

The use of digital educational resources (electronic textbooks, infographics, online courses, electronic testing) allows for you to make the educational process systematic, dynamic, attractive, and visual.

In the context of the use of digital technologies, emphasis should be placed on the use of the gamification method. Gamification tools in the practice of modern education are described in the works of M.V. Dvorkova, E.A. Kurenkova, M.A. Krotovskaya, M. Peterson and others; An analytical review of the practices of using gaming technologies in education is presented in the works of M.V. Ozerova, K.V. Pavlenko et al. [5].

A computer game or a game-modified task that has a direct or indirect educational goal is an effective tool for explicit or implicit learning.

The correctional and rehabilitation potential of computer games in the context of e-sports training and their role in the social adaptation of students with disabilities is revealed in the works of M.G. Vodolazskaya et al. [3].

When organizing the educational process, it is necessary to take into account that its subjects can be students with different levels of readiness for learning and ability to perceive educational information. Therefore, the key principle of designing the educational process is the principle of universal design. The applicability of the principle of universal design in the practice of inclusive education is substantiated by S.V. Alyokhina, E.V. Samsonova, A.Yu. Shemanov and others.

According to scientists, universal design provides for variability, simplicity, ease, and different opportunities for communication and obtaining information. In the educational process, principles of universal design are relevant when developing educational materials, using them in training sessions, taking into account the level of complexity of tasks, taking into account the interests of students and the methods of motivating them (L.M. Volosnikova, I.V. Patrusheva) [4].

Universal design principles are especially important in digital education settings. Not only in the development of educational content accessible to people with different intact modalities of perception, but also in equipping the computer workplace with special technical learning aids and assistive technologies ensures versatility for users (N.M. Borozinets, O.D. Salnikova, etc.) [ 13].

Conclusion

Thus, the scientific and methodological foundations for training teachers to interact with persons with disabilities of this category include not only modern approaches to teaching adults in the process of additional professional education, but also taking into account the socio-psychological characteristics of persons with disabilities of this category. It is the understanding and acceptance of problems and deficits, the creation of conditions for comfortable interaction, the organization of training using modern educational technologies, and the reliance on the principles of universal design that contribute to the satisfaction of special educational needs, and, therefore, ensure the success of additional professional guidance and retraining.

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