Description of specialty
The Correctional education is expressed in the international arena by such terms as “Special education”, “Correctional psychology”, “Defectology”. The main goal of the specialty is the training and education of children with mental and physical retardation and persons with identified disability, their social adaptation to active life, rehabilitation, as well as the study of the prevention of developmental disorders that have arisen. The Correctional education is aimed at correcting some unacceptable and destructive behaviors of children and adolescents (tendency to aggression, negativism, fear, hyperactivity), developing their existing or new skills (intellectual and speech development, physical culture, drawing skills).
Working with children and adolescents in need of special care and with persons with identified disability are areas that require a special approach in the field of their education and rehabilitation. The Correctional education specialty, which is in the 3rd qualification group and which is a very important professional competence aimed at organizing work in this direction with high professionalism, trains specialists in this area.
Correctional education is divided into 4 areas: surdopedagogics, typhlopedagogics, oligophrenopedagogics and speech therapy. Surdopedagogics studies persons with complete and partial hearing impairment, typhlopedagogics studies persons with complete and partial vision impairment, oligophrenopedagogics studies persons with mental retardation, and speech therapy studies persons with complete and partial speech impairment.
History of the specialty
Throughout the history of human existence, people with disabilities have been part of society. Archaeologists have repeatedly discovered during excavations the presence of people with disabilities since the Neanderthal period. Societies' attitude towards persons with disabilities have always been based on the culture, values and beliefs of those societies. In some geographies, those individuals were killed, thrown down from heights or buried alive. Over time, the point of view of societies has changed in relation to them, and Correctional education began to form as an independent science and profession in this field. Correctional education today is taught as an independent specialty in various colleges and universities around the world.
Subjects taught
Students majoring in this specialty are taught such disciplines as psychology, child anatomy and physiology, the fundamentals of defectology, developmental and age psychology, pedagogics, defectologic services, speech therapy, psychology of retarded children, anatomy of hearing and speech organs.
Knowledge and skills required for qualification
Career opportunities
The correctional education specialty is quite a suitable specialty for applicants interested in a specific field of pedagogy. The demand for this specialty, which is closely related to biological, social, pedagogical and psychological factors, is quite high.
Having completed their studies and received a bachelor's degree, a graduate can, at will, start directly to professional activity or, in accordance with the current admission rules, continue their studies in a master's degree.
Graduates of the correctional education specialty can start their labor activity in public and private educational institutions of general and special profile, gymnasiums, lyceums, institutions of primary vocational and secondary vocational education, schools subordinate to higher educational institutions, higher educational institutions, mass and special educational and training institutions, as well as in those departments and organizations that correspond to their professional and qualification degree, also depending on their specialization, they can work in state institutions for children with special needs, in psychology and rehabilitation centers, as well as in shelters and service institutions of the Social Services Agency and DOST Agency under the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection of the population as a defectologist, oligophrenopedagogy specialist, surdo-teacher, visual impairment specialist, social pedagogue, social therapist, special education teacher and speech therapist regardless of their ownership form and affiliation. Work with children with autism and Down syndrome, hyperactivity, behavioral disorders, pedagogical work with children with impaired musculoskeletal system is also included in the field of activity of the Special Education specialty.
They carry out their professional activities in the following areas and by performing the specified work:
Training of specialists at Azerbaijan University
Azerbaijan University, which annually takes appropriate steps to meet the demand of the business world for specialists who meet modern challenges, holds admission to the “Correctional Education” specialty starting from the 2023/2024 academic year. This specialty is taught by the “Organization of Social Work” Department. In addition, the Department trains specialists in the specialties and directions of Social work, Socio-psychological service in education in the bachelor's program, Social work in various spheres of life, Work with youth in the master's program, and Social Work and Social Problems specialities under the DPhil program. Compliance of the curricula of the specialties taught by the department with international standards is high.