| Abstract [eng] |
The Lithuanian education system has been moving towards inclusive education for many years, and in the summer of 2020, it approved an amendment to the Law on Education, which will oblige it to implement education for pupils with special educational needs in all schools and other educational establishments providing compulsory and general education from 2024 (Lietuvos Respublikos švietimo įstatymo Nr. I-1489 5, 14, 21, 29, 30, 34 ir 36 straipsnių pakeitimo ir Įstatymo papildymo 45-1 straipsniu įstatymas, 2020 m. birželio 30 d. Nr. XIII-3268, 2020). This regulation of the Education Act marks a conceptual shift in thinking about inclusive education: from being a narrative about children with special needs, inclusive education has become a narrative about inclusive schools and inclusive learning environments for children of different physical, cognitive and social abilities (Qvortrup, 2018). The implementation of inclusive education poses challenges for schools and their educational support professionals, who must not only provide support to students with special educational needs, but also support the whole school community in addressing special educational needs. In order to successfully implement the requirements of inclusive education as set out in the Education Act, networking becomes an integral tool for the effective implementation of inclusive education, for communication between education support professionals, pupils with special educational needs, teachers and parents, and for fostering cooperation and interaction between all the actors involved in the educational process. Networking allows for greater accessibility to a wide range of learning resources, for continuous communication and cooperation in face-to-face and distance learning environments, and for adapting to the different special educational needs of pupils. The aim of this study is to reveal the specificities of networking among educational support professionals in the implementation of inclusive education in schools. The object of the study is the networking of educational support professionals. Objectives: 1) to provide a theoretical basis for the study of the networking of educational support professionals in the implementation of inclusive education at school 2) to provide a methodology for the study of the networking of educational support professionals in the implementation of inclusive education at school 3) to identify the specificities of networking of educational support professionals in the implementation of inclusive education at school. The methods of data collection used in the Master's thesis project were: analysis of scientific literature, analysis of documents, semi-structured interviews. Data analysis methods: qualitative content analysis. The qualitative research method chosen for the data collection was a semi-structured interview. The interviews were conducted with 9 educational support professionals from 7 different schools. Based on the results of the qualitative research, it can be said that the networking of educational support professionals has highlighted formal and informal partners, all of whom share common goals, activities and interconnections. The analysis of the survey data revealed that the main objectives of networking among educational support professionals implementing inclusive education in schools are information exchange and student support. The data analysis identifies the main activities that connect the network participants as social media, meetings, collaboration, phone calls and various activities. The study highlighted that educational support professionals are networking to ensure a quality and comprehensive inclusive education process and to find effective ways to overcome challenges. The networking process also promotes the growth of professionals' competences, continuous learning and development in order to better meet the requirements of inclusive education and to implement the latest practices. The study reveals that one of the objectives of networking is to develop and implement effective practices and tools to organize and provide appropriate support for pupils with special educational needs. The study's participants, education support professionals, stated that networking encourages professionals to use technology to support pupils in a creative way, to find ways to meet pupils' individual needs and to implement the principles of inclusive education. The process of networking is also based on the creation of social capital, i.e. cooperation, trust and sharing of resources between network members. Professionals build mutual support, strive for better results and work towards the common goal of successful implementation of inclusive education. |
