Extracurricular Activities as a Form of Development of Social Competence of Adolescents with Intellectual Disorders

Abstract

The formation and development of social competence of adolescents with intellectual disabilities is a priority of special educational institutions, because it is the key to successful socialization of these students. The main goal is to reveal the psychological and pedagogical conditions for the formation of social competence of adolescents with intellectual disabilities through their engagement into the extracurricular activities. The method involves considering the capabilities of each teenager in extracurricular activities at any age. Extracurricular activities that are based on each individual case of every student are used to form specific competencies that are especially important for him at the next level of learning and socialization. The experiment involved 114 adolescents aged 12-16 years studying in special educational institutions. Based on the components of social competence, the following methods were selected and diagnostics were performed: projective technique “Incomplete Sentences”, projective drawing “My Friends”, observation, exploratory technique “My Orientations”, exploratory technique “Nonverbal characteristics of communication”, observation, Saul Rosenzweig test, exploratory technique “An Island”, projective technique “Joint Drawing”, drama game “The Turnip”, exploratory technique “Assess the Behavior”, a discussion based on short stories “The Hero’s Character and His Actions”. The number of adolescents with intellectual disabilities who have cognitive-related competencies has increased significantly (t=5,01; p=0,001); ; competencies of motivational and value sphere (t=4,7; p=0,01). Increased was the number of adolescents who adequately assess themselves and their abilities and capabilities (33, 85%), use socially acceptable behavior and understand moral norms (39, 47%). The level of control over students’ own actions has significantly increased, as well as their ability to evaluate their own actions and self-reflect (t = 5.3; p = 0.05). The diagnostic results obtained after the introduction of the method testified to the effectiveness of its use for adolescents with intellectual disabilities in the conditions of special educational institutions.