Department of Special and Inclusive Education

Head of the Department: Hanna Slozanska - Doctor of Education, Professor

Senior laboratory assistant: Nadiia Protsyk

Address: 10, Vynnychenka St., Ternopil, 202 aud.

Social networks: https://www.facebook.com/groups/194954956177120/

History of the department:

The Department of Special and Inclusive Education was established on September 1, 2021 at the Faculty of Pedagogy and Psychology. The Head of the Department is Professor Hanna Slozanska, Doctor of Pedagogical Sciences. 3 professors, 5 associate professors and 5 lecturers work at the department.

The scientific and pedagogical staff of other structural departments of TNPU, practicing speech therapists and speech pathologists are involved in the education of students of the first (bachelor) and second (master) level of higher education.

The department is a graduate department and provides education on two educational programs within the specialty 016 Special education: “Speech therapy” (bachelor's degree) and “Inclusive education” (master's degree).

Staff of the department are actively working on improving their professional skills, introducing innovative approaches to teaching in the educational process, popularizing the specialty by participating in various events in the city, region and country, combining theory and practice by implementing a practice-oriented approach, and are active in public activities.

Staff of the Department:

Full time staff members:

Hanna Slozanska, Doctor of Pedagogical Sciences, Full Professor
Vira Polishchuk, Doctor of Pedagogical Sciences, Full Professor
Nadiia Horishna, PhD in Education, Associate Professor
Tetiana Tsehelnyk, PhD in Education, Associate Professor
Nadiia Horishna, PhD in Education, Associate Professor
Iryna Patsula, Lecturer
Maria Kozak, Lecturer
Natalya Romanyshyn, Lecturer
Lyudmila Efymenko, Lecturer

Part time staff members:

Mykola Suprun, Doctor of Pedagogical Sciences, Full Professor
Yuliia Ribtsun, PhD in Education, Senior Researcher, Associate Professor
Iryna Hladchenko, PhD in Education, Senior Researcher, Associate Professor
Svitlana Gerashchenko, PhD in Education, Associate Professor
Anna Hladyshchuk, Lecturer

Practicing teachers:

Olga Gumenyuk, speech therapist
Hanna Kovalchuk, speech therapist

Bachelor Program “Speech Therapy”

Degree and type of study program: undergraduate – university

Duration of the program: 4 years (full time, part time)

Credits: 240 ECTS

Basic Aim of the Program is to train highly qualified specialists in the field of special pedagogy, capable of performing complex specialized tasks in development, training, education, correctional support and socialization of persons with speech disorders, focused on personal and professional development.

Graduates can work in general and special education institutions, out-of-school educational institutions, rehabilitation and integrative resource centers, social and psychological services, medical institutions, health and recreational facilities, etc.

Master Program “Inclusive education”

Degree and type of study program: graduate – university

Duration of the program: 1,4 years (full time, part time)

Credits: 90 ECTS

Basic Aim of the Program is to train specialists capable of solving complex problems related to education, upbringing, development and socialization of children and adults with special educational needs, to carry out educational, informational, advisory, scientific and methodological, coordinating, analytical and prognostic activities on the organization, support and development of inclusive education.

The program has an interdisciplinary content and applied orientation. Interdisciplinarity is realized by a purposeful selection of disciplines, which enables students to acquire competencies in special pedagogical, psychological, pedagogical, social oriented disciplines and ensures their readiness to solve complex and diverse problems in the field of inclusive education on the basis of interdisciplinary interaction. The applied nature of the training is realized through the practical orientation of the content of the courses, the use of interactive teaching methods and a significant amount of practical training, which makes it possible to ensure the unity of theoretical knowledge, practical skills and personal experience of the applicants.

Pedagogical and methodological work:

Teachers of the department provide teaching of more than 40 academic disciplines focused on the formation of special competencies in the programs “Speech Therapy” and “Inclusive Education”. The educational process on the Department is based on the principles of student-centeredness, individualized and practice-oriented learning.

Teachers of the Department actively introduce innovative technologies into the educational process: the technology of practice-oriented learning, close cooperation with the labor market, the technology of concentrated learning etc. Innovative methods and means of learning and teaching are used, such as the case method, problem-based learning, flipped learning, training through workshops, webinars, master classes of practitioners, etc.

Research work:

Research at the Department is carried out within the framework of national research programmes, basic and applied projects, post-doctoral projects and targeted research programmes within the framework of the department theme “Development and implementation of innovative technologies for education and socialization/rehabilitation of people with psychophysical development disorders”. Undergraduate and graduate students are actively involved in fulfillment of the researches.

National research project

“Research on the development of social and rehabilitation services for children with disabilities and their families at the level of territorial communities in the war and post-war period”. (https://tnpu.edu.ua/naukova-robota/proektna-d-yaln-st.php), manager - prof. Hanna Slozanska (2023-2024)

International research project Journal

“Improving access to speech therapy services for Ukrainian children and empowering professionals working in educational institutions”. (https://speaktx.com/), manager - associate prof. Nadia Horishna (2023-2025)

Journal

Scientific journal “Social Work and Education” (https://journals.uran.ua/swe), editor in chief – prof. Hanna Slozanska

Publications

The staff of the department publish more than 400 articles in professional journals of category B, journals indexed in Scopus/Web of Science, materials of scientific and practical conferences of various levels

Practical training:

The Department is developed a holistic concept of practical training of future specialists, which provides for the following four types of internships during the bachelor's program.

Propedeutic (voluntary) - second semester,
Educational (third to fifth semesters),
Clinical practice (sixth-seventh semesters),
Pre-diploma (eighth semester).

In order to provide practical training for future specialists, the Department cooperates on the basis of agreements with more than 100 institutions where students can do internships.