The dissertation investigates the problem related to the formation of social and communicative competence of primary school pupils with intellectual disabilities.
Theoretically substantiates the main approaches to the problem of social and communicative competence through the prism of social and personal categories, in particular: motivational, cognitive, operational and activity, emotional and value, ethical, social and reflective, speech, etc.
On the basis of theoretical generalisation, it is proven that in primary school age, the formation of social and communicative competence affects the successful socialisation of a child, one’s awareness of social roles, acquisition of social status and position in society. During primary education, a new social space is formed, which contributes to the development of social competence and speech culture, rules of communication, cooperation with classmates, new responsibilities related to learning, and reflexive skills are activated in the form of a new formation.
It was theoretically substantiated that impaired social and communicative competence of primary school pupils with intellectual disabilities is manifested in the lack of self-esteem and individual psychophysical characteristics and capabilities, emotional sensitivity, low empathy, inability to empathise with classmates and relatives, lack of behavioural skills such as the ability to cooperate, initiative and adequacy of communication, sociability, etc.
In order to assess the formation of social and communicative competence of primary school pupils with intellectual disabilities, a structural and functional model of social and communicative competence was developed, which includes four components: social and perceptual, communicative, interactive and motor-motor. In this model, the social and perceptual component is responsible for the subjective picture of the world, the child's general social activity through social perception; communicative component involves understanding the specifics of a communicative situation, the ability to conduct a dialogue with adults and peers; interactive – provides interaction and reflection as the basis for understanding oneself in the context of interaction with others; motor-motor – expands the possibilities of physical development and psycho-physiological functions in the sense-motor and social spheres.
The criteria for the formation of social and communicative competence are:
emotional and perceptual (differentiation of social perception, perception of the activity and personality of another child, emotional component of social perception and self-attitude), communicative (impressive speech – listening, understanding, expressive – speaking) and social and cognitive (reflection, socially approving responses, socially negative responses).
A model of the formation of social and communicative competence of students with ID was developed, where the perceptual component involves understanding the emotions of other people regarding non-verbal means of communication, namely facial expressions, and the communicative component is considered in the structure of personal, emotional, cognitive, motivational, and behavioural subcompetencies; interactive – as an aspect of communication, which is manifested in the organisation of mutual actions by people aimed at implementing joint activities, achieving a common goal (creating relationships, working through conflict and cooperation); motor-motor component – as an action and its pattern (intellectual and sensory skills).
A methodology for the formation of social and communicative competence of pupils with ID by means of physical education was developed. The criteria for the formation of social and communicative competence of pupils with ID were determined, which include: ability to understand the emotional state of another classmate or adult; ability to receive and share information, listen to others; ability to conduct a simple dialogue, prove one’s own opinion; participation in collective activities; ability to resolve a conflict situation, etc.
An original physical education programme for primary school pupils with intellectual disabilities was developed, which contains basic and variable components. The basic component includes: requirements for knowledge, motor skills and abilities; tasks for the development of physical qualities; standards of physical fitness, in accordance with the requirements of a comprehensive programme of physical education for pupils of a special comprehensive school. Variable – means for the development of physical qualities (aerobic exercises: athletics, outdoor and sports games with simplified rules, etc.).
