THEORETICAL AND METHODOLOGICAL FOUNDATIONS OF INTEGRATIVE TEACHING OF DISCIPLINES IN INCLUSIVE EDUCATION CONDITIONS

Abstract

This article examines the theoretical and methodological foundations of integrative teaching of disciplines in inclusive education conditions. Two significant trends in contemporary education — the movement toward inclusive education for all learners regardless of ability and the recognition that disciplinary fragmentation limits meaningful learning — have developed largely in parallel, with insufficient attention to their intersection. The study addresses the gap between inclusive pedagogy, which focuses on creating accessible and supportive learning environments for diverse learners, and integrative didactics, which focuses on connecting knowledge across disciplinary boundaries to produce deeper, more transferable understanding. The purpose of the article is to develop a theoretical and methodological framework that unifies these two approaches, demonstrating that integrative teaching is not merely compatible with inclusive education but is in fact a particularly effective pedagogical strategy for diverse classrooms. The research draws on international scholarly literature on inclusive education, universal design for learning, interdisciplinary curriculum, and differentiated instruction, as well as the works of Uzbek scholars who have studied special education, inclusive practice, and innovative pedagogical methods. The article identifies four types of curricular integration — multidisciplinary, interdisciplinary, transdisciplinary, and problem-based — and analyses the specific affordances and challenges of each type in inclusive settings. The main result is a methodological model that connects three dimensions: the type of integration, the principle of universal accessibility, and the mechanism of differentiated support. The model proposes five methodological principles for integrative teaching in inclusive classrooms: thematic coherence, multiple representation, flexible participation, scaffolded complexity, and collaborative construction of knowledge. The study concludes that integrative teaching in inclusive conditions is most effective when it is designed from the outset to accommodate learner diversity, rather than adapted retroactively after the curriculum has been developed for a homogeneous group.