Kichuk Y. Theoretical and methodological basics of forming legal competence of the future social pedagogue under the conditions of university-based pedagogical education.

The object of research deals with a professional training of the social pedagogue in a university-based pedagogical institute. The research aims at scientific and theoretical substantiation of the concept of forming future social pedagogues' legal competence on the basis of the personal-centred approach and development and experimental checking of its [legal competence] implementation within a university-based pedagogical education. Ways of the research: methods of analysis, synthetic procedure, "rule of thumb" methods, praximetric methods, experimental methods, and mathematical methods of statistics. Theoretical results and novelty: theoretical and methodological concepts of the person's legal competence have been scientifically grounded. The author has also defined the concepts of the "legal competence of the specialist in the social and pedagogical area", the "legal rights implementation" and "legal rights protection" activity, criteria, characteristics, signs for manifestation, and threshold characteristics of future social pedagogues' legal competence. The thesis has examined the condition of the university training of social pedagogues for the legal rights implementation and legal rights protection activity. The author has theoretically grounded the model of the process of forming of future social pedagogues' legal competence at the major stage of their professional training and developed and experimentally approbated a technology the conceptual kernel of which comprises of pedagogical conditions of training of legally competent specialists in the social and pedagogical area in the teaching and educational process in a pedagogical institute. Practical results and novelty: the author has developed and approbated procedures to diagnose the thresholds of forming of future social pedagogues' legal competence and techniques of forming students' legal competence. Subject and level of application: the author has developed a manual "The methodical basics of forming the future social pedagogue's legal competence", methodical recommendations "Forming of the future social pedagogue's legal competence during practical training", a training module 'Forming the student's competence of self-development in the process of mastering humanitarian and socio-economic disciplines", a normative course "The Higher School Pedagogics", and programmes to the curriculum "Legal assistance to children". He also developed the activity of a social and law studio Femida and elective courses on legal problems. The efficiency of application: high. Field of application: pedagogic and higher education institutions.