Needs for Professional Training and Intervision Among Educators Working with Families of Children with Special Needs

Darja Plavčak

Summary:  The aim of the study was to examine which areas of professional support educators working with families of children with special needs perceive as the most useful for their practice and would like to address in training, as well as how they assess the effectiveness of intervision meetings as a form of professional consultation. A combination of quantitative and qualitative approaches to data collection and analysis was used to evaluate the selected multi-hour training programme. Data were collected using an evaluation questionnaire comprising closed- and open-ended questions. Quantitative data were analysed using descriptive statistics, while qualitative data were analysed using thematic analysis. The results show that educators have the greatest need for the content concerning the characteristics of families of children with special needs and effective communication with them, particularly with parents of children with emotional and behavioural difficulties. Intervision meetings were recognised as a highly useful means of exchanging experiences, seeking professional solutions and strengthening mutual support. The findings suggest that intervision should be introduced systematically, with the support of school management and appropriate organisational conditions, or that educators should be encouraged to take the initiative in organising it independently.