STUDY OF FUTURE TEACHERS’ READINESS TO INTERACT WITH CHILDREN EXHIBITING DEVIANT BEHAVIOUR

This study investigates the professional readiness of future teachers enrolled in different teacher education programmes to interact with children exhibiting deviant behaviour. The study addresses the important role of teachers in preventing deviant behaviour, identifying early signs of psychological maladjustment, and recognising risks associated with problem behaviour among learners. The aim of the study was to examine and compare self-reported indicators of the cognitive and operational-activity components of professional readiness among future teachers from different fields of teacher education for working with children exhibiting deviant behaviour. Data were collected using an author-developed self-report questionnaire assessing professional knowledge and skills. Statistical analyses were performed using Jamovi (version 2.6). Between-group differences were examined using the Mann-Whitney U test, and the rank-biserial correlation coefficient was additionally calculated to estimate effect size. The results revealed statistically significant between-group differences in several overall and specific self-reported measures. Students enrolled in psychological and pedagogical support programmes reported higher levels of professional knowledge and skills, as well as higher scores on the overall measure. Among the specific skills assessed, the largest between-group difference was observed in instructional design skills (r = 0.44). However, statistically significant differences were not observed across all measures, indicating that the differences between the groups were selective and providing only partial support for the study hypothesis. These findings suggest that strengthening the operational-activity component of teacher education may represent a promising avenue for enhancing the professional preparation of future teachers. The self-report nature of the instrument should be considered when interpreting the findings: the observed differences reflect participants’ perceptions of their own professional readiness and should not be interpreted as objective differences in their actual level of professional competence.