Teaching foreign languages inclusively: standards for teacher competence

Original article

The authors of the article are professional educators involved in teaching English as a foreign language (EFL), implementing EFL teacher pre-service and in-service education programs at Moscow City University and Ogarev Mordovia State University, Russia; they modify teaching aids for inclusive settings at different educational levels as well.

Like their colleagues, the authors are concerned about the inadequacy with which foreign language (FL) teachers are prepared for working in inclusive classrooms, and thus sought to address this concern effectively by defining standards for FL teacher training while working inclusively.

The authors undertook a review of the research literature, developed a questionnaire and analyzed the results of the survey to identify needs in teaching foreign languages inclusively, current levels of teacher pre-service and in-service training, areas of teacher activities requiring competences in teaching learners with special educational needs (SEN) inclusively.

The authors of the article used their collective experience and expertise to formulate and then revise statements of important competencies needed for inclusive education. Before being released for public review drafts of these competencies went through several teacher in-service and pre-service educational programs implemented by the authors at their Universities.

The competences in question also provide the essential core around which decision makers can construct FL teacher pre-service and in-service education programs, teacher recruitment, FL teacher professional development, and teacher and school evaluations.

Inclusion standard. As any other professionals, teachers, both working in mainstream and inclusive classrooms, are guided by professional standards that establish requirements for their activities worldwide, including the work with children with special needs¹. A new Educator Professional Standard which is currently being worked out, is aimed at giving a new impetus to a teacher professional development facilitating their ability to be flexible, creative and adaptive in their working place.

The new draft Standard besides specifying educatorsʼ jobs at different levels of education (a preschool, elementary, secondary and high school teacher) takes into account the necessity of educating learners with impairments and special educational needs thus considering the possibility of specifying additional professions in education: a teacher-psychologist, special teacher (disability specialist), working in pre-schools and mainstream secondary and high schools, a tutor providing individual support and catering to SEN learners in inclusive classrooms and some others.

The introduction of the new Educator Professional Standard entails relevant changes in pre-service and in-service training at universities and in-service training centers. Accord- ing to the draft Standard, a teacher should be trained to acquire new competences enabling them to work inclusively with students with impairments and SEN learners. The Standard sets out requirements to an educatorʼs personality features integrated into their professional skills, such as their readiness to teach all learners without any exceptions no matter what their inclinations, abilities, peculiarities or impairments are.

According to the Standard an educator should employ special approaches to teaching in order to involve all learners including the SEN students into the learning process.

When specifying personality features and professional competences an educator should possess the ability to develop their learners academically, socially and intellectually the Standard lists the following:

• 1.    The readiness to accept different learners no matter what their abilities for education, their modes of behavior, mental and physical health are; being ready to provide relevant aid to any learner.

• 2.    The ability to monitor and identify a variety of their learnersʼ problems and challenges pertaining to the individual features of their development.

• 3.    The ability to render individual assistance to a learner via pedagogical techniques.

• 4.    The readiness to cooperate with other specialists in a psychological, medical and pedagogical sphere.

• 5.    The ability to comprehend the contents of documents compiled by different specialists: psychologists, disability specialists, speech therapists etc.

• 6.    The ability to work out cooperatively with other specialists a program of a learnerʼs individual development.

• 7.    The mastery of specials methods and techniques necessary to conduct correction and development activities.

• 8.    The ability to monitor the progress of a learnerʼs development.

• 9.    The mastery of psychological and pedagogical methods and techniques vital for educating different students, including SEN

learners (autistic children, learners with attention deficit, hyperactivity disorder etc.) and children with health impairments.

When listing tools for assessing how its requirements are being implemented the draft Standard suggests taking as a criterion for teachersʼ and psychologistsʼ effective work with SEN learners some integrative indicators demonstrating progress of a learnerʼs development (the learner was – the leaner has become). Or, in some more complicated cases (e.g. a learner with Downʼs syndrome) the indicators should provide evidence that the learnerʼs mental and emotional state has been consistent.

According to the Standard the competences for teaching SEN learners can be acquired by getting special pre-service training in classical and pedagogical universities including studying for Masterʼs Degree in psychological and pedagogical education majoring in teaching SEN learners, learners with impairments etc.2.