Expert seminar, Herzen University, St. Petersburg, April 21, 2017

On April 21, 2017, Lemka S. Izmaylova, the NAA’s Director, participated in the discussion of modular academic programs (developed in Herzen University) for professional retraining of faculty members providing education for disabled people. The event was attended by the representatives from social and professional societies.

Inclusive education is one of the most important directions of modern education.

Currently, an active work is done to develop scientific aspects of inclusive education and their application in practice: international conferences are held; special attention is paid to the development of legal and methodological framework and support for proactive projects; conditions are created for obtaining secondary and higher education, including using distance educational technologies.

The social-professional discussion (seminar) of modular academic programs for professional retraining of faculty members providing education for disabled people took place on April 21, 2017. The event was hosted by the Institution of Defectological Education and Rehabilitation of Herzen State Pedagogical University of Russia (Herzen University).

Lemka S. Izmaylova, the NAA’s Director, made the report “The requirements of the Federal State Educational Standards to the implementation of study programs for disabled people”. She noted that Herzen University holds key positions in defectology education and solves the most important tasks of staffing support in the field of education for disabled people. Ms. Izmaylova emphasized “The State pays much attention to the issues of personnel development. The Program of Education Development for 2016-2020 sets a challenge to increase the number of disabled people receiving higher education, as well as to increase the proportion of faculty members who have undergone further training”.

Mr. V. Kantor, Director of the Institute of Defectological Education and Rehabilitation of Herzen University, mentioned in his speech the need for discussion as well as subsequent implementation of retraining programs for university teachers in order to fully implement the idea of inclusion in HE system.

During the seminar, the programs of retraining university teachers engaged in training of disabled people were presented. They included methodological recommendations considering the goals, concept of design, structure and content of these programs, as well as the peculiarities of invariant and elective modules included in the programs. Special attention was paid to the issues of retraining teachers of physical training.

The event was attended by leading specialists from more than 30 HEIs of Moscow, St. Petersburg, Irkutsk, Kaliningrad, Novosibirsk, Saratov, Rostov-on-Don, Saransk, Ekaterinburg and other cities, who are engaged in the development and delivery of study programs adapted for the education of disabled people. Mr. A.Kolosov, the Chairman of Regional Organization (St. Petersburg) of the All Russia Association of the Blind (VOS), also took part in the discussion.

All speakers highly appreciated the program of professional retraining developed by the scientists of Herzen University, noted its practical importance and recommended it for introduction.