Professional readiness of educational professionals for individualised psychological and pedagogical support of children with severe and multiple developmental disorders

Abstract

Introduction. The current trends in modern education dictate the need for transformation and reconfiguration of the entire educational network; the changes are also reflected in updating the content for training specialists working in the system of special (remedial, correctional) and inclusive education. In this regard, the society and the state impose certain requirements on such specialists; one of them is continuous improvement of professional competencies, including practical knowledge of fundamentally new, individualised and individually differentiated technologies and practices of psychological and pedagogical support of children having severe and multiple developmental disorders. Purpose of the study: to identify the level of professional preparedness of specialists working in the system of remedial and inclusive education towards individualisation of psychological and pedagogical support for children with significant developmental disabilities. Research methodology and techniques. The research involved 64 specialists (special education teachers and special education psychologists from educational organisations of Chelyabinsk and Chelyabinsk region of the Russian Federation). The developed methodology included seven blocks in accordance with the professional activity goals and was aimed at identifying the level of formation of theoretical knowledge and the respondents’ readiness to practical activity along seven components: communicative, cognitive, planning, technological, methodological, perceptual, personal. PRI is the index of professional readiness to implement individual psychological and pedagogical support of preschool children with severe developmental disorders. Results. As a result of the experimental work, the respondents showed a medium level of readiness for individualisation of psychological and pedagogical support of children having serious developmental disorders (PRI=52.0%). The obtained data revealed a regularity manifested in the respondents’ orientation towards theoretical aspects of different professional activity tasks versus readiness for their practical realisation (the mean PRIt exceeds PRIp by 18.6%). Conclusions. The research results evidence the need for optimisation of the content and organisational forms of professional development for teachers realising the basic education programmes adapted for children with disabilities, due to the specialists’ insufficient preparedness to properly solve a number of professional activity tasks connected with individualisation of psychological and pedagogical support of children having severe and multiple developmental disabilities.