Abstract:

Inclusive education resonates in the professional and lay public. However, the seriousness and validity of the issue of the difficult position of the university teacher in inclusive education is not as often discussed in the Slovak Republic as inclusion at lower levels of education. The issue of inclusive education in higher education is broad, and therefore in this paper we pay particular attention to the area of the legislative definition of the work of a university teacher in Slovakia, the introduction of the three-dimensional model of the personality of a university teacher and we pay attention to inclusive education in higher education with the identification of elementary obstacles to the implementation of inclusive education. Elementary obstacles include a lack of understanding of the concept of inclusion, inadequate current legislation, insufficient knowledge of university teachers about inclusive education, and the absence of counselling support and a system of training for university teachers.

The paper is part of the scientific project KEGA 004UCM-4/2022 Promoting Health and Well Being through inclusive education in Higher Education and has a theoretical-empirical character. It presents partial results of empirical research aimed at identifying the opinions and needs of university teachers in the field of their personal development in the issues of inclusive education.

In the empirical part of the paper we present the results of our own empirical investigation. The empirical research employed a quantitative methodology using a pre-prepared questionnaire. The research sample consisted of university teachers in Slovakia. The main aim of the paper is to present the results of the opinions and needs of university teachers in Slovakia on the development of competences in the education of students with special needs.

Respondents in the questionnaire confirmed the need for training in inclusive education. The results show not only the need to acquire information about inclusive education but also to develop competencies on how to work with students with special needs through workshops and seminars.

Keywords:

University teacher, inclusive education, empirical research, mapping the views and needs of university teachers.