Abstract:

Educational research is one source of new information on trends in education. In the current educational process, the topic of inclusive education is very actual. Inclusive education is one of the new trends in education. It is a very important part of the educational process, but it is defined very broadly and needs to be made more specific. This issue is part of an academic research project with the name KEGA 004UCM-4/2022 Promoting Health and Well-being through Inclusive Education in Higher Education and it is being researched in Slovakia. This paper presents partial results of the mentioned project. The presented text has a theoretical-empirical character. The theoretical part characterizes inclusive education in general. In addition, the theoretical part defines special educational needs as a part of inclusive education. Special educational needs may include sensory, physical or multiple disabilities, chronic illness, medical impairment, mental illness, autism or other pervasive developmental disorders and learning disabilities. The empirical part contains the results of our own empirical research. In the empirical research a quantitative methodology was used. The empirical research was realised through a pre-paired questionnaire. The respondents were university teachers in Slovakia. The main aim of the presented paper was to map the experiences of surveyed university teachers in Slovakia with the education of university students with special educational needs. In empirical research, the results are very important. The interviewed university teachers stated that they come into contact with students with learning disabilities in lectures and seminars during the university educational process. Students with learning disabilities are classified as students with special educational needs. On the other hand, the interviewed university teachers did not report coming into contact with students with sensory, physical or multiple disabilities in lectures and seminars during the university educational process. The most significant conclusion of the paper is the number of real experiences of the interviewed university teachers with students with special educational needs. Interviewed university teachers in Slovakia confirmed that students with special educational needs are a visible part of lectures and seminars in the university educational process. This conclusion determines a more detailed examination of the educational opportunities of university students with special educational needs in university educational institutions in Slovakia.

Keywords:

Inclusion, learning disabilities, research project, special educational needs, university students, university teachers.