EduPort

EduPort 2024, 8(2) | DOI: 10.21062/edp.2024.004

DEVELOPMENT OF CHILDREN'S SOCIAL COMPETENCES IN NON-FORMAL EDUCATION

Jiří Škoda, Pavel Doulík, Jana Stuchlá

Jan Evangelista Purkyně University in Ústí nad Labem (CZECH REPUBLIC)

The article deals with the issue of the development of social abilities and skills of children aged 13 - 14 in the framework of non-formal education implemented in a low-threshold facility for children and youth. The aim of the research study presented in the article is to verify the effectiveness of an intervention aimed at the development of these competences in children within the framework of non-formal education. The intervention was implemented over a period of three months with a group of N = 32 children from socially excluded localities, aged 13-14 years, attending a low-threshold facility for children and youth. The limited sample size is due to the fact that the respondents who participated in the study had to be the same before and after the intervention. As participation in the intervention is completely voluntary, there was no assurance that all respondents who underwent the initial diagnostic would participate in the final diagnostic. The research problem was formulated as a causal one: How does an intervention aimed at developing children's social competence affect their actual social skills? Translated with DeepL.com (free version)The research study involved an initial and an exit diagnosis of social competences using the SSI (Social Skills Inventory) research tool. The following competences were monitored: emotional expression, emotional receptivity, emotional control, social expression, social receptivity, social control. The results show a positive contribution of the implemented intervention to the development of social competences of children from socially excluded localities. Before the intervention, children's social skills were at a below average level in all the dimensions studied. After the intervention, the values of all observed dimensions reached statistically and substantively significant improvement. The validity of the results obtained is reduced by the limits of the research. One of the limitations is that the same research instrument was used in the pretest and posttest ( although 4 months apart), so respondents may have chosen answers more in line with the researcher's expectations in the posttest, and some social desirability may have emerged. Intervening variables that may influence the validity of the results obtained include the social environment of the respondents (predominantly excluded localities) in which they grow up, their socioeconomic status, and the limited development of social competences in their families, which are often incomplete. Another limitation of the study is the fact that the research instrument used was not standardised for the Czech environment. In future research it would be advisable to focus, for example, on gender differences in social skills, to observe their longitudinal changes without interventions only due to the influence of naturally occurring socialization or to determine the degree of closeness of the relationship of variables related to social skills to other personality traits. The results of the research show that it would be appropriate to develop relevant social competences of children and youth directly in real life situations under the supervision of Low-threshold Treatment Programs staff or e.g. social educators. The intervention within the Low-threshold Treatment Programs is to some extent only model-based and based on social games and model situations. However, it is desirable that the development of these competences takes place directly in real life situations, such as travelling on public transport, shopping, dining out, dealing with the current agenda, basic ethical behaviour and adequate communication. Of course, these activities can also be developed with regard to possible risk behaviour of children and young people, both in real situations and in cyberspace. These competences can also be developed in the context of school and extracurricular activities (e.g. in school clubs, after-school clubs, summer camps, etc.).

Keywords: Low-threshold Treatment Programs, Social Skills, Leisure Time Activities, Informal Education,  Social Exclusion

Published: September 1, 2024  Show citation