In cooperation between three international universities from Belarus (Belarusian State Pedagogical University named after M.Tank), Russia (Pomor State University named after M. Lomonosov) and Sweden (Stockholm Institute of Education) was created a theoretical-methodological platform for development and implementation of a new educational course - ‘Alternative and Augmentative Communication’. This course is directed to the scientific and practical development of the national curriculum of special teacher education on their pre- and in-service educational levels. This course represents strong promotion of the quality of education for special teachers, leading to further improvement of life quality of individuals with special educational needs.

The article is analyzing theoretical approaches to understanding a family life conditions  of children with disabilities in a society of extream economical polarization. Theories of human resources created a platform for knowledge collecting, interpreting and understanding a family life phenomenon of these children. The use of these theories in special education perspective significantly extends the analysis of a family life and understanding a construction of “poverty conditions” in it and how these conditions deprive the process of growing "into civilization" of children with disabilities .

The article is focused on the research texts, performed by the theories of positive view on a family stress with the purpose of expanding scientific interpretations and understanding the life world of families with children with disabilities. Through the content analysis of scientific texts is shown a role of family resources in coping with stress; introduced concepts of «family resilience» and «sense of coherence». Family life world was considered from the theoretical model of an adaptive 'spirale life context' , self controllability and acquisition of a new experiences.

The article is describing the process of evolution of systematic research investigations in psychology of socio-psychological characteristics of families of children with disabilities. The conception of "family life world" is the theoretical platform for this research. Psychodynamic, behavioural and socio-psychological approaches are the focus of a theoretical methodological analysis of parental characteristics for interpretation of the whole structure of the "family life world”. The Psychodynamic approach is considered through the prism of inner maternal conflict. The Socio-psychological perspective is represented through the parental conflict of acceptance of the child with disability as social-cultural construction. The Behavioural approach considers parental characteristics through mental and behavioural analysis. All together, the dominant psychological traditions  are focusing on negative influences of a child with disability on their "family life world".

The article is describing the process of evolution of systematic research investigations in psychology of socio-psychological characteristics of families of children with disabilities. The conception of "family life world" is the theoretical platform for this research. Psychodynamic, behavioural and socio-psychological approaches are the focus of a theoretical methodological analysis of parental characteristics for interpretation of the whole structure of the "family life world”. The Psychodynamic approach is considered through the prism of inner maternal conflict. The Socio-psychological perspective is represented through the parental conflict of acceptance of the child with disability as social-cultural construction. The Behavioural approach considers parental characteristics through mental and behavioural analysis. All together, the dominant psychological traditions  are focusing on negative influences of a child with disability on their "family life world".

An investigation of a child's "life space" or life world has to be based on careful studies of the elements of children's daily life. A child's life space is built upon the environmental created by the social and physical realities around the specific child. One of the important realities of a child's "life space" (especially for infants and children of early age: 1-3 years old) is the environment, which a child occupies close to his\her elders in their home. Small children are not able to construct their "life space" independently yet, but they are influencing on significant characteristics of this space. An indicator of this influence on the construction of personal "life space" is its visibility or imprint on a home environment. The imprint of the "life space" of a child is created by images from the environment filled of meanings of children's day-to-day life in the home. Images of an environment are included into environmental contexts of social and physical realities of child' "life space" in the home, an investigation of which makes it easier to understand the meaning of the content of this life-space. And the images are transferred by the parents. This is a presentation of an ongoing family study. Participants of the research are 15 families of infants with severe disabilities at an early age (1-3). The main focus of my research is describing and understanding the meanings of a child's "life space" through its visibility in the home space. The data collection has been based on qualitative methods of research and based on the analyzing of video films after home visiting and semi structural interviews with mothers. Child's "life spaces" are described using different parameters.

The pursuit of inclusive education in different countries is shaped by the nature of existing special educational provisions. The presentation focuses on two authoritarian regimes in the previous century: Soviet Russia (USSR) with its ideology of class (proletarian humanism and egalitarian universalism) and South Africa with its ideology of race (apartheid and discrimination). The research formulated two assertions on the basis of a cross-case analysis based on a policy historiography. First, state ideology is visible, explicit and prominent in the shaping of special education. Second, the challenges of transitioning to a more inclusive education system are compounded by the ideological legacy of these regimes. Current moves towards inclusive education in both countries must contend with these ideological legacies and pay attention to a greater recognition of the role of state ideologies in international and comparative studies of special and inclusive education. The argumentation of the current research application to the Nordic countries could be supported by sharing methodology research experience and building knowledge about societies in change within post-modern challenges in education. 

В статье анализируются профессиональные этические контексты и этические делеммы, возникающие как результат противоречий между этими контекстами и этическими принципами. Показано, что этический контекст ААС может быть понят как процесс развития двух противоположных тенденций: междисциплинарной интеграции этических кодексов и профессиональной этической специализации. Эти две тенденции нормируют отношения между специалистами различных профессий и ААС пользователем. Центральной ценностью этих отношений выступает «очеловеченная» коммуникация: понимающая, взаимная, эмпатийная, разделенная и др., развитие и формирование которой сопровождается возникновением целого ряда этических дилемм. В статье также анализируется подход к пониманию этических дилеммы в уникальном профессиональном опыте «встречи» с «со-бытием».

Development of AAC theory and practice has contributed to a powerful change of professional consciousness among AAC experts, bringing new requests and requirements to more complex issues among which ethics has been lifted up and mainstreamed. The aim of the present research is to enter the analysis of the core issues of fundamental professional ethical codes in the light of alternative and augmentative communication; to bring contribution into the “normative” integrated interdisciplinary fundamental ethical principles from the perspective of “meeting with unique AAC-user context”. The research methodology is built upon the study of scientific sources, systematized by international electronic data bases and includes an interdisciplinary approach to its collection. Phenomenology is the basic research methodology to analyzed data. A case study of the family context, where deaf parents are upbringing blind child, is taken as a representative part for the discussion. The primary determinant for the intervention strategy was defined as family-centered, based on conceptual principles of Enabling and Empowering Families and Effective help-giving in the early intervention program. Badiou’s theory of ethics and its dimensions of ‘truth’ as a ‘truth’ of the Event were used for the interpretation of ethics of a unique AAC context and developing a minimal model of a ‘basic values’. It has been shown that each professional community forms its own unique structure of minimal values. The structure of the values forms a meaningful basis for mutual understanding between professionals, family members and professional community in a wider perspective. The success of the AAC implementation as a new discipline is dependent on how all together researchers, professionals and the AAC-users could act ethically developing common understandings, beliefs and values.

Abstract: Development of AAC theory and practice has contributed to a powerful change of professional consciousness among AAC experts, bringing new requests and requirements to more complex issues among which ethics has been lifted up and mainstreamed. The aim of the present research is to enter the analysis of the core issues of fundamental professional ethical codes in the light of alternative and augmentative communication; to bring contribution into the “normative” integrated interdisciplinary fundamental ethical principles from the perspective of “meeting with unique AAC-user context”. The research methodology is built upon the study of scientific sources, systematized by international electronic data bases and includes an interdisciplinary approach to its collection. Phenomenology and hermeneutics are the basic research methodology to collect and analyze data. A case study of the family context, where deaf parents are upbringing blind child, is taken as a representative part for the discussion. The primary determinant for the intervention strategy was defined as family-centered, based on conceptual principles of Enabling and Empowering Families and Effective help-giving in the early intervention program. Badiou’s theory of ethics and its dimensions of ‘truth’ as a ‘truth’ of the Event were used for the interpretation of ethics of a unique AAC context. The structure of the values forms a meaningful basis for mutual understanding between professionals, family members and professional community in a wider perspective. The success of the AAC implementation as a new discipline is dependent on how all together researchers, professionals and the AAC-users could act ethically developing common understandings, beliefs and values meeting Event in life span longitude.

Soviet Russia and Apartheid South Africa implemented special education under conditions of strong state control. These regimes left a legacy of challenges to current governments in developing inclusive education. We explore these challenges by studying the "red" and the "white" legacy to better understand contextual influences on special and inclusive education.

The article discusses three main perspectives on early intervention programs for children with disabilities. The first part of the article is focusing on the presentation of implementations of early intervention services as a response to challenges against institutionalization of children with disabilities and their separation from families in Russia, and particularly in Archangelsk city. The second part is introducing statistics of the demographical situation among child disability issues in Archangelsk city and Archangelsk region, arguing for the importance of developing interdisciplinary practices/services to support parents of children with disabilities in their needs of taking care of their child. Development of a family centered model of early intervention services through habilitation theory and practice is discussed. The third part is presenting individual cases, where children and families supported by the early intervention program meet conditions of transition to another program, because of the needs of the child to become a part of the next stage of preschool development. Each of the cases presents variations of the transitional process lifting up complicated issues, when the educational infrastructure is not prepared to meet these children because of the non-existing interdisciplinary competences  and legal regulations to meet these children in preschool.      

Despite AAC being many-faced/interdisciplinary scientifically and practically with its own about 40 years history, it is dominantly seen through the methodology of communication as a central phenomenon and, specifically, the development/implementation of “communicative instruments” for those who have special communicative needs.

At the same time methodology of ACC has its cost dimension, which has its fundamental presence in each AAC case in the forms of time, space, individual tools and values. Special needs require support/help and demand for external resources. Environmental response, hopefully provided by a welfare system, becomes a natural and important substitutional societal effort for those with special needs (children and adults). The AAC-effort in its cost dimension has its multilevel structure, where macro-, mezo- and micro- levels are representing specific “life world contexts”, and are often leading families of AAC users to social and economic impoverishment. Such issues of support as service accessibility, quality, regularity, etc. are key aspects of this support and are costly for many societies internationally. AAC, as a communicative tool (low or high technology), comes with a price even though its form might be unclear.     

All the ECER AAC networking countries have ratified main international documents regarding the rights of children and people with disabilities, professional ethics for establishing national platforms of values toward those who need extra societal resources for human being existence etc, stressing AAC needs. What solutions could be found to diminish the gap between the “declaration” and its “implementation”?   The presentation is aiming to focus on the discussion around this question.

Soviet-era ideology legitimized "poverty equality" through lower-than-life standards. The liberalization of post-state reforms after the collapse of the USSR increased the socio-economic polarity of society. Poverty in families raising children with disabilities has become apparent. Based on the results of basic and up-to-date studies of scientific texts and applying an interdisciplinary approach, the article singles out three critical factors - "KG", which structure the poverty-like families. Education of financial success, education of social "exclusion and special education institutional practice", education of "human resources and family capital". Multidimensional in nature. The multidimensionality of each factor is manifested in that each of them includes a series of factors that are simultaneously present at different levels. Macro- (management system), meso- (socio-cultural and special education), micro- (family), which are interconnected by complex structures and are structured in a special way in each family. All of these factors are critical to understanding the full picture of the misfortunes and deprivations of families with developmental disabilities. The dominant ones belong to the macro-class factor, the system of government. Special education in Moldova and Ukraine in the radical-Soviet "defectological educational model", which is constantly standardized on the principle of socialist humanism, constructing the context of social exclusion in the form of "defective", which is "defectologically". At the same time, the inter-inclusive processes in European education, driven by neoliberal reforms and a lack of economic thinking, have posed new problems in the structure of poverty-reduction and reproduction-specific education. 

This study was designed to study the structure of the critical factors of poverty in families with children with developmental disorders and the role of special education among them. The Ideology of the Soviet period legitimized "equality in poverty" through low but stable standard of living. The liberalization of government reforms after the collapse of the Soviet Union increased economic polarization in the new independent societies. Poverty for families with children with developmental disabilities has become an apparent reality. Based on the study of basic and advanced research and interdisciplinary approach to the analysis of scientific texts, we have identified three critical factors (CF) that structure poverty in these families: CF of financial distress; CF of social "exclusion" and institutional practices of special education; CF of "human resources" and "family capital". The nature of the CF is multi-dimensional. Multidimensionality of each of the factors is manifested in the fact that each of them includes a number of sub-factors that exist at several levels at the same time: macro- (governmentality), meso- (social cultural and special education) and micro- (family); the relationships between sub-factors are complicated and individualized in each family. All of these factors are critical for understanding the holistic picture of disaster and hardship leading families with children with developmental disabilities to poverty. Among all the three critical factors, the dominant role is played by a factor of macro-level: governmentality. Special education in Moldova and Ukraine is rooted in the Soviet "defectological educational model", which during long time was shaped scientifically and practically by the principle of socialist humanism, constructing a context of social exclusion in the form of "defectological square", it became a symbolic result of unrealized "utopia." However, inclusive processes in European education, caused by neoliberal reforms and lack of a new theoretical thinking have put new questions regarding the role and the place of special education in structuring and reproducing poverty. Research in the applied problem continues.

Two studies were undertaken in former Soviet republics: Ukraine and Moldova. The first study in 2012-2015 was investigating how families with impaired children experience their lives in societies with transition economies, meeting conditions of poverty. As a result of this study, crucial factors, constituting poverty in these families were analysed and identified as a multi-dimensional issue ‘for understanding the holistic picture of disaster and hardship leading families with ChildrenwithDisabilities (ChDis) to poverty'(4). The research study has shown that special education as an area of social exclusion and segregation of ChDis and their families, rooted in the principle of socialist humanism and ‘DefectologicalEducationalModel (DEM)' (2), played a significant role in the reproduction of poverty in these families. Historical dominance of social exclusion through DEM segregation for disabled learners in the Soviet ideological context, currently is recognised as ‘unrealized utopia' (2). Inclusive movement is met as a meaningful challenge in education, generating resistance from families. The second study started in 2019, investigating inclusion in the same countries, adding Sweden as EU country (1, 3). All the data will be analysed corresponding to contextual circumstances, contributing to further illumination of the research question - if social inclusion in life could be reached through segregation in school?

References:

• Berhanu G. (2014). Special education today in Sweden. Special Education International Perspectives: Practice Across the Glob. Advances in Special Education.V.28:209-241.
• Kalinnikova L., Trygged S. (2014). Retrospect on Care and Denial of Children with Disabilities in Russia. Scandinavian journal on disability research. V.16(3):229-248.
• Rosenqvist, J. (1986). Psychisch geschädigte Personen und ihre Arbeitsmöglichkeiten in der DDR, in der Bundesrepublik und in Schweden. Eine komparative Studie. Didakometrie und Soziometrie (Malmö, Schweden: Lehrerhochschule), Nr29.
• Kalinnikova Magnusson, L. (2016). Scientific Report Project title: «Human resources in poverty and disability: family perspective (Moldova and Ukraine)»: Popular description of the project. http://hig.diva-portal.org/smash/record.jsf?pid=diva2%3A931679&dswid=7622

Development of education for all is a symbolic nexus/chain of policy agenda reforms in education towards its accessibility for each societal member. In Russia, the formation of this agenda was rooted in strong Soviet ideological doctrine, based on egalitarian values and hegemony of proletarian humanism. Ideological response to the needs of industrialization in its primary policy agenda reforms, created strong structural barriers to the basic right to education for children with disabilities in the public schooling system. The undertaken research appeals to the history of formation of education for all, dealing with social education legalization with two time frames: Soviet and Post-Soviet; methodology of the research has qualitative approach, aiming to make primary text analysis of the main state policy documents, concerning social justice and equity, educational laws, governmental orders and other documents, regulating education for children with disabilities retrospectively and contemporary. Secondary data, such as statistics, etc., were collected from the historic and current sources, such as peer reviewed publications, state archives, etc. The research questions are: what are the main features of the policy agenda for children with disabilities as a nexus of reforms of ‘education for all’ retrospectively and contemporary? What structural challenges occurred and what curriculum was created and implemented? What science perspective/s in special pedagogy emerged and transited? Research findings are combined in two big themes: Desired contours of the future and a state order for experimentation and unfinished experimentation: disrupting the pattern. The themes are supported by sub-themes. Both of the themes are discussed for the understanding of special education inputs in education for all.

The research appeals to the history of education for all (focusing on children with disabilities) during 1917-2012. Methodology has its qualitative approach, aiming to make text analysis of the main state policy documents. Three research questions formulated. Research findings were combined in two big themes: Desired contours of the future and a state order for experimentation and Unfinished experimentation: disrupting the pattern. Both of the themes are discussed for the understanding of special education inputs in education for all.

This research pays its attention to the history of the formation of education for children with special educational needs [SEN] with focus on Soviet (1917-1991)/Post-Soviet (1991-2012) periods. Even though, both of these ‘time frames’ are designated as the most radical and fundamental in their educational reforms, they are a part of the continuity in the field. During 1917-1991 a formation of education for children with SEN was permanently processed in line with building equality in education for all children as one of the alternative experiments among other original worldwide ‘projects’ and is acknowledged as the most massive social experiment in the history of modernization. The retrospective idea of this research is motivated by three main essentials. The first one: the Soviet educational reforms, being built upon highly centralized, specialized and standardized schools and agencies, developed an educational system for children with disabilities, inside general educational laws. This pattern was kept, following the 1991 Post-Soviet educational laws. The question, which is raised out of this feature is: How was the legalization of special education issues formulated and implemented across these two periods? The second essential has its roots in the state policy provision of the ideological frame for Soviet sciences, in general, and educational science, in particular. After the revolution of 1917, the need of new power in new ‘sciences that reflected the new image of socialist man’ looked for new paradigmatic assumptions in education. Marxism-Leninism was employed as an ideology of power for building a progressive society and science to serve these goals. Soviet educational science got its philosophical and methodological transformation. Dialectical materialism established philosophical foundations and ground-rules for guiding research in educational science turned it to became programmatic. The other question, addressed to this research is: What scientific perspective/s challenged educational and pedagogical issues in regard to children with disabilities during these two periods? The third essential of this research is directed to the justification of a school curriculum for children with SEN. An intensive process of searching for new scientific ideas how to upbring and educate children with disabilities in a young Soviet state was combined with a new course to cultural revolution, targeting ‘a fight against illiteracy’. Strong beliefs in professional and research communities that by literacy force, new methodology and pedagogical methods, children with disabilities would become useful societal members as other children, contributed to the loss of the ‘specificity’ of the special school. In 1931 schools for deaf, blind and mentally retarded children got state order to teach children employing a mass school curriculum. The research question out of this essential became: What special education curriculum was created and what it was resulting in within Soviet and Post Soviet time? This study is based mainly on Russian sources, relating to policy documents in general and compulsory education within the relevant political and scientific framework. Historical documents are represented by Constitutions and Educational Laws of the RSFSR and USSR; chronological collection of the state decrees, orders, government letters, reports and regulations of education for children SEN. Scientific sources are based on authoritative monographs in the history of Soviet education and special education; defectological vocabularies issued by the Research Institute of Defectology of the Academy of Pedagogical Sciences of the USSR. The data analysis was based on an overall hermeneutic approach to data collection. The descriptions were collected and then interpreted through historical and phenomenological inquiries and critically met. The main findings were divided into two big themes: Desired contours of the future and a state order for experiment and ‘Unfinished experimentation: disrupting the pattern’. 

This paper focuses on understanding the Nordic, Bologna-based platform for inclusive higher education of students with SEN and the implementation of this platform according to the Swedish program of NAIS on national and local (University of Gävle) operational levels. The analysis of Bologna documents shows that expansion of inclusive processes in European HE represents a ‘social dimension in education’ and is essential to the implementation of the Bologna Declaration.

Inclusion of students with SEN has approximately a 50-year history, and the foundation of the University of Gävle is the result of the diversification of Swedish HE in the 1960–70s. A systematic special education support service for students with SEN in Sweden has developed during the last two decades. During this period, educational support for students’ service of the University of Gävle has become an integral part of the well-functioning network among several Swedish national actors: special education services of HEIs, UHR, SPSM27 and Stockholm University. Remaining autonomous in carrying out their functions, coordinators of the educational support service at the University of Gävle cooperate with other Swedish universities and develop their high-quality professionalism.

Examining the theoretical foundation engendered conceptual approaches to understanding inclusion in HEIs from both individual and institutional perspectives. Responding to the expansion and belief in the fundamental value of inclusion for European HE, the Swedish Council for Higher Education (UHR) initiated the development of a new program for standardizing different aspects of the inclusion of students with SEN in HEIs, creating NAIS and started its cross-country university functional network implementation in 2017, linking it with 32 HEIs all over Sweden. Introduction to this study data, collected by the NAIS program, is of great interest for the further development of university and societal knowledge about the inclusion of young people with special educational needs in HEIs. The questions discussed and formulated in this paper reveal that understanding inclusion in HE requires further investigation.

Inclusion of students with special educational needs (SEN) has approximately a 50-year Swedish Higher Education history, taking place since 1960–70s. A systematic special education support service for students with SEN in Sweden has developed during the last two decades. During this period, educational support for students’ services has become an integral part of the well-functioning network among several Swedish national actors: special education services of HEIs, UHR, SPSM and Stockholm University. Remaining autonomous in carrying out their functions, coordinators of the network universities cooperate with other Swedish universities and develop their high-quality professionalism. Examining the theoretical foundation engendered conceptual approaches to understanding inclusion in HEIs from both individual and institutional perspectives. Responding to the expansion and belief in the fundamental value of inclusion for European HE, the Swedish Council for Higher Education (UHR) initiated the development of a new program for standardizing different aspects of the inclusion of students with SEN in HEIs, creating NAIS and started its cross-country university functional network implementation in 2017, linking it with 32 HEIs all over Sweden. Introduction to this study data, collected by the NAIS program, is of great interest for the further development of university and societal knowledge about the inclusion of young people with special educational needs in HEIs. The questions discussed and formulated in this presentation reveal that inclusion in Swedish HE got its strong platform for further development.

Since March 11th of 2019, the pandemic multifaceted and created unprecedented challenges in everyday life of people and societies, particularly regarding issues of age, gender, ethnicity and disability. Provision of education caused major disruption across the globe. School closures worldwide in spring 2020, identified digital technologies, digital competences, new partnership in intersectional and transnational fields approaches as a central in education for rethinking the delivering of various forms of education, supporting provision of it as a basic human right. Sweden was one of the few countries that decided to keep preschools and compulsory schools open during the pandemic, recognizing the necessity of the Lockdown just for secondary/gymnasiums and higher education institutions. Municipalities got the right to coordinate physical and remote education for pre-school and compulsory schools in accordance with local pandemic conditions. The data around the pandemic effect on the students with special educational needs (SEN) and AAC users is rather limited and fragmented. Despite fragmented character of the data, most of the statistical and thematic reports emphasize that the pandemic disproportionally and negatively affected vulnerable groups of learners, such as a high level of school absence of students with SEN, poor health conditions among them, etc. The presentation will be based on analysis national Skolverket, SPSM (Specialskolmyndigheten), etc. reports.

A joint pre-conference (NW-12 & NW-3) on the methodology of comparative studies within the area of inclusive and early childhoodeducation was held on 14 of March 2023, at 13.00-17.15.

This project was financed by the NERA research committee.

Pre-conference was implemented in accoordance with the planned agenda.There were 14 participants at the event from Sweden, Australia, Island and Finland.There were introduced 2 lectures by the professor Walton:Topic 1 : The affordances/advantages of comparative research in inclusive and early childhood educationTopic 2: Methodological considerationsPart A: Considerations when embarking on comparative research;Part B: Variations to consider.Both of the presentations were discussed and possible comparative research themes were tested.The pre-conference got high level of appreciation and conditions for the further cooperative work among participants was negotiated.

The undertaken research was initiated by the internal research fund of the department of education (Högskolan i Gävle), aiming to bring new thoughts in the history of education through international and retrospective investigation. More specifically, the intention of the undertaken research aimed to enlarge and renew the reality of the fate of Montessori’s and Vygotsky’s special pedagogical ideas in Russia with certain extensions to Europe between 1909-1939. The frame for the research period (1909-1939) is describing Montessori’ and Vygotsky’ ideas as being formally introduced, developed, applied, partly interacting and finally disappearing from the international pedagogical scientific arena. Their scientific presence returned back about two decades later, differently for Vygotsky and Montessori, connecting their ideas to a specific series of events of the Russian and European societal and educational history.Theoretical departure and framework was taken from ‘reformistic or social-pedagogical’ movement, uniting numerous ideas in the European, American and Russian pedagogical contexts at the beginning of the 20s century. The research was focused on how Montessori’s and Vygotsky’s ideas were presented and understood by professional and political elites in the Russian and European ideological contexts during this period. Research methodology was composed out of historical-pedagogical research, determined through a general background and dominant requirements of pedagogical knowledge development, affected by ideological influence on the formation of pedagogy as a science. The hermeneutics of the research procedure was based on a qualitative study of the texts and inductive content analysis. This approach emphasized the sustainable presence of interaction of ideas derived directly from the chosen for analysis texts of: philosophers; Vygotsky and Montessori original texts; different official documents and scientific fundamentals of reformistic pedagogy from the applied for this research time period, etc.

R

The analysis of Bologna documents shows that expansion of inclusive processes in European HE represents a ‘social dimension in education’ and is essential to the implementation of the Bologna Declaration. Swedish history of Inclusion of students with SEN HE Institutions is closely connected to the Nordic democratic educational traditions as well and counts its own experience of inclusion in HE, approximately 5 decades period, referring to the 1960–70s. At that time the diversification of Swedish HE, caused the growth of a significant number of universities across the country. A systematic special education support service for students with SEN in Sweden has developed during the last two decades. Today educational support for students’ service at the Swedish Universities is an integral part of the well-functioning network among several Swedish national actors: special education services of HEIs, UHR, SPSM and Stockholm University. Examining the theoretical foundation engendered conceptual approaches to understanding inclusion in HEIs from both individual and institutional perspectives. Responding to the expansion and belief in the fundamental value of inclusion for European HE, the Swedish Council for Higher Education (UHR) initiated the development of a new program for standardizing different aspects of the inclusion of students with SEN in HEIs, creating NAIS and started its cross-country university functional network implementation in 2017, linking it with 32 HEIs all over Sweden. Introduction to this study data, collected by the NAIS program, is of great interest for the further development of university and societal knowledge about the inclusion of young people with special educational needs in HEIs. The issues suggested for the discussion are based on some results of the implementation of NAIS program at the University of Gävle.

During the last 20 years Moldavian and Ukrainian societies have been developing inclusive infrastructures, being under complicated transformative changes. There are two main tendencies of the current situation for children with disabilities. The first one is that the inherited system of internat special schools is rapidly changing its functions, expanding, due to work with children from marginal families. In this case economic polarization forms a specific family strategy to protect their children from family economic problems, “intentionally putting” their children in these special school internats. The second strategy is directed towards deinstitutionalization of the system of special school internats, the development of inclusive infrastructure and involvement the non-profit organizations etc. The article is discussing these tendencies, through a case study approach.

The article is focussing on and discussing several central issues about relations between special and inclusive education, such as: what is known about inclusive education for children with disabilities?; cultural-historical experience of some countries and filiation of inclusive education ideas; millennium sustainable developmental goals and special education. Themes of ’ontological consistency’ of the nature of special and inclusive education and special education as a ‘cultural mediator’ between children with disabilities and society are presented.

The article is analyzing the problem of establishing new theoretical approaches to understanding the family role in upbringing and developing children with disabilities in the society of economic polarization, awakened by the collapse of the USSR and the following market transformation. It shows that economic and social order, established in the post-soviet countries, accelerated economic stratification and socio-cultural inequality, becoming a source of poverty in families with children with disabilities. Inequality of life chances, “double poverty”, reproduction of poverty risks are specific manifestations of economic differences in these families. Theories of human and family resources become powerful instruments of knowledge and understanding of  changes taking place. The use of these theories in the areas traditional for these sciences, such as special pedagogy and psychology, significantly extends the analysis of the “new conditions” of family fostering, providing the way of  “growing into civilization” for children with disabilities.

The article anticipates a number of publications analyzing various aspects of family resources in low-income families with children/teens with disabilities, carried out in the framework of the research project.

The summary of the project:

This project targets youth and youth associations, academicians,and public authorities by focusing on youth social inclusion in thecontext of Northern industrial towns (in Finland, Sweden, andRussia). The aim is to raise awareness in Russia of implementingyouth rights, taking into account the best Nordic inclusivepractices. We aim to establish multistakeholder collaboration onyouth rights in Northwest Russia and to elaborate a deliberativeyouth coping strategy as well as drafts of legislation andprogramme documents to be oered for public authorities. We relyon multistakeholder initiative by bringing to the dialogue all thementioned stakeholders. The project will also promote sustainableacademic collaboration between the University of Gavle (Sweden),Abo Akademi University (Finland), Immanuel Kant Baltic FederalUniversity (BFU, Kaliningrad, Russia), the University of Pskov(Russia), and the Saint Petersburg State University of Economics(UNECON, Russia). The implementing body consists ofinterdisciplinary team calling together lawyers, specialists inpedagogics and education, as well as social scientists all of whichapproach the said topic from the angle of human rights. We willutilize the techniques of information distribution and sharing viasocial and local media as well as dialogue interaction in the mode ofmultistakeholder meetings. We plan a series of internationaleducational workshops, joint funding applications, training forRussian researchers in Nordic partner universities, as well as the 5ECTS course for the M.A. level students at BFU. Public authorities(regional child ombudsmen) and youth public associations (regionalyouth public chambers) will be involved in discussions during theseevents. Our project will reveal the urgency of updating Russianlegislation and practices in order to circumscribe traditionalpaternalistic approach towards governing youth. This project willstrengthen co-operation between our institutions; communicationbetween regional child ombudsmen and regional youth chambers;provide exchange of information and awareness- raising amongyouth and general public; foster the establishment of strongernetworks and transfer of experiences.

The research is focused on two main tendencies. The first one- reforms of the system of special education and a process of decreasing of special schools; the implementation of the concept of inclusive education and the problem of accessibility of special educational resources. The second tendency is discussing the situation of the attitudes to inclusive education by parents of children with developmental disability in conditions of extreme poverty. The research methodology is based on case study approach and it is a phenomenological study.

The project was investigating how families with impaired children experience their lives in societies with transition economies, meeting conditions of poverty [2012-2014, Moldova, Ukraine].

Special education development internationally is lifting up several issues for better understanding the roots of inclusive education as a theory and a practice. Ratification and acceptance of international documents in different aspects of disability, forces countries to pay attention to national particularities for further implementation of inclusion in education. National special education systems have their unique socio-cultural patterns, developed out of research ideas and societal traditions. To understand inclusive education as a theory and a practice means to understand the socio-cultural nature of special education and the role of it as ‘a cultural mediator’ between children with disabilities and society. Formation of the soviet system of special education was reinforced by an extreme ideological belief in pedagogical methods of forming/correcting/re-upbringing future citizens, ideas of which were embedded in the fundamentals of defectology as an integrative science. Officially, defectology was never recognized as a science among social and humanitarian sciences in the national classifier of sciences, but played one of the key roles, studying ‘child disability’ and ‘special education’ for them. Presentation will be focused on some issues of ‘child disability’ and special education, which were central for soviet defectology, interpreting them by the history of ideas methodology

Soviet narrative of special education is a symbolic nexus/chain of policy agenda reforms in education towards its accessibility for each societal member. The Soviet formation of this agenda was rooted in a bolshevik ideological doctrine, based on egalitarian values and hegemony of proletarian humanism. Ideological response to the needs of industrialization in its primary policy agenda reforms, performed strong structural barriers to the basic right to education for children with disabilities in the public schooling system. The process of overcoming barriers through the nexus of educational reforms, being affected in turn by political conditions of ‘industrualization’, ‘thaw’ (ottepel), ’stagnation’ (zastoi), ‘perestroika and glasnost’, ‘economic reforms and privatization’ and ‘building federalization’. The undertaken methodology of the research has qualitative approach, aiming to make text analysis (as a primary source) of the main state policy documents, concerning social justice and equity, educational laws, governmental orders and other documents, regulating education for children with disabilities retrospectively. Secondary data, such as statistics, case data, etc., will be collected from the historic and current sources, such as peer reviewed publications, state archives, etc. The research questions of the study are: what are the main features of the Soviet narrative of special education retrospectively? What changes did those reforms bring into the practice of 'education for all'?

The article is analyzing the problem of establishing new theoretical approaches to understanding the family role in up bringing and developing children with disabilities in the society of economic polarization, awakened by the collapse of the USSR and the following market transformation. It shows that economic and social order, established in the post-soviet countries, accelerated economic stratification and socio-cultural inequality, becoming a source of poverty in families with children with disabilities. Inequality of life chances, “double poverty”, reproduction of poverty risks are specific manifestations of economic differences in these families. Theories of human and family resources become powerful instruments of knowledge and understanding of changes taking place. The use of these theories in the areas traditional for these sciences, such as special pedagogy and psychology, significantly extends the analysis of the “new conditions” of family fostering, providing the way of “growing into civilization” for children with disabilities.

Moldavian and Ukrainian societies are deconstructing traditional (inherited) welfare institutions, being under extremely complicated transformative challenges, struggling with economical burdens, polarization and poverty affection.  Deconstruction of the “old” system of special education towards inclusion is one challenge. A process of constituting “new” systems of education, making attempts to embed special education in mainstream education, is acknowledging deinstitutionalization as an inevitable stage of this process. When poverty affects this process, different types of resistance from families of children with disabilities appear. Historically and ideologically the Soviet system of special education was constructed based upon the earliest social projects where the state took full responsibility for children with special needs, satisfying their basic needs, accommodating them in special institutions. It means that families of children with disabilities were treated by the state as those who need permanent social-economical support. Critically reflecting upon the inherited system of special education it is evident that several generations of children grown out of becoming parents themselves, accepted this system as extra resources. In the current situation of market liberalization and economical polarization, these parents, protecting their children from family economic burdens are turning to the “old” system, resisting against a process of inclusion. They “intentionally put” their children in these special education institutions, because of the importance of the extra resources of special educational institutions for their children. These families are risking of reproducing a family poverty circle. The other negative effect of this process is a rather big number of special needs children who have not reached mainstream inclusive schools because of the lack of family resources (when special institutions get closed). My research is focusing on what ways could be worked out to overcome traditional assistance of special education (closed institutions) for children with special needs as a system which reproduces unfreedoms in poverty and disability.

What transformative models of special education could be developed out of traditional forms?

How to transform special education resources in mainstream education, keeping care of those children with special needs, whose families have stable economical burdens?

Данное исследование было направлено на изучениекритических факторов структуры бедности в семьях, воспитывающихдетей с нарушениями развития, и определение роли специальногообразования среди них. Идеология советского временилигитимизировала «равенство в бедности» через низкие, ностабильные жизненные стандарты. Либерализация государственныхреформ после распада СССР увеличила экономическую поляризацию вобществе. Бедность для семей, воспитывающих детей с нарушениямиразвития, стала очевидной реальностью. На основе изученияфундаментальных и современных исследований имеждисциплинарного подхода к анализу научных текстов, нами быливыделены три критических фактора (КФ), структурирующих бедностьв таких семьях: КФ финансового неблагополучия; КФ социального«исключения» и институциональной практики специальногообразования; КФ «человеческих ресурсов» и «семейного капитала».КФ являются многомерными по своей природе. Многомерностькаждого фактора проявляется в том, что каждый из них включаетцелый ряд под-факторов, существующих одновременно на несколькихуровнях: макро- (система управления/ gavernmentality), мезо-(социально культурные и специальное образование) и микро- (семья),регулирующихся между собой сложностью отношений, и уникальноструктурирующихся в каждой семье. Все эти факторы имеюткритическое значение для понимания целостной картины бедствий илишений, приводящих семьи с детьми с нарушениями развития кбедности. Доминирующая роль принадлежит под-фактору макро-порядка: системы управления/gavernmentality. Специальноеобразование в Молдове и Украине укоренено в советской«дефектологической образовательной модели», которая на протяжениидлительного времени нормировалась принципом социалистическогогуманизма, конструируя контекст социального исключения. Вместе стем инклюзивные процессы в европейском образовании,обусловленные неолиберальными реформами и дефицит новоготеоретического мышления поставили новые вопросы относительноместа и роли специального образования в структурировании ивоспроизводстве бедности. Исследование проблемы продолжается.

Ключевые слова: дети с нарушениями развития; семьи, воспитыващиедетей с нарушениями развития; структура бедность; критическиефакторы

Moldavian and Ukrainian societies are deconstructing traditional (inherited) welfare institutions, being under extremely complicated transformative challenges, struggling with economical burdens, polarization and poverty affection.  Deconstruction of the “old” system of special education (SpE) towards inclusion is one challenge. A process of constituting “new” systems of education, making attempts to embed SpE in mainstream education, is acknowledging deinstitutionalization as an inevitable stage of this process. When poverty affects this process, different types of resistance from families of children with disabilities (FChD) appear. Historically and ideologically the Soviet system of SpE was constructed based upon the earliest social projects where the state took full responsibility for children with special needs (SNCh), satisfying their basic needs, accommodating them in special institutions (SpInst). It means that FChD were treated by the state as those who need permanent social-economical support. Critically reflecting upon the inherited system of SpE it is evident that several generations of children grown out of becoming parents themselves, accepted this system as extra resources. In the current situation of poverty, these parents, protecting their children from family economic burdens are turning to the “old” system “intentionally putting” their children in these SpInst reproducing a family poverty circle. A negative effect of this process is a rather big number of SNCh who have not reached mainstream inclusive schools because of the lack of family resources (when SpInst get closed). My research is focusing on what ways could be found to overcome traditional assistance of SpE for SNCh as a system which reproduces unfreedoms in poverty and disability. 

Universal design for learning (UDL) is a well known theoretical platform, which isresponding to the issues of how to implement inclusion in everyday classroom based on teaching/learning settings regardless of learners’ age, whether small children or adults. UDL tries to unite the idea of reaching all students/learners and using a broad spectrum of didactical methods among teachers. Several basic dimensions will be introduced and discussed:

1. Provision of multiple means of representation (what alternatives of the instruction to learners could be performed, and what is the role of the AAC means, etc.).

2. Multiple means of action and expression (how students could ‘deliver’ their learning outputsand their AAC aids, etc.).

3. Optimisation of multiple means of engagement (meanings of values, autonomy, demands and interaction among learners, etc.).

4. Importance of translation and interpretation (how do learners and teacher understand each other).

AAC is perfectly suited to demonstrate the effectiveness of Universal design for learning and teaching. The presentation will give increate examples of this by video materials.