Optimization of cooperation between social work specialists and pedagoges of pre-school educational establishments

The above mentioned confirms that pre-school education implies close cooperation with parents, and often - upbringing of the parents themselves, providing them with the necessary assistance in order to restore the social and educational potential of the family. One of the major tasks of the institution of pre-school education is to correct the negative effects of the environment of the child if any, especially the family, which may restrain the process of its socialization. We emphasize that it is not only about carrying out educational activities with parents, it is important to provide comprehensive assistance of various specialists for in-depth study of the situation in the family, comprehensive support of parents and children. It underlines the need for cooperation and coordination of the institution of pre-school education with the efforts of specialists from various fields: psychologist, social teacher, social work specialists.

To study the real state of the problem, a survey of practitioners of pre-school and social service institutions was conducted to identify difficulties and disadvantages in their joint activities. The survey was conducted among 56 educators of PEI and 47 social work specialists in the cities of Pereyaslav-Khmelnytsky and Ternopil, Pereyaslav-Khmelnytsky and Ternopil districts (Kyiv and Ternopil oblasts respectively).

Among the problems (other than educational) the educators face in their work, teachers of pre-school establishments named:

1. the aggravation of behavioral problems of children due to problems in the family, where the first place, according to educators, is psychological stress in the family (79 %), lack of proper parental care (63 %) material disadvantages (51 %), actual difficulties in the development of pre-school children (37 %);

2. lack of contact with parents (unwillingness to cooperate, concealment of problems, transfer of responsibility for the child to the institution of education, low communicative culture, etc.) - 84 %;

3. 86 % of respondents named improper support of social services specialists in solving social problems of the families of pupils (the exchange of information is the only form of interaction between services and PEI);

4. the indifference of the public to the problems of organized upbringing of children, their stay in the PEI till the moment of the maximum aggravation of the situation, occurrence of unpleasant precedents (46 %).

At the same time, as the poll showed, a significant part of the teachers of preschool establishments did not know the functional duties of social pedagogues, identifying them with the tasks of the psychological service (38 %), as well as the directions of activity, the specialization of social services, their location in their city/ district (49 %). In addition, we were unpleasantly surprised by the lack of awareness among many educators (76 %) of the social categories of children raised in their institutions. Therefore, the position of 82 % of teachers seemed logical, according to which the social work in the PEI should be organized and implemented personally by the head.

The questionnaire for social work specialists (employees of the services for children and family, centers for social services for the family, children and youth, social protection departments of the population, social educators working with/ collaborating with the PEI, etc.) showed that: 1) the most complex social category in the work of social workers is the children of pre-school age, since they are not able to provide self-assistance, ask for help, truthfully, objectively tell about their problems (89 % of respondents); 2) the reason for many problems of preschoolers (emotional, cognitive, behavioral, communicative, etc.) is the problems in their families that are extrapolated to the child, inhibiting their upbringing, training, socialization in general (86 % of respondents); 3) the reason for belated occupational intervention by social workers in difficult living conditions of many families is often an untimely statement, inattention, inability of educators to detect in PEI disturbing symptoms of deviations, neglect, problems in the family, etc. (88 %); 4) 86 % of those polled believe that mandatory introduction of social pedagogues to the PEI staff and the systematic cooperation of teachers with social workers are especially urgent; 5) 67 % admit complications of social work in PEI, the reluctance of teachers and parents to talk sincerely about urgent problems to the relevant authorities and services; 6) 81 % of respondents think that the quality of work and motivation of social workers is significantly affected by the low prestige of the profession, the shifting of responsibility from parents or teachers to social workers.

Thus, the survey conducted allows to identify a number of difficult problems in the activities of pre-school institutions, which require active participation of social workers, namely: difficulties in communication between parents and children; non-readiness of parents and teachers for the upbringing of children with special (especially educational) needs; the growth of the number of single-parent families, the inability of parents (mainly mothers) to provide children with proper gender education (especially boys); an increase in the number of juveniles with deviations in behavior, children from families in difficult living conditions, where they are not well taken care of, suffer from conflicts between parents, material and domestic problems, are subjected to violence (physical, psychological, economic, etc.) that require a special approach, live in families affected by war, temporarily relocated from occupied territories, with specific needs and problems, etc.

The above is proved by the lack of cooperation between PEI teachers and specialists in social work, which needs to be optimized by introducing a number of conditions, among which: 1) mandatory introduction of the position of social teacher on the PEI staff as a link between pupils, their parents and teachers, specialists from social work, society; 2) formation of a positive motivation for cooperation and effective professional communication in the pedagogical and social professionals; 3) preparation of future specialists (educators and social workers) for social partnership; 4) diversification of the forms and methods of such cooperation.

According to the Order of the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine dated November 4, 2010, No. 1055 «On Approval of Typical Staff Standards for Preschool Educational Institutions», the position of a social teacher was introduced into the PEI staff from 01.09.2011. However, practice convinces that, for the sake of economy of money, heads of educational institutions are inclined to maintain only psychological service, the work of a psychologist, illegitimately trying to partially implement, but in fact, replace the functions of a social teacher. The position on the psychological service in the system of education of Ukraine (2018) clearly specifies the specific functional responsibilities of a social teacher, which is called in PEI: to identify interests, needs, abilities of gifted juveniles, difficulties and problems, deviations in the behavior of children; to form responsible behavior in preschoolers, to promote healthy way of life; to carry out social and pedagogical support of educational process, social and pedagogical patronage of socially unprotected categories of pupils; to coordinate the activity and interaction of all subjects of social education, democratic interactions in the pre-school and family environment; to protect the rights of children from all kinds and forms of violence; prevent conflicts during the educational process; the interaction of institutions of education, family and society in the upbringing of children, their adaptation to the conditions of the social environment, to provide advisory assistance to parents (legal representatives), etc. («Polozhennia», 2018).

In other words, the socio-pedagogical work in the PEI should include three components: educational (upbringing, education, development); psychological (support, correction, rehabilitation) and intermediary (coordination, informing and organization). Thus, a social teacher at a pre-school institution performs a number of professional roles: «An intermediary that promotes mutual understanding between separate children, adults and their environment; lawyer, defender of interests and legal rights of the child; assistant in solving problems, which helps to expand the competence and ability of their own to solve certain problems; a social therapist and mentor for children, families, surrounding people who care about family health, its moral universal values, timely resolution of emerging issues; a counsellor, who helps to predict, avoid, and, if necessary, resolve conflicts that arise in children; expert in the formulation of social diagnosis and determination of methods of competent intervention; the organizer of individual and group social education of the individual» (Alieko, 2011, p. 20).

The necessary component of cooperation within the PEI is the educational work of a social teacher with parents including conversations at meetings, individual consultations, social and pedagogical rehabilitation of parents and their children who need social protection, etc.

It should be mentioned separately that the active involvement of social work specialists in addressing the acute problems of social upbringing and protection of children, which will accelerate the provision of timely targeted professional assistance to pupils and their families, will promote familiarization of teachers and parents with the infrastructure of social work in the region, the network of social institutions, institutions and organizations, providing the participants with the educational process of specialized consultations, etc. Particularly relevant in this connection is the counseling of parents concerning communication with their children; diagnostic help to the family; implementation of psychological and pedagogical correctional work; assistance to parents in solving problem-communicative situations with children (teaching elements of self-analysis and the basics of communication in different situations); organization of conversations, communicative trainings; organization of cultural and leisure activities; the formation of a positive attitude of parents and the public towards the professional role of a social pedagogue/employee in solving social problems.

In our opinion, the key to the systematic and productive interaction of pedagogical and social professionals is to develop a positive motivation for them to cooperate. Awareness by all subjects of social partnership of its purpose, tasks, advantages, forms and methods of realization will ensure maximum efficiency of each link and the synergy of their efforts. The factor of motivation is an effective motive for the professional advancement of specialists, significant qualitative changes in the individuals and their activities, faster formation of skills, etc. Even at the stage of professional training in higher education institutions it is important to develop the students' readiness for teamwork, openness to the thoughts of others, effective professional communication, productive listening intensified by positive motivation. It is possible to work it out only in a contextual learning, which «ensures transformation of the students' educational activities into professional activities of a specialist, which is explained by this fundamental principles: understanding the influence of the subject and social contexts of future professional activity on the process and the result of the student's educational activity; theoretical generalization of various experiences, which is formed by active teaching methods; activity approach in organizing the process of learning and personal development» (Maikovska, 2017, p. 158), it is with the help of contextual education an integrated, interdisciplinary approach is implemented.

The proper preparation of the subjects of cooperation, that is, the formation of the necessary knowledge and skills in the process of studying in institutions of higher education should be facilitated by the optimization of the content of educational and social work in the healthcare system, and the improvement of the quality of professional activity of educators and social workers. For example, while preparing for future professional activities, students have to master the essence of partner interaction, which requires knowledge of its structure: the target component (the search for common goals and the final mutually beneficial result, the similarity of the motivation of the participants in the cooperation, their professional enrichment, positive changes in the object of influence); meaningful - joint planning and summing up, high level of awareness among subjects of each other, efficiency and intensity of information exchanges, wide range of interaction, joint organization of joint activities and mutual relations; qualitative - positive relations between actors of interaction, trust in each other, engagement of as many participants as possible; procedural - management of interaction, functioning in a single space and time, systematic contacts of subjects of interaction, flexibility, division of the process of activity into separate actions, distribution of responsibility for their implementation among all actors of interaction.

The researchers describe in different ways the results of professional training (competence, readiness, social intelligence, etc.), the main components of which are: 1) the ability to perceive a person carefully and adequately... to be prepared for rapid orientation in the situation of social interaction; 2) the ability to understand deeply the internal properties and characteristics of man (we mean penetration into the spiritual world, intuition); 3) ability to empathy (compassion, kindness, respect, willingness to help); 4) the ability to analyze the behavior of another person (reflection); 5) the ability to control oneself and the process of subject-subjective communication (self-control) (Mykhalchuk & Ivashkevych, 2018).

The study conducted by Weiss-Gal and P. Welboume made it possible to determine the professional features of social work in the ten countries (USA, UK, Chile, etc.). Social work in these countries is discussed from the point of view of the eight features selected as signs of a profession based on «attributes» and «power» approaches to professionalization: public recognition, monopoly on types of labor, professional autonomy, knowledge base of vocational education, professional organizations, the existence of codified ethical standards and, finally, the prestige and payment of social work (Weiss-Gal & Welbourne, 2008).

That is, realize in practice the technology of partnership interaction only on the condition of awareness of the possibilities of cooperation of all participants in the educational process, for the benefit of everyone and everyone, in particular, to coordinate, converge the content on the spot, functions and principles of profile activities of social actors in various spheres of public life; be prepared to accumulate, strengthen resources of other subjects of education and social sphere for establishing interagency cooperation, partnership in the activity of pre-school establishments, provide a legal basis and outline prospects for cooperation in changing social conditions; to promote the technology of partnership in various spheres of life of our society. At the same time, future teachers and specialists in social work need to develop a range of professional competences, among which: «the ability to communicate with representatives of other professional groups at different levels, to establish interaction between state, public and commercial organizations on the basis of social partnership; ability to professional reflection; evaluation of the process and the result of the work performed, development and implementation of a program for ensuring the quality of social services; the ability to organize joint activities, to initiate team formation, to promote cohesion and group motivation, to facilitate the processes of making group decisions; the ability to facilitate the acquisition and improvement of specialists and specialists of special knowledge and skills in the field of social work, the establishment of partnership interaction;... to form a positive image of the profession in the process of social partnership...» (Perhailo, 2018, pp. 6-7) and others. Such an approach in the training of a modern specialist O. Snopkova rightly calls the transition from mono- to poly-scientific substantiation (Snopkova, 2015, p. 112).