The aim of the master’s thesis is to determine the opinions of special education professionals (hereinafter ‘the SEPs’) on the advantages and disadvantages of teaching in combined classes of the adapted basic school programme of a lower educational standard (hereinafter ‘the adapted educational programme’).The theoretical part discusses the basic notions of combined classes, defines the legal acts and statutory instruments regulating the implementation of combined classes and presents the organisation and implementation of educational work in such classes. The role of a teacher in a combined class is presented along with the advantages and disadvantages of teaching in a combined class. The survey is based on the opinions of SEPs regarding the advantages and disadvantages of combined classes as defined in the literature using an interval scale. A new rating scale, which was completed by 50 SEPs, was designed to this end. The results obtained were statistically processed, whereas the data collected is presented in textual form and in tables. The results show that the teachers agree on the advantages and disadvantages of teaching in combined classes of the adapted educational programme. We also found a statistically significant difference in the average value with regard to the professional experience of SEPs. The less experienced SEPs are more likely to agree with the assertion that, due to a lower number of pupils, combined classes offer a more favourable learning environment for the integration of children with different special needs. The results show a level of agreement with the advantages and disadvantages of teaching in combined classes of the adapted educational programme and propose guidelines for further research in the area.
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