CASE TECHNOLOGY AS A MEANS OF IMPROVING THE QUALITY OF TRAINING OF THE MODERN SPEECH THERAPIST TEACHER

Abstract

The article theoretically substantiates, systematizes, and practically reveals the role of case-technology as one of the most effective tools for the professional training of future speech therapists within the modern realities of higher education in Ukraine. The relevance of the conducted research is driven by the objective and urgent need to bridge the significant gap between the fundamental theoretical basis and real professional practice, which has become particularly acute and specifically characterized in the context of prolonged distance learning and the forced functioning of many higher education institutions directly in frontline territories. The author carries out a detailed retrospective analysis of the genesis of the systemic-contextual approach and thoroughly highlights the concept of sign-contextual learning, which together serve as a solid theoretical and methodological foundation for the implementation of quasi-professional training for students majoring in "Special Education. Speech Therapy." The paper comprehensively examines the essence of the case method as an integrated means of forming not only narrow professional competencies, including diagnostic, projective, corrective-developmental, and research skills, but also a wide range of soft skills, among which the ability for productive teamwork within interdisciplinary interaction, professional flexibility, creativity in selecting tools, and the deontological responsibility of the future specialist are of decisive importance.

Particular attention within the article is paid to the critical analysis and systematization of existing scientific approaches to the classification of cases by various features: the level of complexity, functional purpose, level of information content, and specificity of methodological support. The scientific novelty of the presented work lies in the development and presentation of the author's classification of cases, which is directly adapted to the unique specifics of speech therapy training. Within this classification, the author distinguishes and details specific groups by functional orientation (educational and research cases), by specific didactic tasks (diagnostic, corrective-developmental, preventive-consultative, and methodical), by leading methods of intensifying cognitive activity of students (case-analysis, case-debates or discussion cases, game cases), and by the form of providing the source information (case-texts and multimedia case-videos).

In the concluding remarks, it is argumentatively emphasized that the systematic and purposeful application of case-technologies in the educational process significantly stimulates the independent cognitive activity of students, actively promotes the development of critical pedagogical thinking, and forms a stable reflexive position of the future specialist. This allows students to most effectively transform the received academic knowledge into real practical experience of making balanced, scientifically grounded professional decisions in complex clinical and pedagogical situations, which is the main guarantee of their high competitiveness and professional demand in the conditions of dynamic changes and challenges of the modern system of special and inclusive education in Ukraine.