| Abstract [eng] |
The increasing number of children with special educational needs in pre-school institutions leads to a growing need for comprehensive special education and special assistance providers. One of these is a teacher‘s assistant. The purpose of special assistance is to enhance the educational effectiveness of a pupil who has special educational needs. A teacher's assistant provides support to a pupil and/or group of pupils with moderate, severe or very high special educational needs who are unable to participate in the educational process independently because of an acquired or congenital disability. The aim of the research was to reveal the experiences of teacher assistants in pre-school education while supporting children with special educational needs. The thesis is based on the analysis of scientific sources, and a qualitative research strategy of semi-structured interviews was chosen. The aim was to answer the problematic issues concerning the skills, knowledge and education required for teachers' assistants to work in a pre-school institution, the appropriateness of the prepared job description, and the relevance of the real situation. The empirical research is based on the paradigms of social constructivism and empowerment theory, the combination of which implies that the thesis will not only strive to expose reality as a construct of social participants, but also to create the preconditions for the empowerment of professionals under certain circumstances. The object of the research is the personal experiences of teacher assistants. The participants of the interview study were 15 teacher assistants working in general education pre-school institutions and pre-school sector in a special education centre. The data obtained were processed by means of content analysis. The aim of this research is to gain insight into the subject matter rather than to generalise to the population. 1. On the basis of the analysis of scientific literature and legal documents, the functions, specifics and activities of the work of a teacher's assistant have been highlighted. One of the most important tasks for teacher assistants is to promote pupils' self-reliance, empower them to act and, as far as possible, get involved in community activities. 2. Special support is provided through joint activities, individual work, when selecting additional tasks, and providing emergency assistance. The organisation of the work is mostly determined by the group of teachers, which highlights the importance of teamwork. The most difficult and challenging aspects of everyday activities are stressful, emotionally difficult situations, the decision-making process to deal with them, and the lack of parental cooperation. 3. Based on the results of the research and the assessment of the theoretical relevance of the role of the teacher's assistant in practice, the following weaknesses were noted. Since it is the responsibility of the teacher‘s assistant to provide personalised special support in order to respond to the needs arising, this should be appropriate and sufficiently competent, and therefore special knowledge is necessary, both regarding special educational needs, impairments, disabilities and the benefits of cooperation and its usefulness for the overall results. |
