| Abstract [eng] |
The accomplished theoretical analysis of the characteristics and competencies of care and occupational specialists’ professional activities showed that they are qualified for a specific professional activity in their selected field: special education teachers are to meet the special educational needs, social educators are to meet the social needs of wards and to take care of their social and legal protection, nursing specialists are to assess and meet the vital needs of people with disabilities. The hypothesis has been brought forward that the professional activities of specialists meeting the special needs of people with disabilities include many more functions than those governed by the Staff Regulations consequently professional competence development needs should arise in the given specialists. Based on the questionnaire, semi-standardized interview and content analysis techniques, a survey was conducted with the aim to analyze the performance characteristics of professionals in meeting the educational, nursing and care needs of people with disabilities, to disclose their professional competencies and training needs. A statistical analysis was used to process the survey data. In total, 89 specialists took part in the quantitative research, 22 specialists in the qualitative research with the application of the interview method, comprising special pedagogues, educators, social pedagogues, nurses working in Pabradė, Vilijampolė, Venta social care home, Šiauliai special education centre, Šiauliai children’s care home “Šaltinis”. The most significant conclusions of the empirical research: - The functions of special education teachers, preceptors and social educators in care and occupational institutions include not only the specific profession for which they have been qualified in higher schools and which is defined by their Staff Regulations but also some functions alien to their office. Almost all specialists duplicate each other’s functions in their professional activities while serving the educational, nursing, care and occupational needs of people with disabilities. - The functions of specialists in care and occupational institutions demand practice for which they have not been groomed during their studies; they recognize they render more services than they are entitled in accordance with the Staff Regulations therefore most of them wish to develop their professional competencies in all the three areas of care, education and nursing, and to acquire additional skills. Transferable competencies such as communication, with people having disabilities in particular, collaboration and continuous learning, are also important to them. - The hypothesis confirmed that the professional activities of specialists meeting the special needs of people with disabilities include many more functions than those governed by the Staff Regulations consequently professional competence development needs arise in the given specialists. |
