Gemeinnützige Gesellschaft für inklusive Serviceleistungen mbH (GIS) Hannover , Hannover , Germany
Social Pedagogy, The Islamic Pedagogical Faculty in Zenica, University of Zenica , Zenica , Bosnia and Herzegovina
Educational inclusion is a permanent process that enables equal participation of all students in the teaching process, allowing them to realize their potential. Teaching assistants greatly facilitate the participation of students with developmental disabilities in the educational process. The aim of this research is to examine the current position of assistants in teaching, to determine the areas of their professional activity, to define the role difficulties they face, as well as to investigate their proposals for promotion and improvement of the role of assistants, and thus educational inclusion. For the purposes of the research, a semi-structured interview was conducted with a total of four people, two of whom are from the area of the Tuzla Canton in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the other two are from the province of Lower Saxony in Germany. The thematic analysis revealed that the areas of work of teaching assistants in Bosnia and Herzegovina. and in the German context, in addition to work with students, they also include work with parents, teachers, other school professionals, as well as the employer who finances their work. Assistants face certain difficulties in each field of activity. With the help of their professionalism, flexibility and willingness to cooperate, assistants from Bosnia and Herzegovina. and the German context mostly manage to overcome the obstacles they encounter. The conclusion is that only through the joint action of all actors of educational inclusion can progress be achieved and the development of students with developmental disabilities can be improved.
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