MORAIS, M. M., RAPSOVÁ, L. 2017. Social Competence Training for Adults and Seniors with Disabilities. Praha: Česká andragogická společnost, z. s. 120 pp. ISBN 978-80-905460-9-7.
In 2017, the Česká andragogická společnost published a scientific monograph entitled Social Competence Training for Adults and Seniors with Disabilities, authored by doc. PaedDr. Marianna Müller de Morais, PhD. and Mgr. Lucia Rapsová. Both authors work at the Univerzita Konštantína Filozofa v Nitre at the Department of Pedagogy and focus on developing social competencies in various target groups. The scientific monograph was an output of the VEGA research project of the Ministry of Education, Science, Research and Sport of the Slovak Republic and the Slovak Academy of Sciences No. 1/0176/15 titled Paradigms in the Education of Health-Disadvantaged Adults and Seniors in Residential Care.
The reviewed publication discusses the issue of social competence training, taking into account the specifics of the target group of adults and seniors with disabilities, and draws not only from the fields of andragogy, educology, and psychology but also from the authors' experience in leading training programs aimed at developing social competence. In the publication, the authors elaborated on the basic theoretical approaches to social competence training with respect to the target group of adults and seniors with disabilities and offered further possibilities for its development with an emphasis on the cognitive-behavioral approach. In the reviewed publication, the authors emphasize a different approach for this target group in the educational process compared to other target groups and highlight the need to adapt the goal, content, methods, and principles according to the type and degree of disability.
The monograph consists of 120 pages and is divided into four main, logically interconnected chapters comprising further subchapters. The first two chapters discuss the theoretical foundations concerning the target group of adults and seniors with disabilities and the definition of social competence. The next two chapters deal with social competence training, describe the cognitive-behavioral approach to social competence training, and the practical organization of such training.
The first chapter, already by its title Adult and Senior with Disabilities, predicts the theoretical breadth of the issue. It analytically-synthetically processes the various types of disabilities with an emphasis on their etiology, symptomatology, specific manifestations, and psychological particularities of individuals with a given type of disability, while functionally connecting knowledge from multiple sciences. It also offers characteristics of the given type of disability, its definition from the perspective of several authors, and its classification. Particularly valuable is the final processing of the given types of disabilities in the form of tables, which offer a clearer overview of the specifics of a particular type of disability on the one hand, and the specifics of education for the given target group on the other.
In the second chapter, dedicated to social competence and the possibilities of its assessment, the authors define the understanding of social competence, specifying its character in relation to adults and seniors with disabilities. The chapter also draws attention with its own proposed model of social competence. Within this chapter, the authors, in relation to social competence, highlight training focused on its development, supporting the personal growth of adults and seniors with disabilities, the quality of their social relationships, and last but not least, their quality of life.
The cognitive-behavioral approach to social competence training is covered in Chapter 3. The introduction of this chapter offers a description of individual learning theories closely related to the cognitive-behavioral approach. The following section elaborates on the methods used in social competence training, related to creating new behavior, changing and strengthening existing behavior, and eliminating undesirable behavior.
The aim of the last, fourth chapter, concerning the organization of social competence training, was to provide baseline information necessary for the creation, implementation, and conduct of social competence training. The chapter contains knowledge related to the formal aspects of training organization, goals, content of the training in terms of the stages of training work, and the initiation of social competence training, and discusses issues associated with the selection of forms in which social competence training can take place. The authors further specify the form of an individualized training program and the group form of training, and in both cases provide specific examples for creating such a type of training program. This chapter also includes the personality of the trainer in social competence training, requirements for this role, and the individual subchapters are divided according to tasks in particular phases of training work. The issue concludes with an evaluation of social competence training with a practical example of an evaluation form for progress achieved during the training.
The authors of the monograph chose an engaging, easy-to-read format for presenting information and offered relatively comprehensive knowledge enriched with practical examples. The scientific credibility of the publication is further enhanced by its reviewers – prof. PhDr. Beáta Balogová, PhD., PhDr. Petra Jedličková, PhD., and doc. PhDr. Miloš Šlepecký, CSc., who are renowned experts in the field. The monograph utilizes information from various relevant domestic and foreign sources listed at the end of the work, is logically structured, and the conclusions and observations contained therein can be used by professional as well as lay audiences, especially andragogues, educators, students of andragogy, special education, and all those concerned with the education of people with disabilities.