Teachers of Inclusive Education: A Typology of Problematic

Situations

Tatiana V. Gudina

, Valentina N. Ponikarova

Cherepovets State University, Cherepovets, Russia

Keywords: Inclusive Education, Direction of Social Interaction, Problem Situation, Coping Behavior.

Abstract: An inclusive approach to teaching people with disabilities today is put forward as one of the main strategic

paradigms of modern education. In the course of their professional activities, teachers who implement

inclusive practice often encounter a number of problem situations, the typology of which is described in the

article and is based on taking into account the orientation of social interaction, professionally important

qualities, risk factors, functions and strategies of coping behavior, competencies. The authors identified

several main types of problem situations (interpersonal, intrapersonal, extrapersonal interaction) and gave

their detailed characteristics depending on the characteristics of personal and professional development and

the typological group of professional coping behavior, noted statistically significant differences in the

assessment of problem situations of the subjects.

1 INTRODUCTION

The success of a person's adaptation to a rapidly

changing social environment and the study of its

adaptive capabilities are directly related to coping

behavior, which can be understood as a dynamic

system for coping with problem situations. The main

tasks of coping behavior are the quick adaptability

and response of a person in a crisis situation, which

makes it possible to moderate its demands, neutralize

emotional stress, and thus make the search for a

productive solution as successful as possible, correct

self-esteem or regulate relationships with others, and

ensure the personal development of a person.

The study of coping behavior is of interest in

relation to identifying the features of the professional

behavior of teachers and specialists who carry out

their activities in the context of the spread of a new

educational paradigm - inclusive education.

Inclusive education is seen as ensuring equal

access to education for all learners, taking into

account the diversity of special educational needs and

individual opportunities. At the same time, this type

of educational practice creates many problematic

situations both for teachers and specialists and for

other subjects of the educational process.

https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6896-6918

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7743-3790

It should be noted that most of the methods used

to diagnose coping behavior state its general features,

while interest is represented by the specific typology

of coping behavior of teachers who implement the

inclusive practice, as well as the classification of

problem situations faced by such teachers and

specialists.

2 MATERIALS AND METHODS

The methodological basis of the research is formed

by the psychological and pedagogical theories of the

formation and development of personality Asmolov,

A.G. (Asmolov, 2019), Petrovsky, A.V. (Petrovsky,

1987), Zimnyaya, I.A. (Zimnyaya, 2007), Yasvin,

V.A. (Yasvin, 2020), etc., as well as an acmeological

approach to the analysis of professional activity

(Derkach, A.A., Selezneva, O. V. Mikhailov

(Derkach, Selezneva and Mikhailov, 2008),

Kriskovets, T.N. (Kriskovets, 2017), Martirosova,

T.A., Poboronchuk, T.N., Trifonenkova, T.A.,

Yatskovskaya, L.N. (Martirosova, Poboronchuk,

Trifonenkova and Yatskovskaya, 2019) and others).

644

Gudina, T. and Ponikarova, V.

Teachers of Inclusive Education: A Typology of Problematic Situations.

DOI: 10.5220/0010595306440649

In Proceedings of the International Scientiﬁc and Practical Conference on Sustainable Development of Regional Infrastructure (ISSDRI 2021), pages 644-649

ISBN: 978-989-758-519-7

In modern conditions, with a change in views on

the professional activity of a specialist, the

competence-based approach considered in the works

of Kuramaeva, T.A. (Kuramaeva, 2018), Ulyanina,

O.A. (Ulyanina, 2018), Rakhimov, Zh.B. (Rakhimov,

2018), Repina, E. G. (Repina, 2017) and others,

seems to be relevant.

The problem of coping and getting out of critical,

stressful situations, including the professional sphere,

is devoted to the works of both domestic and foreign

scientists, such as Ponikarova, V.N. Pokudina, T.N.

(Ponikarova and Pokudina, 2019), Starovoit, N.V.

(Starovoit, 2018), Chernomyrdina, T.N.

(Chernomyrdina, 2018), Wilfried F. Admiraal, Fred

A.J. Korthagen and Theo Wubbels (Wilfried,

Korthagen и Wubbels, 2000), Abdukadirova, L.Y.

(Abdukadirova, 2020).

In the modern dynamic and competitively active

world, high requirements are imposed on the

competencies of specialists, the formation of soft

skills as the basis for the success of employees in their

professional activities (Gluzman, Yu.V. (Gluzman,

2019), Batsunov, S.N., Derecha I.I., Kungurova,

I.M., Slizkova, E.V. (Batsunov, Derecha, Kungurova

and Slizkova, 2018), Ivenskikh, I.V., Sorokoumova,

S.N., Suvorova, O. V. (Ivenskikh, Sorokoumova and

Suvorova, 2018), Ponikarova, V.N. (Ponikarova,

2020), Chulanova, O.L., Ivonina, A.I. (Chulanova

and Ivonina, 2017).

3 RESULTS

The study was conducted in the period from 2007 to

2020, the general population of the sample was more

than 1,500 people, the representative sample was 782

people, pupils, students, teachers and specialists who

implement inclusive education in the Northwestern

Federal District of the Russian Federation. Of the

total number of subjects, 30 people were selected who

went through all stages of the study (experimental

group).

To study professional coping behavior, we used a

set of complementary methods, which included

questionnaires “Methods of coping behavior”

(according to R. Lazarus and S. Folkman)

(Clayburgh, 2004); determination of individual

coping strategies (according to E. Heim) (Clayburgh,

2004); leading ways to overcome professional

difficulties in the field of inclusive education

(according to Ponikarova, V.N.) (Ponikarova, 2000);

expert assessment "The level of risk in professional

activity" (according to Zmanovskaya, E.V.)

(Clayburgh, 2004) and others.

Based on the results of the ascertaining part of the

study, we identified the following types of

professional coping behavior - Adaptive (34% of the

subjects in the control group and 50% in the

experimental group) and the Crush type (24% of the

subjects in the control group and 23% in the

experimental group).

Based on the assessment of coping behavior in

terms of productivity and non-productivity, we can

classify the following types of professional behavior:

Creative, Adaptive, Mix - to conditionally

productive; Smash type - to productive; Crush -

unproductive professional coping behavior.

The Mix type was most often noted by us among

students of secondary vocational educational

organizations, the types of coping behavior Creative

and Smash were observed among students of higher

education, while among students under conditions of

additional vocational education - Adaptive and Crush.

The problems that teachers face in their work are

due to stressful situations in working with children

with disabilities in inclusive educational institutions.

The study made it possible to identify the following

circumstances that present significant difficulties for

teachers:

 The main activities of the teacher of inclusive

education;

 Forms of organization of subjects of inclusive

education;

 Acquaintance with the legislative and legal

framework for the activities of the teacher of

inclusive education and the implementation of

legal acts;

 Providing special educational conditions for

people with disabilities;

 Meeting the special educational needs of

people with disabilities;

 Professional burnout and professional

deformation.

The study of problem situations was carried out

according to a number of criteria: the orientation of

social interaction, professionally important qualities

(PIQ), risk factors, functions of coping behavior,

coping strategy, competence, etc.

The analysis of the results of studying the

professional coping behavior of the respondents made

it possible to create a generalized description of the

most significant problem situations.

In accordance with the direction of social

interaction of the subjects of inclusive education, we

have identified three groups of situations:

interpersonal, intrapersonal and extrapersonal.

It should be noted that these types of interaction

to one degree or another, directly or indirectly, are

Teachers of Inclusive Education: A Typology of Problematic Situations

645

represented in all problem situations, but some of the

types of interaction will be the leading ones.

So, interpersonal interaction implies direct

communication between participants in inclusive

education: teacher - child (children) with disabilities;

teacher - teachers (specialists of inclusive education),

teacher - parents of children with disabilities, etc.

Intrapersonal - implies personal growth, self-

development of the teacher as a professional of

inclusive education;

Extrapersonal implies cooperation: the teacher -

official representatives (for example, representatives

of government bodies), etc.

Most of the problem situations (four out of six),

we attributed to situations with leading interpersonal

interaction of the participants: "The main directions

of the teacher of inclusive education"; "Forms of

organization of subjects of inclusive education";

"Providing special educational conditions and

meeting the special educational needs of people with

disabilities".

We classified the situation “Acquaintance with

the legislative and legal basis for the activities of a

teacher of inclusive education and the

implementation of legal acts” as an extrapersonal

position, and we associate “Professional burnout and

professional deformation” with intrapersonal

interaction.

4 DISCUSSION

The problem situations under consideration with

predominantly interpersonal interaction of

participants are characterized by the fact that for their

resolution they require teachers to have such

professionally important qualities as the ability to act

in extreme (emergency) situations; the ability to form

and maintain a favorable socio-psychological climate

in the team; adherence to generally accepted norms of

behavior and the ability to coordinate their work with

the work of others. At the same time, three of them

are necessary PIQs, and adherence to generally

accepted norms of behavior is significant.

The necessary PIQs are determinative and define

the very essence of professional activity. Significant

PIQs have the status of complementary ones and

allow performing professional activities at a

sufficiently high level.

It can be concluded that in order to solve problem

situations with a predominant interpersonal

interaction, it is precisely the necessary PIQs that are

required, which ensure the most optimal social and

professional functioning of the teacher's personality

in the conditions of inclusive education.

An analysis of the risk factors for the activities of

an inclusive education teacher in relation to the

problem situations we have identified allows us to

note that the following factors are leading in them:

in the situation "The main directions of the teacher

of inclusive education" - extreme situations in

professional activities;

in the disposition "Forms of organization of

subjects of inclusive education" - excessively

intensive communication in professional activity is a

risk factor;

in the case of "Providing special educational

conditions and meeting the special educational needs

of people with disabilities" - the dominance of

negative emotions and experiences and a high degree

of responsibility in professional activity are the main

ones.

These factors can be characterized as rather

negative, creating a high likelihood of developing

negative experiences and, as a consequence, the

possibility of professional burnout.

Of particular interest is the study of using the

potential of coping behavior to resolve problem

situations with interpersonal interaction of

participants. The leading coping strategies are

seeking support, problem solving, and avoidance. The

strategy of seeking support is used to resolve

situations "The main directions of activities of a

teacher of inclusive education" and "Forms of

organization of subjects of inclusive education",

while problem-solving and avoidance are

characteristic of "Providing special educational

conditions and meeting the special educational needs

of persons with disabilities".

It can be noted that conditionally productive

coping strategies turned out to be the leading ones,

which do not fully allow us to constructively resolve

the existing problem.

The main functions of coping behavior for

resolving problem situations with interpersonal

interaction of participants were the following:

imitative, assistive, prognostic and reflexive.

The imitative function allows to form the skills

and abilities of the productive use of coping behavior

in the process of resolving problem situations.

Assistive - helps to make the right decision to a

problem situation.

The predictive function of coping behavior allows

one to present and assess the risks and possible

consequences of problem situations.

Reflexive - reduces difficulties in the process of

choosing solutions to eliminate a problem situation.

ISSDRI 2021 - International Scientiﬁc and Practical Conference on Sustainable Development of Regional Infrastructure

646

More often than others, special competencies of

coping behavior were in demand: “The ability to

consciously choose coping behavior as a means of

resolving problem situations” and “The ability to use

coping behavior broadly and flexibly as a means of

resolving problem situations”, as well as basic “Owns

predominantly applied knowledge of coping

behavior" and key competencies "Owns the ways of

using coping behavior as a means of resolving

problem situations".

It is worth reminding that key competencies are

mainly general versatile abilities and skills that

provide a person with the opportunity to understand

the situation and achieve the final result in their

personal life and professional activity in the context

of the increasing dynamism of modern society. Key

competencies can be acquired only in the process of

education and in an independent social life

(professional, personal).

Basic competencies are determined by the ability

to independently make decisions and resolve general

tasks of professional activity.

Special competencies are associated with the

employee's ability to solve specific problem

situations within the framework of professional

activity. Most often, special competencies are used in

non-standard situations and express the position of

the subject.

The possession of special competencies can be

assessed as the use of soft skills, while the use of key

and basic competencies can be regarded as hard skills.

Hard skills are those that can be freely tracked,

measured and demonstrated, necessary to perform a

well-defined type of activity efficiently enough.

Soft skills are primarily social skills. They are not

as obviously measurable as hard skills, but, precisely,

they are necessary for any kind of activity. These

include the ability to communicate, work in a team,

persuade, solve problems and take responsibility,

manage your time, and motivate yourself and others.

These skills are undoubtedly necessary for

teachers, especially if they work with people with

disabilities, or implement inclusive educational

practice.

Thus, the situations "The main directions of

activities of the teacher of inclusive education" and

"Forms of organization of subjects of inclusive

education" were resolved through the use of soft

skills, while in the case of "Providing special

educational conditions and meeting the special

educational needs of persons with disabilities" mostly

hard skills were used.

We classified the situation “Acquaintance with

the legislative and legal framework for the activities

of a teacher of inclusive education and the

implementation of legal acts” as extrapersonal

interaction and the “Professional burnout and

professional deformation” disposition - with

intrapersonal interaction.

In these situations, the most demanded PIQs were

"Compliance with generally accepted norms of

behavior" and "Balance, self-control". We classify

both qualities as essential PIQs. The risk factors for

professional activity are "Information overload in

professional activity" and "Increased physical and

emotional stress in professional activity". In the first

situation (“Acquaintance with the legislative and

legal basis of the activities of the teacher of inclusive

education and the implementation of legal acts”), the

solution of the problem is the leading strategy of

coping behavior, while in the second case -

avoidance. As the leading functions of coping

behavior, the detective functions are noted - the

recognition of problem situations, the separation of

useful (productive) coping behavior from

unproductive ones, and the preventive - which helps

to prevent difficulties in the process of resolving

problem situations using coping behavior.

For the “Acquaintance with the legislative and

legal framework for the activities of a teacher of

inclusive education and the implementation of legal

acts” disposition, the respondents more often used the

basic competence “Owns mainly applied knowledge

of coping behavior”, and for the “Professional

burnout and professional deformation” situation - the

special competence was in demand: "The ability to

consciously choose coping behavior as a means of

resolving problem situations".

Therefore, to solve the non-standard case

"Familiarity with the legislative and legal framework

for the activities of the teacher of inclusive education

and the implementation of legal acts" hard skills were

mainly used, while to resolve the "Professional

burnout and professional deformation" situation - soft

skills.

It should be noted that in the control group, the

most problematic were "Providing special

educational conditions for persons with disabilities"

and "Acquaintance with the legislative and legal

framework for the activities of a teacher of inclusive

education and the implementation of legal acts"

(interpersonal and extrapersonal orientation of

interaction), in the experimental group the

"Professional burnout and professional deformation"

disposition has an intrapersonal orientation of the

interaction of subjects. The least difficult problem

situations for the control and experimental groups are

the same - "The main directions of the teacher of

Teachers of Inclusive Education: A Typology of Problematic Situations

647

inclusive education" and "Forms of organization of

subjects of inclusive education" (interpersonal

orientation of interaction). All data are confirmed by

the ranking method.

Thus, the most difficult forms of interaction for

teachers are situations with an extrapersonal and

intrapersonal orientation, in contrast to a situation

with an interpersonal orientation of interaction. This

is explained by the fact that the first group of

situations is less common, while in the second group

of solutions teachers have more experience.

The use of Spearman's rank correlation coefficient

showed the presence of statistically significant

differences (r = 0.85, significant at ρ ≤ 0.05) in the

assessment of problem situations by the respondents

in the EG and the CG.

5 CONCLUSION

So, based on the above, a number of conclusions can

be drawn.

The typology of problematic situations faced by

teachers and specialists implementing inclusive

practice can be based on the orientation of social

interaction of subjects: interpersonal, extrapersonal or

intrapersonal.

Most of the critical situations we have considered,

we attributed to situations of interpersonal

interaction, which require teachers who implement

inclusive educational practice the necessary

professionally important qualities, while in other

cases -significant PIQs.

These situations are resolved through the use of a

strategy of seeking support, while in others, problem

solving or avoidance is more often demanded. The

competencies are more often special ones, which we

consider as soft skills, which are used in non-standard

conditions and express the position of the subject.

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