Applicability of procedures for the development and Improvement of social skills in primary school – the Perspective of special educators

Abstract

Uvod: Pri definisanju programa učenja socijalnih veština učenika sa ometenošću važno je, između ostalog, uzimanje u obzir mišljenja profesionalaca o pojednim metodama i procedurama koje će potencijalno biti korišćene tokom tretmana, kao i mogućnostima njihove primene u praksi. Cilj: Cilj ovog rada je da se utvrdi perspektiva defektologa u pogledu primenljivosti pojedinih procedura za razvoj i unapređivanje socijalnih veština u školskom okruženju. Metod: Uzorak čini 57 defektologa koji rade u odeljenjima osnovnih škola za učenike sa smetnjama u razvoju u Srbiji i Makedoniji. Za potrebe ovog istraživanja konstruisan je poseban upitnik za procenu primenljivosti 25 procedura zasnovanih na dokazima za razvoj i unapređivanje socijalnih veština dece i mladih. Rezultati: Više od polovine defektologa smatra da su procedure, poput podsticanja (70,1%), socijalnih priča (68,4%), treninga socijalnih veština (66,7%), vizuelne podrške (63,2%) i potkrepljivanja (63,2%), video-modelovanja (57,9%) i modelovanja (56,1%) primenljive u velikoj meri ili u potpunosti. S druge strane, približno polovina njih (45,6%) veruje da se samousmeravanje ne može primeniti ili se može primeniti samo u određenim situacijama. Manje od trećine ispitanika smatra da su intervencije koje sprovode vršnjaci (31,6%), analiza zadatka (29,9%), funkcionalni komunikacioni trening (29,8%), samousmeravanje (28Zaključak: Dobijeni rezultati ukazuju na potrebu dodatne edukacije defektologa u pogledu primene pojedinih procedura, kao i identifikovanja drugih faktora koji ometaju njihovu primenljivost.%) i skripting (26,3%) primenljive u velikoj meri ili u potpunosti. *Introduction: When defining the social skills learning program for students with disabilities, it is important, among other things, to take into account the opinions of professionals about certain methods and procedures that will potentially be used during treatment, as well as the possibilities of their application in practice. Objective: The aim of this work is to determine the perspective of special education teachers regarding the applicability of certain procedures for the development and improvement of social skills in the school environment. Methods: The sample consists of 57 special education teachers working in elementary school classes for students with developmental disabilities in Serbia and Macedonia. For the purposes of this research, a special questionnaire was constructed to assess the applicability of 25 evidence-based procedures for the development and improvement of social skills of children and youth. Results: More than half of special education teachers believe that practices such as incentives (70.1%), social stories (68.4%), social skills training (66.7%), visual support (63.2%) and reinforcement (63.2%), video modeling (57.9%) and modeling (56.1%) applicable to a large extent or completely. On the other hand, approximately half of them (45.6%) believe that self-management cannot be applied or can only be applied in certain situations. Less than a third of the respondents believe that peer-mediated interventions (31.6%), task analysis (29.9%), functional communication training (29.8%), self-management (28%) and scripting (26.3%) applicable to a large extent or completely. Conclusion: The obtained results indicate the need for additional education of special education teachers regarding the application of certain procedures, as well as the identification of other factors that hinder their applicability