Problems and Opportunities for Training Specialists for Working with Children with Mental Retardation in the Higher Education System

In the modern rapidly changing world, there is a change in value orientations and educational paradigms, socio-economic, political, liberal-social and scientific conditions. These processes also affect the training system for working with different categories of children, including those with mental retardation. The purpose of this work is to study, analyze and objectively compare the structure of training bachelors who are capable of creating special conditions for education and upbringing for children with mental retardation, to identify common elements of this training. The study of the domestic practice of training specialists for working with persons with mental retardation is important for concretizing the content of specialized education. The study used a comparative analysis of training profiles in the framework of defectological, psychological-pedagogical and pedagogical training areas. At the same time, the authors also analyzed the main professional educational programs and work programs of specialized disciplines aimed at preparing defectologists, teachers and psychologists to work with children with impaired mental function. The study expanded the understanding of the dependence of the structure and content of personnel training for working with children with mental retardation on future areas of professional activity; the influence of research results, concepts of leading scientists who advocate the priority of defectologists in teaching and upbringing of children with mental retardation. Based on the results of the study, a versatile description of the structure of training psychological, pedagogical and defectological personnel was obtained by identifying factors that can affect the organization of optimal profile training for bachelors. The authors declare the idea of a specialized professional defectological education of teachers who are ready to work with children with mental retardation. The obtained research results can be used to design training modules in the structure of courses, the content of which maximally effectively ensures the formation of core competencies for working with children with mental retardation.