EFFECTIVENESS OF KAZAKHSTANI TEACHERS IN IMPLEMENTING INCLUSIVE PRACTICES

Abstract

Since the adoption of the Salamanca Declaration, inclusive education has been recognized worldwide as a progressive humanistic direction in the development of educational systems and has become an important element of the modern educational process. At present, all countries strive to create a comfortable educational environment that provides access to basic education for all learners while ensuring conditions that account for their individual characteristics and needs. Over the past decades, inclusive practice has become an integral part of the success of students with special educational needs and disabilities and has introduced new demands on teachers' competencies. Teachers face various needs of students daily, manage challenges of inclusive classrooms, and are required to collaborate with social workers, parents, support specialists, and colleagues. One such demand is the teacher's confidence in their self-efficacy in implementing inclusion. This quantitative study aimed to explore the self-efficacy of general education school teachers in Astana who work with children with special educational needs and disabilities through an online survey conducted in Kazakh and Russian languages. The sample included 137 participants. Statistical processing of the research data was carried out using SPSS 23. The study identified some barriers to the development of inclusion. According to statistical data, teachers lack confidence in their ability to apply inclusive methods and strategies in areas such as managing disruptive behaviors, collaborating with parents, and adapting educational programs and assignments to students' needs. This may lead to the formal inclusion of children with special educational needs and disabilities into classrooms without the active application of inclusive methods by teachers. Developing teachers' professional competencies in these areas is a key condition for the successful implementation of inclusive education in Kazakhstan.