UDC 378.147-056.26 ТHE ESSENCE OF THE CONCEPT «INCLUSIVE EDUCATIONAL SPAC OF A HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTION»
DOI: https://doi.org/10.51706/2707-3076-2025-12-15
Abstract
The article provides a comprehensive analysis of the concept of inclusive educational space of a higher education institution as an important element of the educational system that facilitates the inclusion of persons with special educational needs in higher education.
The study also covers the definition of the category ‘higher education student with special educational needs’, which includes a wide range of people who face learning difficulties for various reasons: biological, socio-economic, psychological, cultural and other. The author analyses different approaches to the categorisation of special educational needs and considers the existing variations in their aggregates in the scientific literature and regulatory documents.
The main differences between the traditional and inclusive educational space, their structural components and functional features are investigated. It is determined that an inclusive educational space involves a combination of physical, organisational, pedagogical and communicative components that ensure
comfortable learning, social interaction and professional development of students with special educational needs.
The methodological basis of the study was a content analysis of the scientific concepts of ‘educational space’ and ‘inclusive educational space’. It has been found that inclusive educational space is considered by pedagogical science and educational practice as an integral system; a separate educational cluster; socio-pedagogical environment; a specific object of pedagogical influence; a form of social being; a special pedagogical reality; a constant of the entire social policy of the state.
The author defines the inclusive educational space of a higher education institution as a holistic structured institutional space that provides equal access to quality higher education and the necessary support to all students, regardless of their physical, cognitive or social characteristics, and meets the conditions for academic, social, personal self-development and professional growth of all participants in the educational process.
It is emphasised that the inclusive educational space of higher education institutions is an important factor in the realisation of the right to education of persons with SEN and ensures their competitiveness in the labour market. It is not only an educational but also a social space where students' identity is constructed and their academic, professional and social competences are formed.
