Competences Of Pre-Service Teachers For Working With Children With Disabilities

U prvom dijelu ovog diplomskog rada, govori se o potrebnim kompetencijama koje učitelj mora posjedovati i konstantno usavršavati. Osim o kompetencijama, u tom teorijskom dijelu rada definiraju se najčešće teškoće u razvoju djece i neki načini rada u nastavi s tom djecom. U drugom dijelu rada prikazani su rezultati anketnog istraživanja koji su dobiveni samoprocjenom budućih učitelja, odnosno studenata Učiteljskog fakulteta. Cilj ovog istraživanja bio je ispitati koliko se oni osjećaju kompetentnim za rad s djecom s teškoćama u razvoju. Istraživanje je provedeno tijekom 2019./2020. akademske godine među studentima četvrte i pete godine Učiteljskog fakulteta u Čakovcu. U istraživanju je sudjelovalo 86 studenata/ica učiteljskog studija. Rezultati su pokazali da studenti nisu sigurni u svoje kompetencije za rad s djecom s teškoćama u razvoju u smislu poznavanja vrsta teškoća, prilagodbe metodičko-didaktičkih materijala i vrednovanja. Svjesni su da se u postojećem obrazovnom sustavu u nedovoljnoj mjeri govori o navedenoj tematici, što je rezultat sumnje u vlastite kompetencije. No, bez obzira na to, studenti su motivirani za rad s tom djecom i spremni su za stvaranje pozitivnog razrednog ozračja i emotivnog kontakta s njima. Također, samoprocjenjuju se otvorenim za suradnju sa stručnim suradnicima u školi i izvan škole kako bi omogućili bolje napredovanje učenicima s teškoćama u razvoju. Zaključak je da bi njihove kompetencije bile veće kada bi se na samom fakultetu više bavili navedenom tematikom i kada bi imali više iskustva u neposrednom radu s učenicima s teškoćama u razvoju. No, studenti su svjesni da su poželjna i potrebna dodatna usavršavanja nakon završetka fakulteta zbog čega se većina izjasnila da su spremni sudjelovati u njima i na taj način profesionalno napredovati.Part one one of this master thesis talks about acquired abilities a teacher must have and constantly improve. Besides those abilities, in this theoretical part of the paper, the most common difficulties in children's development are defined, also some ways of teaching those children. Part two shows the results of survey research obtained from pre-service teachers, students of Faculty of Teacher Education. The aim of this research was to test do they feel able enough to work with children with disabilities. The research was conducted during year 2019/2020 among students of forth and final (5th) year of Faculty of Teacher Education in Čakovec. 86 students of teachers education participated in this research. Results show that pre-service teachers are not confident in their competencies for working with children with disabilities in terms of knowledge of the types of difficulties, adaptation of methodological and didactic materials and evaluation. They are aware that in the existing education system there is insufficient talk about this topic, which results in doubts about their own competencies. In spite of those results, students are motivated to work with these children and they are willing to create a positive classroom atmosphere and emotional contact with them. They also assess themselves as open to collaborating with professional associates in and out of school to enable better progress for students with disabilities. To conclude, their competencies would be greater if they were more involved in this topic at the Faculty and if they had more experience in direct work with students with disabilities. However, students are aware that professional development is desirable and necessary after graduation, which is why most of them said that they are ready to participate in it and thus progress professionally