Nykonenko N., Fedisko A. - The Program for the Formation of Basic Social Competenciesin Elementary Students with Cognitive Developmental Delaysin the Inclusive Environment

Contact: Nataliia Nykonenko, PhD in Pedagogical Sciences, Associate Professor of Pedagogy and Special Education Department in Oles Honchar Dnipro National University, Dnipro, Ukraine. Academic interests: peculiarities of special education organization and special education teachers’ preparation in Ukraine and abroad, special education terminology systems in Ukrainian and English, developing a professional portfolio for special education teachers, completing of educational course on sexual education for individuals with intellectual disabilities.

Anastasiia Fedisko, Master in Special Education. Academic interests: the process of integration and adaptation of students with special educational needs to learning conditions in the inclusive educational environment, formation of social skills in children with mental developmental delay. 

The analysis of theoretical and practical studies of modern Ukrainian scientific researches on the issues of education, training and development of children with special educational needs became the foundation of the developed author course “I Discover the World”.
The main provisions of the correctional and developmental course “I Discover the World” are outlined in the article. Its structure and content are discussed, the principles and methods of instruction on the basic social competencies formation in elementary students with cognitive developmental delays are highlighted. It is stated that the basic social competencies are the ones which mean obtaining the main social norms and rules of communication in usual surrounding. The list of the social competencies is completed according to the
educational programs on social skills formation for elementary students with cognitive developmental delays and intellectual disabilities. The expediency of the selected forms of work involved in the educational process and the topics performed in the correctional and developmental program for preliminary students with cognitive developmental delays are substantiated.
The scientific novelty of the work lies in the practical study of the impact of the author’s correctional and developmental course “I Discover the World” on the process of social competence formation in elementary students with cognitive developmental delays in the inclusive settings. The results of the experimental study, the three stages of which are described in the paper, has proved the feasibility and effectiveness of implementing of the correctional and developmental course on the basic social competencies formation in elementary students with cognitive developmental delays in the inclusive educational environment.

Key words: basic social competencies, social competence, correctional and developmental course, children with cognitive developmental delays,  inclusive educational environment, integration, elementary school age, inclusive education, students with special educational needs.