Implementation of regulatory and legal requirements of inclusive design through the professional competence formation system of future teachers

author: Valeriy Bulatov

 Relevance of the research. In activities based on the principles of inclusive design, the future teacher acquires a new professional quality — the ability to see the world through the lens of diversity and accessibility. This is a unique type of professional activity that reveals the ethical, cognitive and creative qualities of a teacher, because designing an inclusive educational environment requires a high level of awareness and responsibility before the law. In the process of forming this competence, intellectual flexibility, emotional sensitivity and legal culture of the student's personality develop. Compliance of teacher training with regulatory and legal requirements of inclusive design becomes not only a requirement of time, but also a guarantee of building an open and fair educational space.

Problem statement. Despite the rapid updating of the legal framework regarding barrier-free accessibility, in the system of higher pedagogical education there is a contradiction between the legislative requirements of inclusive design and the real level of readiness of graduates for their implementation in the educational process. Traditional professional training of teachers often does not provide the integral formation of competencies necessary for the design of a universal learning environment, which limits access to quality education for certain categories of students. Therefore, there is an urgent need for theoretical substantiation and practical implementation of a methodological system that would integrate the legal norms of inclusive design into the structure of professional skills of the future teacher.

Analysis of recent research and publications. The analyzed literature is based on fundamental international acts and national legislation, in particular the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and the Law of Ukraine “On Education”, which establish regulatory requirements for the creation of a barrier-free educational space. A significant part of the works (M. Einskou, G. Davydenko, I. Sadova) is dedicated to the study of the European experience and the transformation of inclusive policies, which serves as a basis for the modernization of the Ukrainian education system. The question of the formation of professional competence of future teachers is considered through the prism of readiness for assessment activities, social mobility and the implementation of inclusive practices in primary school (I. Demchenko, K. Volkova, S. Dubyaga). Special attention is paid to the concept of inclusive and universal design (UDL) as a tool for ensuring accessibility through digital technologies and adaptation of the educational environment (S. Bechmann, K. Bush, T. Bondarenko). Researchers (G. Hornby, L. Graham, S. Gibbs) emphasize the importance of evidence-based pedagogy and critical rethinking of teaching methods in higher education to ensure equal access of all students to quality education.

Research task. To conduct an analysis of the legal framework of inclusive design in education and to develop a model for the formation of professional competence of future teachers, which will allow for the effective integration of these requirements into practical pedagogical activities.

Main material presentation. The work substantiates the need to implement the regulatory and legal requirements of inclusive design (in particular, standards of accessibility, universal design and smart adaptation) in the educational space through the modernization of the training of pedagogical personnel. It was found that the effective implementation of inclusion depends not only on architectural accessibility, but also on the readiness of the teacher to create an adaptive didactic environment. Particular attention in the study was given to defining the essence of the concepts “inclusive design”, “intelligent adaptation” and “inclusive educational environment” in their direct relationship with professional standards of pedagogical activity. This made it possible to establish that each of these categories requires specific labor functions from the teacher: from technical provision of accessibility to methodical content adaptation. The research methodology is based on a complex approach that combines: a legal, systemic-structural method for modeling the process of formation of professional competence, a conceptual-analytical method for the implementation of the task of clarifying and differentiating the terminological apparatus. The scientific novelty consists in the development and theoretical justification of the system of formation of professional competence, which integrates legal knowledge about inclusive design with practical skills of organizing a barrier-free educational process. For the first time, inclusive design was defined as a mandatory component of the professional profile of a modern teacher, which ensures equal access to education for all categories of students, regardless of their physical or cognitive characteristics.

Conclusions. A study of the theoretical foundations of inclusive design was conducted, which made it possible to justify the need to integrate regulatory and legal requirements of accessibility into the system of professional training of future teachers. It has been established that successful inclusion depends not only on architectural barrier-freeness, but also on the teacher's ability to model an adaptive didactic environment according to the principles of universal design. Thanks to a complex methodological approach, the key concepts of the field were differentiated and a competence formation system was developed, which combines legal knowledge with practical learning skills. The scientific novelty consists in defining inclusive design as a mandatory component of a teacher's professional profile, which is a guarantee of the realization of the right to equal access to education. Approbation of the developed system proves that updating higher education programs with an emphasis on technical and legal standards significantly increases the readiness of graduates to work in inclusive classes.

Keywords: inclusive design, regulatory requirements, professional competence, future teachers, reasonable accommodation, inclusive education, teacher training.

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