The Role of Geography Training in Bulgarian School for Implementation of the Ideas of Inclusive Education

Abstract

The development of inclusive education ideas in Bulgaria over the past few years has been a strategic policy in the field of education. This policy is in response to processes to eliminate all forms of forced school leaving for children. Inclusion in education is based on the understanding that all children are different and that the school must change to meet the individual needs of each child for active learning. Dropout children from general education, for various specific reasons, are directed to specialized schools and homes where they continue their education separate from their classmates. Usually, the curricula in these schools are designed according to standards and criteria other than those in general education. For this reason, dropping children do not receive equal access to education that is contrary to their constitutional rights. Geographical education, whose main purpose is to form the foundations of geographical culture, in our view, has the potential, through various methods and forms of general education, to respond to this worrying trend. Teamwork and work on school projects based on the content base of the subject Geography and Economics can be the key to solving this problem. By forming geographical literacy, competence and patterns of behavior in the geographical space, it is possible to increase the interest in education and drop-out children from the education system to find a form for inclusion in an active educational process, along with their classmates. Research methods: Theoretical analysis, empirical analysis, qualitative and quantitative analysis and evaluation.