SUPPORT TEAM FOR CHILDREN WITH SPECIAL NEEDS IN LATVIAN SCHOOLS

By analysing the challenges of special education in the 21st century, it has been concluded that implementation of an inclusive approach in general education schools is one such challenge. An important element of developing an inclusive education system is the support team at the school. The aim of this article is to describe the currently available personnel, and the personnel necessary for education and support of children with special needs in the educational process. We will analyse the education of the personnel involved regarding the requirements of special education, the existence of support teams and the specialists involved and needed, comparing the experiences of general education and special education schools. For this descriptive design empirical research, we have used data acquired by surveys and used methods of descriptive statistics to process the answers. Research results indicate the need for widening the access to professional development programmes for pedagogues in the field of special (inclusive) education to strengthen the professional competence of pedagogues. The survey shows that currently in Latvian schools the subject teachers are the ones that largely contribute to the support activities (e.g., preparation of suitable learning materials) and greater support has been requested regarding accessibility of learning materials, as well as a wider range of available methodical materials.