Abstract:

Over the years of independence, Kazakhstan has ratified international documents on the protection of children's rights. Also, the country has formed a regulatory legal framework regulating the rights of children to receive free secondary education, on a competitive basis free technical and professional, post-secondary, higher and postgraduate education, free career choice and social protection, employment. The state pays particular attention to the development of Inclusive education. The training of qualified personnel for the successful development of the country's economy, the formation of high school students' preparedness for professional self-determination, teachers’ professional development are also the most important strategic Kazakhstani objectives. Despite the existing regulatory legal framework, the data of the Kazakhstani Ministry of Labor and Social Protection of the Population and the research of Kazakhstani scientists indicate students’ challenges in choosing a profession, parents' and teachers' influence in students' career choice, the lack of students’ ideas about in-demand professions. Alongside this, according to the research conducted by the Center for Inclusive Education of the National Academy of Education named after Y. Altynsarin (hereinafter referred to as the CIE NAE) in 2021, the majority of the state’s teachers faced challenges in working with children with special educational needs, including when conducting career guidance work. According to the standard qualification characteristics of teachers' positions, the functional responsibilities for conducting career guidance are assigned to the deputy directors of the school responsible for educational work, teachers-psychologists, all teachers and the career guidance teacher. It is worth noting that the functional responsibilities for coordinating students’ activities are performed by the classroom teacher. The classroom teacher plays a leading role in the formation and development of students’ personalities, their professional self-determination, socialization. To provide comprehensive support to the student in choosing a future profession, the classroom teacher performs works collaboratively with subject teachers, psychological and pedagogical support specialists, parents and other stakeholders. To study the features of the organizational system of career guidance work at school and examine the role of classroom teachers in preparing students for a conscious career choice a scientific study was conducted by the CIE NAE within the framework of grant funding for the project «Organizational and methodological foundations for ensuring the inclusiveness of school students’ career guidance». Ninth grade school students, classroom teachers, subject teachers, school administration, parents and other stakeholders from five regions of the country took part in the study. The mixed research method was chosen, including both quantitative methods and qualitative methods. The triangulation was carried out in the process of data analysis to enhance validity of the research. Ethical principles were observed during the whole research. The informed consent forms were received from all participants of the study. Based on the results of the study, methodological recommendations were developed for classroom teachers on students’ career guidance, taking into account their special educational needs.

Keywords:

Classroom teacher, Inclusive education, children with special educational needs, career guidance, Kazakhstan.