Training teachers for substitute parents to ensure the psychological well-being of foster children in a new family

Abstract

Many researchers recognize the family as a social conglomeration essential for an individual’s successful process of socialization and psychological well-being of the individual. Since children left without parental care have features of physical, intellectual and emotional development often characterised as having “neurological status”, the main task of the substitute family is to ensure conditions for the full development of psychological well-being and appropriate selfperception of the adopted child while taking into account their capabilities and needs. It is this that has prompted research interest in the phenomenon of the substitute family as a resource for the development of children left without parental care. Features of the child s inclusion in the new family system depend on many factors related to behaviour, the child’s personal characteristics, the degree of readiness of the host family and the new parents’ psychological and pedagogical competence and their motivation. The article is devoted to the training of teachers working with substitute families as an important factor that affects the psychological and pedagogical competence of future parents and the well-being of the adopted child as a whole. The authors of the article carried out a review and analytical study of the existing experience of assessing the well-being of children in host families the results of which were developed into a training program for teachers of substitute parents. The authors propose an innovative technology to ensure the psychological wellbeing of foster children, the essence of which is to train teachers of schools of substitute parents by means of a programme specially designed by the authors and aimed at the formation and development of knowledge, skills and professionally important qualities necessary to replace of family care. This also facilitates the creation of certain conditions outlining these specialists’ professional activities. The objectives of the development of the programme are improving the quality of substitute parent training, the prevention of emotional burnout, as well as ensuring the psychological well-being of orphans when entering and adapting to a new family. The creation of optimal conditions for welfare activities contributes to foster care children’s successful social integration.