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305

PROFESSIONAL READINESS OF FUTURE TEACHERS 

IN CONDITIONS OF INCLUSIVE EDUCATION

Anvar N. Khuziakhmetov, Ilnar F. Yarullin, Ramis R. Nasibullov 

Kazan (Volga-region) Federal University, Kazan, Russia, 

hanvar9999@mail.ru 

An increasingly globalized world is faced with sociocultural, moral, energy and financial crises 

which results in the search of new insights constituting the basis of the welfare of states. In such state 

of affairs, the system of education aims at developing highly skilled, competitive and creative citizens 

on the one hand, and tolerant, empathetic, sociable, capable of critical and analytical thinking on the 

other hand. There is also a particular focus on children with special learning difficulties whose needs 

should be catered for in a specially designed education environment. Social abilitation has become 

one of the priorities within all levels of education that is pre-school, general and higher education.

Inclusive education presupposes that children with special educational needs (SEN) study in the 

same schools as their relatives, neighbors and friends of the same age. Children with SEN have in-

dividualized education programs designed to accommodate their needs. Psychological, medical and 

educational support services are also available. Such system of education creates a social environ-

ment that children with SEN are accustomed to as this environment includes their parents, teachers 

and  peers. The  main  stakeholders  of  the  inclusive  education  system  are  children  with  SEN,  their 

parents, typically developing children and their parents, teachers, representatives of school adminis-

trative body and all the others involved.

The main goal of inclusive education is to create such an education environment where people 

with special needs have a chance to acquire new knowledge and skills required to obtain a desired 

profession. In order to achieve this goal there is a need to 1) ensure technical aids and assistive 

equipments in educational institutions; 2) diversify instructional methods and techniques to provide 

required psychological and educational help; 3) update the assessment techniques; 4) develop the 

system of tutoring; 5) develop new specially designed courses for teachers that help them to include 

children with SEN into an educational process as is stated in the Federal State Educational Stan-

dards. A number of obstacles are still in the way of implementing inclusive education. These obstacles 

may be overcome only by decisions made on the governmental level. One of the main problems is 

seen in that pre-service teachers are not ready to teach children with SEN in terms of their profes-

sional competency. The same concerns gifted children who also need an individual approach as their 

needs are also often not met.

Importance of examining problems that arise when implementing inclusive education

A constantly increasing number of children identified as having physical or mental disabilities has 

become an alarming trend in the 21

st

 century. There are 8 principles of inclusive education:

1. 

Value of the human person does not depend on their abilities and achievements.

2. 

Every person is able to feel and think.

3. 

Every person has the right to communicate with others and to be heard.

4. 

People need each other.

5. 

Education can happen only in the context of positive mutual relationships.

6. 

Everyone is in need of peer support and friendship.

7. 

Progress and advancement is what students can achieve rather than what they cannot.

8. 

 Diversity enhances all aspects of human life [2].

International and Russian experience and practice have emphasized the effectiveness of co-edu-

cation of children with SEN and typically developing children.

It is necessary and essential to design and develop a comprehensive program for implementing 

inclusive education in Russia in order to solve current challenges. Further development of inclusive 

education system is tightly connected with an improvement of the legal framework, financial, logistical 

and capacity-building support of the whole process. The effectiveness of inclusive education depends 

on a child’s abilities, parents’ readiness to help and on a high quality psychological, pedagogical, 

medical and social support at all the stages of education.

Current state of knowledge on the problem being studied

The problem of professional teacher competences development and teacher education in general 

has been extensively studied by both Russian [1, 2, 3] and international [4, 5, 6, 7] scholars.

Dominici [8] and Yamburg [9] examined the issues of inclusive education philosophy.

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The term ‘inclusive education’ and its underlying conceptions have been analyzed by international 

researchers in the field Moriña & Carballo [10], Pancsofar & Petroff [11].

Theoretical grounds of inclusive education are identified in the works by the scholars Ainscow & 

Messiou [12], Opie [13], Tange [14]. 

Problems of practical implementation of inclusive education are reported by Akhmetzyanova, Ar-

temyeva, Nigmatullina, Kurbanova & Tvardovskaya [15], Mitchell [16].

The studies conducted by the Russian scholars Zaitseva [17], Ponomareva & Khuziakhmetov [18] 

are of a great scientific interest.

Doctoral theses in the field of teacher education highlight the problems associated with pre-ser-

vice  teachers’  professional  competency  [19],  educational  settings  and  environment  necessary  for 

teaching children with SEN within the inclusive education practice [20]. The scholars define ‘profes-

sional competency’ as an integral, multi-level, professionally important trait of a person essential for 

being a teacher. The researchers highlighted the essence and composition of a teacher’s professional 

competency [21].

The analysis of the theoretical background on the one hand, and practical implementation of in-

clusive education on the other hand, showed that in order to successfully prepare teachers to work 

efficiently in an inclusive education environment it is essential to organize teacher education in the 

following way. Curriculum within teacher education programs at university should contain modules on 

special education and psychology, psychological and physical characteristics of children. In addition, 

pre-service teachers should intern in educational institutions that have implemented the principles of 

inclusive education.

The current study aims at 1) analyzing existing international and Russian scientific literature on 

the  problem  of  pre-service  teachers’  preparedness  to  work  at  schools;  2)  identify  theoretical  and 

conceptual background against which the research on preparedness of pre-service teachers to work 

in the inclusive education system is conducted; 3) identify the components, measures and degree of 

pre-service teachers’ preparedness to pursue a teaching career in an inclusive education environ-

ment considering its structure.

The hypothesis was tested by a range of supplementary methods:

- 

Theoretical methods: analysis of scientific literature on psychology and teaching in the field of 

inclusive education; review and evaluation of existing teaching practices in the field of teacher educa-

tion; analysis and synthesis of educational programs;

- 

Empirical methods: structured observation; pedagogical experiment; survey; examination of 

the results; statistical analysis of the data gathered during the experiment; interpretation and evalua-

tion of the experimental work and results.

The study was conducted in three stages:

The 1

st

 stage (2016) – exploratory and analytical work: examining state-of-the-art of the problem 

in the scientific literature and practice, identification of contradicting ideas and general approaches to 

preparing pre-service teachers to work in an inclusive education environment. Research problem, the 

hypothesis, research aims and tasks were specified based on the existing methodological and theo-

retical concepts. The nature of the work performed by an educator teaching children with SEN in the 

inclusive education system is determined. The leading idea of the research is described and justified.

The 2

nd

 stage (2017) – experimental work: performance of the experiment to test the scientific 

hypothesis.

The 3

rd

 stage (2018) – interpretation of the research results: analysis of the gathered data; synthe-

sis of the research results; generalization of the results and determination of theoretical and practical 

implications.

Evaluation of whether pre-service teachers are prepared to fulfill the teaching work in an inclusive 

education environment is carried out according to the following criteria:

Value and motivational criterion of preparedness assesses 1) understanding of the philosophy of 

inclusive education, its main routes of development and values that it holds for children with SEN; 2) 

willingness to study psychophysical aspects of these children’s development; 3) motivation to perform 

certain actions and to achieve results in teaching typically developing children and children with SEN 

in one classroom; 4) willingness to create a favorable school climate for children; 5) willingness to 

update own experience and collaborate with colleagues.

Activity-based criterion of preparedness assesses the ability to 1) choose necessary and available 

resources to implement inclusive education practices; 2) identify specific learning difficulties and abili-

307

ties of children with SEN; 3) organize collaborative learning between children with SEN and typically 

developing children; 4) employ the techniques of building learning groups in an inclusive education 

environment; 5) organize own work considering the technology of working in a multidisciplinary group 

of educators.

Reflexive and evaluative criterion of preparedness assesses ability to 1) analyze each child’s case 

of specific learning difficulties and related problems that might emerge in a group of children; 2) evalu-

ate the outcomes and results of work organized in an inclusive education environment; 3) identify ef-

fective ways of organizing collaborative work between all the stakeholders in the inclusive education 

system; 4) work in a multidisciplinary group of educators; 5) assess own professional work, design 

individual professional learning routes in the  inclusive education system.

The main benefit of inclusive education can be viewed in the opportunity to create a flexible edu-

cational environment able to cater for the needs of all children considering their individual intellectual, 

physical and psychological needs.

Inclusion and socialization of children with SEN is extremely important for the society as a whole.

The society finds it crucial to eradicate discrimination and foster tolerant attitudes. All children in 

inclusive education learn to be kind-hearted, respecting and tolerant. As a result of implementing this 

system the quality of children’s lives, especially of those who belong to minority and socially vulner-

able groups, should enhance.

The study was conducted in three stages. The research sample comprised 65 students studying 

at the last year at the teacher training university. Pre-service teachers studied to become teachers of 

history, social sciences, mathematics and chemistry.

At  the  first  preliminary  stage  it  was  determined  that  pre-service  teachers  have  not  sufficiently 

developed the competency to solve problems that emerge when they teach in an inclusive environ-

ment. The following indicates the extent to which pre-service teachers’ professional competence is 

developed:

- 

Partially  acquired  knowledge  about  inclusive  education  which  results  in  incomplete  under-

standing of the main principles and nature of inclusion;

- 

Insufficient knowledge with respect to psychophysical peculiarities of children with SEN and 

their development;

- 

Difficulties encountered when deciding upon teaching methods and technologies to use in the 

work with both typically developing children and their peers with SEN in the same classroom;

- 

Difficulties encountered during an immediate work at the classroom as it requires to constantly 

take into consideration specific learning difficulties of children with SEN;

- 

Scarce  practice-oriented  skills  which  are  otherwise  needed  to  organize  collaborative  work 

between all the stakeholders of inclusive education;

The 2

nd

 stage involved beta-testing of the module-based teacher educational program. Current 

trends in the system of inclusive education together with the problems identified at the 2

nd

 stage of this 

research prompted the program content. The main focus was on:

- 

 Exploring the nature of inclusive education;

- 

Acquiring knowledge on the developmental characteristics of different groups of children with 

SEN;

- 

Mastering essential techniques necessary to organize inclusive education within school set-

tings;

- 

Studying the nature and peculiarities of group interaction in a class with an aim to foster toler-

ant attitudes in class and school settings;

- 

Building knowledge and mastering skills necessary to perform professional activities in a mul-

tidisciplinary group of educators.

At this stage students were to solve practice-related professional tasks. This kind of activity al-

lowed pre-service teachers to immerse directly into the problem fields, find solutions and ways to ad-

dress relevant issues and problems. The experiment was carried out at five consistent steps.

The first step involved delving into the areas where pre-service teachers could familiarize them-

selves with the given problem situations, related conditions, questions and tasks. At this step students 

could also identify themselves with the main acting figure and attempted to foresee the outcomes.

At the next step, called problem-posing, students were able to spot sources of their difficulties, 

identify the main problem and decide what kind of knowledge is necessary to solve professional tasks 

and promote follow-up activities.

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The next step was fundamental as it was devoted to goal setting and planning. Pre-service teach-

ers could outline a clear vision of possible preferred outcomes of the problems identified at the previ-

ous stage. In addition, students were supposed to set intermediate goals together with the means and 

paths to achieve them.

The underlying idea of the next, design, step was the assumption that every person has an already 

developed set of problem-solving models that can be applied to both personal life and professional 

spheres. Pre-service teachers were expected to employ their own problem-solving models when they 

tackled relevant professional tasks.

At the reflexive step students performed data analysis, presented the results and indicated the 

conditions necessary for pre-service teachers to foster values of their professional activity in the in-

clusive education system.

The social technologies were employed when training pre-service teachers to work in the inclu-

sive education system. The technologies are focus-group activities, context-based teaching, critical 

thinking skills development, design of individualized special education programs, group work, case-

study teaching. The use of these technologies enabled to provide personalized teacher education 

and foster tolerant and empathetic attitudes to teaching children with SEN in an inclusive education 

environment. The technologies directed students to personal growth and development and enabled 

them to reconsider the values behind teaching typically developing children and children with SEN in 

an inclusive classroom. 

The last stage of the research assessed the results of the initiated teacher training that aimed 

at preparing pre-service teachers to work in inclusion. The statistical analysis of the results pointed 

out at the upward trend in the development of pre-service teachers’ professional competencies. This 

trend can be seen in increased motivation, altered values, readiness to perform teaching activities 

and to analyze own actions in an inclusive education environment.

Table 1. Research results: levels of pre-service teachers’ preparedness based on value and mo-

tivational, activity-based, reflexive and evaluative criteria to work in the inclusive education system.

Stage

Value  and  motivational 

criterion, %

Activity-based  criterion, 

%

Reflexive  and  evaluative 

criterion, %

Levels

high

m e d i -

um

low 

high

m e d i -

um

low 

high

m e d i -

um

low

Initial

12

80

8

6

71

23

14

52

34

Final

48

52

0

15

76

9

37

57

6

An increase in the value and motivational criterion of pre-service teachers’ preparedness to work 

in inclusive education can be accounted for a clear structure of professional tasks. This structure indi-

cated areas of knowledge and ignorance of pre-service teachers, included problem fields, set action 

plans to address professional tasks and obtain related outcomes, identified technologies and cases, 

including video cases that had a certain emotional impact.

Alteration in the level of preparedness with respect to the activity-based criterion can be explained 

by the fact that knowledge and skills mastered during the teacher training process were used in im-

mediate practice. Students learnt to design adapted education programs, individualized education 

plans, projects designed to implement inclusive education at schools.

An increase in the level of preparedness with respect to the reflexive and evaluative criterion can 

be attributed to the fact that when studying special psychology and special education pre-service 

teachers paid attention to the value of specific knowledge in the field of problem and troubled de-

velopment and relevant teaching. This result was achieved due to the identification and analysis of 

the emerging problems in the professional sphere, selection of appropriate means and methods of 

implementing inclusion in education. Besides, the use of such social technologies as context-based 

teaching, critical thinking skills development, case-study teaching, focus-group activities made a sig-

nificant difference.

The evaluation of the experiment results showed that the majority of pre-service teachers who 

received training:

- 

know the nature of inclusion, main principles, obstacles and resources of inclusive educa-

tion; psychological and educational mechanisms and patterns of development of children with SEN;

309

- 

can identify education needs of children with SEN, foresee their developmental routes and 

the main strategic pathways of their education; implement various forms of interaction between typi-

cally developing children and children with special needs; use different means of building the rela-

tionship between all those involved in the educational process considering patterns of psychological 

development and zones of proximal development of children with SEN; design a special education 

environment that prompts in developing and addressing the needs of both typically developing chil-

dren and children with SEN; prepare necessary documentation for the board of psychologists, doctors 

and educators and take part in the work of the board;

- 

have a command of technical vocabulary, special technologies and methods necessary to 

implement inclusive education; can design individualized  education programs on the basis of hu-

manitarian principles and theoretical knowledge in the field of special psychology and education;

The analysis of the results obtained at the last stage of the experiment showed that pre-service 

teachers who undertake teacher training in a practice-based environment interact with children with 

special  needs  in  a  more  active  way,  they  tend  to  fulfil  their  duties  more  consciously  testing  new 

technologies and designing individualized education programs. The results of the study presented 

evidence in support of the second model of teacher training. In addition, this model enables to form a 

multidisciplinary team of educators ready to work in the inclusive education system. 

In general, therefore, it becomes evident that the process of implementing inclusive education is 

complicated and multi-faceted and affects scientific, methodological and administrative resources. 

An inclusive education environment is intended to provide an open and accessible space not only for 

children but for adults, too. Pre-service teachers are prepared to work in the inclusive education sys-

tem if they: a) know psychological and educational mechanisms, principles and patterns of teaching 

children with SEN and are able to consider their age, personal developmental aspects and features 

in an inclusive education environment; b) are able to create special educational conditions at school 

that enable high quality teaching and development of children with SEN and their typically developing 

peers; c) are able to organize and manage teaching activities, be an active participant of a multidisci-

plinary group of educators and collaboratively design individualized  education programs for children 

with special needs; d) can foresee patterns of change in development of children with special needs 

taking into consideration relevant intervention programs; e) can plan an educational process and its 

content for teaching typically developing children together with children with special needs; f) have a 

command of different teaching methods and techniques to be able to interact with all the stakehold-

ers in the inclusive education system; g) are able to organize collaborative and individual learning of 

children with different types of special needs; h) can identify needs and abilities of every child and 

relevant strategies to work and provide support for every child; i) are ready to apply recommended 

assessment and intervention methods and techniques; j) continue their professional development in 

the field of inclusive education.

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