In the dissertation work, for the first time, a systematic theoretical and methodological analysis of the problem of formation of professional competence ofthe head of a special institution of generally secondary education is carried out and a new solution to the scientific and applied problem of his professional training is presented.
The relevance of the study of the problem in question is determined by the implementation of the Concept of the New Ukrainian School in the national educational system, especially in the education of children with special educational needs, which requires professional management and provision of scientific and methodological support for all participants in the educational process, updating approaches to management in special educational departments, determining the scope of professional activities of the head of a special educational department. Therefore, the readiness of the manager to carry out managerial activities in the special field of education is of particular importance in the context of guaranteeing the educational process through the socialization of students with special educational needs. The professional competence of the head is considered as a necessary condition for ensuring high-quality training and psychological and pedagogical support of students with special educational needs, organizing a safe educational environment, ensuring partnership in the system «leader-teachers-students», continuous professional development of teachers of the initial stage.
In view of the assignment, there is a need to provide a basis for organizational and methodological support for the formation of professional competence of the head of a special department of general secondary education, which is based on modern approaches to competence-based and individual-oriented training and implements educational innovations of the concept of the New Ukrainian School.
In the process of work, a detailed analysis of scientific and pedagogical literature, modern approaches to management and professional activity in the conditions of special institutions of general secondary education, the importance of managerial qualities of the head of an educational institution was carried out. Thorough theoretical approaches to the formation of professional competence and its components in the heads of specialist institutions of general secondary education are presented. Various points of view on the formation of professional competence according to the scientific research of scientists are characterized, as well as the need for further research of professional competence as a multifunctional, polymorphic and interdisciplinary problem. The concept of ‘professional competence’
and ‘formation of professional competence among heads of special institutions of general secondary education’ in the context of subject-subject interaction of participants in the educational process (head-subordinate, head-student, head-parents) is revealed in detail.
In the theoretical part of the research, the coverage of the researched issue in general and special scientific and pedagogical literature was analyzed, the essence of the concepts ‘competence’, ‘competency’, and ‘professional competence’ were clarified.
The key features of the content of these definitions are highlighted.
It is substantiated that managerial competences are a complex concept that encompasses the set of skills and knowledge necessary for effective management of an organization and includes analytical and critical thinking, processing information, defining goals and objectives, making managerial decisions, exercising control and motivating personnel; competence should be considered as a system of knowledge and a range of issues in which a person should be knowledgeable, who would be ready to receive and skillfully use resources capable of achieving quality results in his professional activity; competence is awareness and assimilation of acquired knowledge and skills, which are based on one’s own experience and lead to personal growth.
It has been established that managerial competency is one of the important and necessary for modern heads who work as specialists, cooperate with representatives of different age generations and are forced to professionally perform their managerial functions, respond to the challenges of the modern economy and clearly build a business development strategy, and the educational process has to be competence-oriented and to group on the basis of a competence approach. This process is considered as an educational environment-oriented activity, which is implemented in the direction of managerial literacy. In this context, it not only defines a set of skills aimed at achieving socio-economic goals, but also includes a wide range of managerial functions and managerial qualities, which may be insufficiently developed in the heads of special institutions of general secondary education.
