Abstract:

In contrast to the countries of Europe and the United States, inclusive education in Russia does not have such a long history. In May 2012, the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities was ratified in Russia, the right of children with disabilities to special educational conditions was recorded in the Federal Act "On Education in the Russian Federation", and the concept of "inclusive education" was introduced the same year. Thus, the inclusive education system has existed in Russia for about 10 years, however, its implementation cannot be called successful. This study attempts to find out whether the main reason for its failure due to the society, that is not ready for introduction of inclusive education, or there are certain shortcomings at the State level (financing etc.) School children, their parents, teachers and parents of children with special needs (about 350 participants) took part in the survey conducted within the study. Each group of respondents answered questions aimed at identifying the degree of participants' readiness to accept inclusive education. Personal opinions about the deficiencies, that hinder the successful implementation of this system in Russia have been examined and classified in the study. The findings of the study indicate that parents of children with special needs are concerned about the development of an inclusive education system, since retaining special children in boarding schools impedes their socialization and separates such children from their families.

The ineffectiveness in the development of this system in Russia is explained by the following reasons:
1) The country has not created an integration infrastructure yet, the organizational and financial ways for its support have not been developed, staff training, as well as the proper work with teachers and parents is not carried out. There is lack of not just ramps and other equipment but human resources: the knowledge and desire of teachers, the institution of volunteer-accompanying tutors (well developed in other countries).
2) About 60% of school children don’t mind having a special kid in their class. At the same time, most children sympathize people with disabilities, but for a number of reasons have difficulties in communicating with them; more than 70% of parents worry that a special child joining their children’s class may negatively affect the educational process. Less than 30% of teachers are ready to teach such students (preferably accompanied by a tutor or at least parents).

To sum up, after 10 years of existing inclusive education in Russia the society is still not ready to accept it. The increasing of inclusive education system popularity should be addressed in a comprehensive manner: on the one hand, it is required to train proper professionals, and on the other hand, there is a pressing need for educational activities in the society.

Keywords:

Inclusive education, special educational needs, socio-cultural efficiency-based approach (inclusion and integration).