PRE-GRADUATE PREPARATION OF FUTURE TEACHERS FOR INCLUSIVE EDUCATION AND WORKING WITH PUPILS WITH SPECIAL EDUCATIONAL NEEDS

Abstract

The study focuses on information sheets of courses included in the pedagogical-psychological and social science study core (hereinafter common study core), dealing with the issue of inclusive education and preparation for working with pupils with special educational needs. The analysis of information sheets of teaching courses at individual faculties in Slovakia, which provide teacher training in the area of public higher education, was carried out via using the content analysis method. We found out that the common core consists of 366 courses, while the issue of inclusive education and pupils with special educational needs is addressed in 38 courses. The majority of these courses is offered at the master level of university study. Their preferred teaching method is a lecture. The issue of inclusive education is dealt with in compulsory optional subjects. In terms of content and scope dedicated to this issue, we divided the courses into two groups: courses which are fully dedicated to it and courses that deal with it only partially.