Ethical Regulation as a Problem-Solving Resource Leading to Participant Interaction in the Educational Process in Terms of Integration and Inclusion

Abstract

Introduction. The article is dedicated to analysing the possible ethical regulation of problems that arise during the interaction of participants in the educational process through integration and inclusion (based on the example of teaching children with disabilities and orphaned children in regular schools). The relevance of the article is in its discussion of the trend towards the spread of inclusive and integrative practices in modern Russian education. Materials and Methods. The study was aimed at investigating problems experienced in terms of inclusion and integration in the context of ethical principles of interaction in education. The study involved 391 respondents, all students of regular schools of St. Petersburg and the Leningrad Oblast, in which programs of inclusion and/or integration have been put into practice, as well as their parents and teachers. The problems arising in the interaction of subjects of education in the conditions of integration and inclusion were studied by sociometry (characteristics of the position of special children in the system of interpersonal relations with peers in a heterogeneous class), structured interviews (analysis of the teachers’ attitudes to work in heterogeneous classes) and questionnaires (analysis of the parents’ attitude to teaching their children in a heterogeneous class). Interpretation of the results was carried out by comparing the empirical data with the ethical principles fixed in the Model Code of Professional Ethics of Pedagogical Workers, as well as ethical codes adopted by representatives of related professions. Results. During processes of integration and inclusion, a hidden or obvious social exclusion is observed in every part of interaction during the educational process (“student-student”, “student-teacher”, “student-parent”, “parent-teacher”) and is specified by the following characteristics: discrimination and stigmatisation of children with special needs and their parents; exclusion of children with special needs to the fringes of the social system inside their class; intentional or unintentional information disclosure about the child’s health and/or his family status. The ethical principles that are most often violated in the interaction of participants in the educational process (the principle of respect, the principle of competence, the principle of confidentiality) are highlighted. A theoretical comparison of the items that reveal these ethical principles in the professional codes of doctors, social workers, educational psychologists and the Model Code of Professional Ethics of Pedagogical Workers showed that ethical regulation can become a useful resource for resolving moral conflicts that arise in pedagogical interaction. For this, it is necessary to indicate the principles of respect and competence regarding the conditions of an integrated and inclusive education, as well as to develop special content related to the principle of confidentiality. Discussion and Conclusion. The findings contribute to the development of pedagogical deontology and can be used to clarify ethical principles of interaction in ter ms of integration and inclusion in education.

Keywords

• inclusion
• integration
• children with disabilities
• orphaned children
• heterogeneous groups of students
• social exclusion
• educational interaction
• profession al ethics
• ethical principle