PARTNERSHIP IN THE SYSTEM OF PSYCHOLOGICAL AND PEDAGOGICAL SUPPORT FOR ADOLESCENTS WITH SPECIAL EDUCATIONAL NEEDS

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to provide a scientific rationale for partnership-based collaboration as a systemic prerequisite for effective psychological and pedagogical support of adolescents with special educational needs in an inclusive educational environment.

Research methods. Theoretical analysis was used to examine Ukrainian and international academic sources on inclusive education, partnership-based collaboration, home-school cooperation, and psychological and pedagogical support for adolescents with special educational needs. Comparative-generalizing, structural-functional, and case-oriented analyses were employed.

The results showed that psychological and educational support for adolescents with special educational needs cannot be reduced to isolated remedial sessions or the formal creation of an individual development program. Its content is shaped through coordinated teamwork among the administration, teachers, teaching assistants, school psychologists, social educators, specialists from the Regional Resource Center, parents, and, when necessary, medical and social services. Quantitative analysis showed that the number of students with SEN in inclusive classes in Ukraine’s general education schools increased from 25,078 in the 2020/2021 school year to 47,610 in the 2024/2025 school year, i.e., by 89.8%. The number of inclusive classes during the same period increased from 18,681 to 33,397, or by 78.8%. This trend confirms the expansion of inclusive education, but simultaneously heightens the demands on the quality of collaborative communication, interagency coordination, and the professional readiness of support teams.

Partnership in the system of psychological and pedagogical support for adolescents with special educational needs is necessary for effective inclusive education. Its content consists in coordinated cooperation between the school, family, IRC, psychological service, social and medical specialists as needed. In addition, in involving the adolescent himself in discussing his own educational trajectory. The case method is considered as a practical tool for such interaction, since it transfers cooperation from the level of general agreements to the plane of analysis of a specific educational situation.