Inclusion in higher education: university practices of implementing inclusion

Abstract

The article highlights the problems of studying university practices of inclusion in higher education in EU countries. The results of scientific research were analyzed, which prove that insufficient attention is paid to the development of the problem of creating a barrier-free educational environment, design and stabilization of its value bases and semantic content. The trajectory of successful integration of persons with special educational needs into the educational process of higher education institutions is revealed. It was determined that the most productive strategy for managing a higher educational institution as a heterogeneous organization is a strategy based on a broad philosophical and pedagogical vision of inclusive education. Approaches to the organization of inclusive education are analyzed, two of which are classified as compensatory and only one as truly inclusive and the main elements of the inclusive excellence of the university, from which the focus on the intellectual and social development of students is highlighted; offering the best possible courses of study for the educational context; purposeful development of improving the quality of student education and the use of organizational resources for this; attention to cultural differences; a welcoming community. The obtained results served as a basis for the further development of models of inclusive university excellence, which is defined as a set of strategies and practices aimed at supporting diversity. As a result of the analysis of models of inclusive excellence of universities, a new understanding of inclusion in higher education was defined, which is implemented as a binary of approaches.

Key words: inclusion; higher education; models of inclusive excellence; university.