Towards Inclusive Practices and Positive Behavior Support in Education and Social Work: A Comparative Analysis of V4 Countries, Ukraine, and North Macedonia

Inclusive education is a concept and way of life that modern society is striving to embrace, although some countries are more successful in this effort than others. For this purpose, as part of the Visegrad+ project "Towards Inclusive Practices and Positive Behavior Support in Education and Social Work," research was conducted among the Visegrad (V4) countries, Ukraine, and North Macedonia. The study aimed to investigate the best practice in inclusive education through desktop analysis and interviews with specialists in inclusive education, with a special emphasis on the use of applied behavior analysis (ABA). The results show that all these countries have adopted legislation regarding inclusion in primary education, though with limited implementation, and all of them offer studies at universities for specialists in inclusive education. In the V4 countries, a significant progress in establishing legal frameworks for ABA education and the profession of behavior analysts has been observed. However the same does not apply for North Macedonia, where the lacking legal framework has been limiting the quality and availability of behavioral support in inclusive education. The research also confirmed the expected negative impact of the war in Ukraine on the education of behavior analysts. Interviews with professionals working in inclusive schools were a complementary part of the research methodology, highlighting the lack of accessibility to ABA education and the need to develop behavioral skills to address the challenging behavior of students. This report identified gaps and needs in inclusive education implementing ABA, leading to the creation of an online training curriculum for school professionals.