Author: Waldemar Wojna
The development of the education and higher education sector is a long-term process consisting of various stages. Higher education institutions in Poland aim to improve education quality, update their educational offerings, adjust internal regulations, and even change their infrastructure. Far-reaching changes are often accompanied by debates that sometimes lead to a shift in academic discourse. Healthy and well-conducted communication not only allows for gathering diverse perspectives but also raises awareness among participants about significant changes in societal norms. These norms often become the foundation for new solutions, creating what is sometimes called best practices—inventive, enduring, and universal patterns characterized by effectiveness and ethicality in their solutions. Alongside establishing and disseminating best practices, they eventually cease to be innovative after a certain period, transforming into standards that every educational institution should implement. A similar history applies to support for students with disabilities and all forms of individual adaptation of the teaching process to their needs.
Historical Note
The shift in actions to support people with disabilities dates back nearly 30 years and has undergone continuous and innovative transformations. Creating conditions for students and doctoral candidates with disabilities to fully participate in the education process (including scientific research), which in the 1990s could have been considered a best practice, became a standard by 2012 through the ratification of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and the amendment of the Higher Education Law. Universities increasingly established separate offices or representatives for Persons with Disabilities. Students with special needs could thus feel more comfortable with their studies, being aware of a unit dedicated to them within the university.
All these changes and the expansion of available solutions have also translated into the number of people with disabilities deciding to pursue studies in Poland. According to data from the Central Statistical Office, the number of these students from 2011 to 2021 remains high, constituting between 1.66% and 1.89% of all students. However, this is somewhat of a declining trend.
The data source is the Central Statistical Office, based on “Higher Education and its Finances 2018-2021” and “Higher Education and its Finances 2011-2017.
I would dare to make an optimistic statement that the number of people with disabilities in higher education does not determine the diversity of methods and approaches offered by university authorities to those in need. Most universities provide all elementary forms of assistance, including certain modifications to optimize the right to individualize studies. For the purpose of this article, I will omit the privileges of people with disabilities to receive additional material benefits and focus only on the adaptation of the didactic process.
Individual Organization of Studies for People with Disabilities
The Law on Higher Education and Science defines one of the fundamental rights of a student, which is the right to pursue studies according to the so-called Individual Organization of Studies (IOS). The conditions for obtaining IOS may include pursuing more than one study program, participating in research projects, involvement in student self-government, and prolonged illness or disability. Universities create various IOS-related regulations for people with disabilities in different ways. These include detailed provisions within the study regulations, additional attachments to legal acts, or separate documents defining and specifying the scope of support for people with disabilities.
Particularly noteworthy are all the derivative forms of IOS that have gained their own identity in terms of university solutions. I want to emphasize that, in many cases, these refer not only to disabilities but also to health issues. Examples include:
- Rational Adjustment of the Education Process (RD)
- Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań
- Adaptation of the Education Process (APK)
- University of Gdańsk
- Studies for People with Special Needs
- University of Rzeszów
- Adaptation of the Study Process (APS)
- Jagiellonian University
- Individual Adjustment of Studies (IDS)
- University of Silesia in Katowice
These support forms primarily specify solutions universities provide that modify the individual education process to meet the needs of people with disabilities. It is crucial to note that these forms should maintain the academic requirements for the students covered by them. This means that individuals studying within IOS for people with disabilities can acquire and verify learning outcomes as effectively as other students. In every university, the key phrase regarding individual modification of the didactic process for people with disabilities should be adaptation and adjustment rather than facilitation or reduction.
Scope and Forms of Study Adjustment
The scope of assistance, including methods, ways, and proven practices described in the above documents, can be unified into three thematic categories:
- Verification Adjustment
- Process/Instructional Adjustment
- Immediate Support
Verification adjustment involves adapting tools and methods for verifying learning outcomes acquired by students. Such solutions include:
- Changing the date of passing an exam or credit
- Changing the form of the exam or credit (from written to oral or vice versa)
- Extending the duration of an exam or credit (for example, up to 50% of the standard time)
- Changes to the organization of the examination session
- Allowing short breaks during the exam
- Dividing comprehensive exams into parts
- Filling out answer sheets in Braille
- Filling out answer sheets in enlarged print
- Using additional supporting devices, including computers, specialized computers, tablets, alternative keyboards, sound-enabling software, and Braille devices
- Using assistance from supporting staff, such as sign language interpreters or educational assistants
Process adjustment involves an individualized modification of the educational process related to acquiring learning outcomes through participation in classes or implementing activities included in the study program. This approach primarily involves:
- Receiving adjusted teaching materials before classes
- Adapting physical education classes
- Changing the location of classes
- Receiving support from an assistant in task implementation (e.g., a stenotypist or Braille translator)
- Enabling the recording of classes
- Allowing the use of specialized devices during classes, such as those that support hearing
Immediate support elements do not relate to the two categories above. Forms of support may include:
- Adapting space and infrastructure to the needs of people with disabilities
- Increasing local mobility by providing transportation to places where classes take place
- Continuous support from the office or representative for People with Disabilities
- Additional psychological or professional consultations
Conclusion
Depending on the university or the needs of students, the adaptation of the didactic process takes various forms. Students with disabilities consistently constitute a significant group in the academic community, and continuous improvement and optimization of forms of assistance provided to them should be a direction that is one of the elements of spreading a culture of quality and best practices in higher education in Poland.