PSYCHOLOGICAL AND PEDAGOGICAL PRINCIPLES OF THE ORGANISATION OF THE PROFESSIONAL TRAINING OF FUTURE SPECIALISTS IN THE SOCIONOMIC SPHERE FOR SUPPORTING PARENTS WHO RAISE CHILDREN WITH SPECIAL NEEDS

Abstract

The article focuses on the need to provide socio-pedagogical support to parents raising children with special needs. It is necessary to train future specialists in the socionomic sphere (social workers and social pedagogues) for such work. It is known that the appearance of a child with special needs changes the family’s relationship with the surrounding society and determines changes within the family. Thus, parents depart from the traditional lifestyle and adapt to the needs of the child, their social isolation occurs and their social activity decreases. The problems faced by parents have been analysed in the article. The classification of family types regarding the implementation of social adaptation has been revealed. The author substantiates the importance of the professional activity of specialists in the socionomic sphere in matters of helping parents to carry out social adaptation and create a favorable social environment in a family where there is a child with special needs.

From a psychological and pedagogical point of view, we consider the professional training of future specialists in the socionomic sphere as a systematic process aimed at achieving a positive result in the formation of readiness to provide assistance to families in which children with special needs are raised based on the acquisition of special knowledge and practical skills. In the methodological plane, it is necessary to work on the formation of acquirers’ positive internal motivation to master professionally significant theoretical knowledge and acquire practical skills; combine theoretical and practical training; actively use innovative educational technologies, methods and techniques; develop the necessary educational and methodological support in accordance with the characteristics of the educational program, program competences (integral competence, general competences, professional competences) and program learning outcomes. The paper also reveals the ways of improving the professional training of the acquirers of the first (bachelor) education level in the specialty 231 Social work; the acquirers of the second (master) level of such specialties as 011 Educational and pedagogical sciences (Social pedagogy) and 231 Social work (Social administration in the community) at Ternopil Volodymyr Hnatyuk National Pedagogical University. The practical possibilities of the educational discipline “Social Mediation” from the selective cycle for the formation of students’ readiness to support parents raising children with special needs have been highlighted.