Inclusive Education and Development Perspectives in the Latest Issue of the Journal of "Psychological Science and Education"
The latest issue of the journal Psychological Science and Education (No. 5, 2024) focuses on contemporary issues in inclusive education, its challenges and future prospects. The thematic editors for this issue are V.V. Rubtsov, Doctor of Psychological Sciences, Professor, Member of the Russian Academy of Education, Head of the UNESCO Chair Cultural and Historical Psychology of Childhood, President of the MSUPE, and S.V. Alekhina, PhD in Psychological Sciences, Director of the Federal Center for the Development of Inclusive Education at the Moscow State University of Psychology and Education.
The issue is traditionally presented by two rubrics Educational Psychology and Developmental Psychology (Age Psychology).
More than ten years have passed since the legislative enshrinement of inclusive education in Russia, but its development still requires considerable effort and scientific understanding. It is time to analyze the achieved results and identify further steps, especially in the context of the state educational strategy until 2030.
The issue analyzes the challenges facing the modern education system, including the need to overcome regulatory and financial barriers, as well as changes in the mindset of educators to support children with disabilities.
The authors of the issue emphasize that despite the support of state institutions, the process of inclusion implementation faces many barriers starting with the lack of professional competencies of teachers to financial and regulatory difficulties. The main focus of state policy in Russia is on supporting students with disabilities, which often provokes discussions in the scientific and pedagogical community, and reinforces the need to go beyond the medical approach to inclusion.
Among the studies presented we can highlight the analysis of state regulation and creation of conditions for the education of children with disabilities made by L.P. Falkovskaya, PhD in Psychological Sciences, Director of the Department of State Policy for the Protection of Children's Rights of the Ministry of Education of the Russian Federation, Honorary Worker of General Education of the Russian Federation. The author summarizes the results of the 10-year period of the program Accessible Environment, where more than 18 thousand educational institutions participated, and highlights the need to modernize correctional education in Russia.
Important subject are the contradictions between global trends of inclusive education and the specifics of its implementation in Russia, which is revealed in the article by S.G. Kosaretsky, PhD in Psychological Sciences, Director of the A.A. Pinsky Center for General and Supplementary Education at the Institute of Education of the Higher School of Economics. The researcher analyzes international discussions on inclusion and the possibility of their application in the Russian context, where the needs and resources of educational institutions often require a special approach.
Another significant aspect of the issue is the preparation of future teachers to work with children with disabilities. The authors emphasize that the continuous development of inclusive competencies of teachers and their professional attitudes is the basis for the successful creation of an inclusive environment in educational organizations.