History of the Department

The training of special educators changed considerably during the 19th century and especially in the 20th century. Initially, individuals working with the handicapped in institutions or as teachers in auxiliary schools had to educate themselves—if they chose to—at their own expense and primarily through self-study. In Austria, in 1875, and in Hungary in 1877, decrees from the Ministry of Education instructed school boards to arrange for teacher candidates to be educated in the teaching of abnormal children. Initially, during their studies at teacher training institutes, students received brief introductions to the subject of educating abnormal children. Later, they attended training courses, which were post-secondary in nature and lasted up to two years. These courses were provided by the Budapest Medical and Pedagogical Teachers' Institute and prepared students to teach the deaf-mute, the blind, the feeble-minded, and to correct speech defects (by the early 20th century). Some Slovak special educators also studied at this institute. In Bohemia, teachers of auxiliary schools were trained in courses organized mainly by associations, and they passed professional examinations in paedopathology and remedial pedagogy. In Slovakia, various associations also organized similar courses. For example, the "Zemský spolok pro care for the feeble-minded in Slovakia" conducted the first course for teachers of auxiliary schools in Trenčín from 10 to 16 October 1932. The second course was held a year later in Banská Bystrica.

Since 1886, teachers educating handicapped children were required to take the Teacher's Competence Examination, as mandated by the Teacher's Competence Examination Regulations. These regulations included specialized examinations for teaching the blind, the deaf and dumb, the feeble-minded, and the morally desolate. A significant step toward improving the quality of teachers' work was the introduction of the 1937 Teaching Regulations for the Professional Examination of Teachers' Competence in Schools (Institutes) for Deviant Youth. Until that time, teachers could take specialized examinations before the examination board for municipal schools at teachers' institutes. From 1937 onward, these examinations could be taken in university cities, with university professors serving as members of the commissions. Commissions were established in Prague, Brno, Bratislava, and Uzhhorod and operated in this capacity until 1958.

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After the war, in 1946, the Faculty of Education of Comenius University in Bratislava was incorporated into Comenius University as the first post-war pedagogical faculty in Slovakia. The Faculty of Education at Charles University in Prague was established in 1945.

The Faculty of Education at Charles University in Bratislava (as well as the faculty in Prague) initially offered education for teachers of schools for young people requiring special care as a two-semester post-secondary course. However, this program was only available at the Academy of Secondary Education. In 1949/1950, the program was conducted as a study of defectology, focusing on two groups: one group prepared school teachers for mentally or socially disadvantaged young people, while the other focused on physically or sensory-impaired young people. The program included the completion of a prescribed internship. The studies concluded with a state examination consisting of written (clausal) and oral components in pedagogical defectology, remedial pedagogy, special defectology, and the didactics and methodologies of chosen specializations. A prerequisite for admission to the state examination was a duly completed university degree in teaching (for intact students). This two-semester course was more commonly pursued in the Czech Republic, with only one graduate in Slovakia in 1952. Nonetheless, 1949/1950 marked the beginning of diverse approaches to university-level studies in special education. At that time (from 1957/58), a different type of professional internal four-year study was implemented at the University of Pedagogy in Prague: a program combining pedagogy, psychology, and defectology.

In 1959, the pedagogical colleges were closed. From January 1, 1960, defectology studies were offered as a three-year post-secondary program at pedagogical institutes. Admission was limited to teachers already qualified at the school level with two years of teaching experience. In the third year of studies, students specialized in various fields. This system later evolved into different study variants, depending on the applicants' prior education (three-, four-, or five-year programs), which still had the character of a superstructure. In 1963, the curriculum for undergraduate studies replaced terminology such as defectological or paedagogical terms with the descriptive phrase "special pedagogy of youngsters with defective intellectual development." This system was maintained until 1967.

A significant milestone in the training of special educators was the establishment of the Institute for Special and Therapeutic Pedagogy at the Faculty of Arts of Charles University in Bratislava on October 1, 1967. The Institute comprised the Department of Special and Therapeutic Pedagogy, the Department of Pathopsychology and Social Pathology, and the Department of Biology and Somatopathology. The head of the Institute from 1969 to 1972 was doc. Predmerský, CSc.

From the academic year 1967/68, the study of special and therapeutic pedagogy in Bratislava was implemented as a five-year full-time program with the following specializations: somatopedics, typhlopedics, surdopedics, speech therapy, psychopedics, and therapeutic pedagogy (which focused on the difficult-to-train and had both educational and therapeutic-educational directions). The first two years of studies were common, and in the third year, students selected their specialization. The program combined educational and teaching orientations, except for therapeutic pedagogy. (In Bohemia, therapeutic pedagogy did not exist; the severely educable were addressed within the framework of ethnopedia.) Graduates of special pedagogy were expected to be employable in education departments, social welfare, healthcare, justice, internal affairs, and cultural sectors. The studies concluded with a thesis defense and a state final examination in the chosen specialization. Graduates could subsequently earn a doctorate (PhDr., PaedDr.) through a rigorous procedure.

The Institute was closed in 1972, and its responsibilities were assumed by the re-established Faculty of Education at Charles University in Bratislava, based in Trnava until 1986 and then again in Bratislava. The dissolution of the Institute and the relocation of the faculty involved organizational changes that affected the departments. The Department of Special and Therapeutic Pedagogy was initially one of three departments within the Institute. In 1970, the Institute was divided, creating a separate Department of Special Education and a Department of Therapeutic Pedagogy (1970–1981). These departments were later merged again (1981–1986). From 1986 onward, separate departments of special education were re-established.

The first head of the department was doc. Predmerský, CSc. (1967–1972), followed by prof. Juraj Brťka, CSc. (1972–1979), and then prof. Štefan Vašek, CSc. (with short interruptions, serving until 2005). In 1989, the Department of Special Education employed 20 staff members. Among those contributing to the development of Slovak pedagogy for the mentally disabled in the second half of the 20th century, in addition to the aforementioned Gaňa and Predmerský, were prof. J. Brťka, CSc., prof. Š. Vašek, CSc., doc. I. Baľa, CSc., Dr. I. Jakabčica, CSc., prof. I. Drobný, DrSc., and other staff members of the Department of Special Education. Additional contributors included Dr. G. Rehuša, Dr. M. Gažiho, CSc., Dr. I. Učňa, MUDr. L. Kvasnička, Dr. O. Matuška, Dr. A. Pajdlhauser, CSc., Mgr. J. Hučík, and many others.

In the late 1960s and 1970s, in addition to full-time study, special education was also offered alongside employment (as a 3- or 2-year extension course in various variations, through which a considerable number of psychopedagogues were trained).

In the academic year 1977/78, the study of special pedagogy at pedagogical faculties in the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic underwent changes. The program was restructured as a four-year integrated study combining teaching and education for schools and institutions serving young people requiring special care. Within this program, psychopediatry could be chosen as a specialization.

A further change occurred in the academic year 1980/81, influenced by the new Higher Education Act No. 39/1980 and subsequent decrees, which clarified and standardized the conditions, course, and conclusion of university studies. Higher education for special educators was offered in two fields of study: Teaching for Young People in Need of Special Care (UMVOS) and Education for Persons in Need of Special Care (VOVOS). This program was designed as a four-year full-time or five-year distance learning course with a "triple combination": two compulsory specializations (speech therapy and psychotherapy) and one optional specialization (somatopedics, typhlopedics, surdopedics, or etopedics). This study concept was consistent across the Faculty of Education at the University of Bratislava, the Faculty of Education at Charles University in Prague, and the Faculty of Education at Palacký University in Olomouc. Graduates of UMVOS were qualified to teach in grades 1–8 of special and auxiliary schools, grades 1–4 of primary schools for differently-abled children (depending on their third specialization), specialized classes in primary schools, and to provide professional speech therapy and educational counseling.

In the 1980s, the Faculty of Education at Charles University in Bratislava continued to provide further education for special educators through various programs, including psychopedagogical training. These programs included:

Extension studies for teachers of general education or vocational subjects with a university degree (three years of study alongside employment),
Extension studies for workshop teachers and vocational education masters (two years alongside employment),
Extension studies for kindergarten teachers (two years alongside employment),
Extension studies of special education for graduates of secondary pedagogical schools qualified for teaching at primary school level 1 (two years alongside employment).

A further change in the university training of special educators occurred in 1990. These changes were a result of the widespread social transformations following the "Velvet Revolution" in November 1989. On May 4, 1990, a new law on universities was adopted, changing the relationship between universities and the Ministry of Education. Universities became self-governing institutions, no longer centrally managed by the ministry.

A change in the concept of higher education studies in special education would likely have occurred regardless, as extensive departmental research was conducted between 1986 and 1990 to evaluate the effectiveness and rationale of the UMVOS and VOVOS study concepts. The research revealed that the division between teacher and educator courses was not an optimal solution.

From the academic year 1990/91, the Faculty of Education at Charles University in Bratislava began offering special pedagogy programs based on a new concept. These included five-year full-time and part-time studies in pedagogy for the mentally handicapped (as a single-discipline program), and full-time studies in pedagogy for the physically handicapped, visually impaired, hearing impaired, and emotionally and socially disturbed, as well as clinical speech therapy. Therapeutic pedagogy, a discipline revived after several years, was also included. Graduates of the single-discipline pedagogy for the mentally handicapped were prepared for educational, teaching, and diagnostic-counseling roles. They could be employed as teachers in grades 1–9 of primary schools and grades 5–10 of secondary schools, as educators in school clubs or boarding schools, or in residential institutions under the Department of Labor and Social Affairs.

Later, in 1995, these fields were merged under one study program, "Teaching for Special Schools," with specializations in pedagogy for the mentally handicapped (PMP), physically handicapped (PTZP), visually handicapped, and hearing impaired (all combined fields). A non-teaching program in special education with a focus on diagnosis and counseling was also introduced. Between 1992/93 and 1998/99, an experimental program combining PMP and PTZP was offered twice.

In 1995/96, a course-based study system was introduced, followed by a credit-based system in 1996/97. However, these changes did not alter the basic concept of study.

In addition to full-time and external studies, it was possible to study the pedagogy of the mentally handicapped through further education programs for teaching staff, as specified by Decree No. 42/1996 Coll. These included two-year extension studies for teachers and educators, as well as for kindergarten teachers and vocational education masters.

Currently, under the Act of the National Council of the Slovak Republic No. 131/2002 Coll. on Higher Education, as amended, special educator training is provided in a three-tier system: bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees, offered both full-time and via distance learning. At the bachelor's level, combinations such as pedagogy of the mentally disabled and hearing impaired, or special pedagogy with counseling are available. At the master's level, a program in Special Education is offered, along with a doctoral program in the same field. Additional specializations in special education are expected to be introduced in the near future.

From the beginnings of teacher training in special pedagogy through short courses to comprehensive university programs, the curriculum has consistently included related disciplines as auxiliary sciences, general didactics, methodologies, and professional practice. These components have been fundamental in preparing graduates with broad expertise, both within their field and in related disciplines.

As evident from the history of special education training, the field has grown and evolved both practically and theoretically. Over time, it has established itself as a significant scientific discipline, integrating new trends and paradigmatic shifts into its conceptual framework. These changes reflect broader developments in the sciences of man and education, including the influence of humanistic, holistic, and hermeneutic philosophies.

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Special pedagogy, as a relatively large and comprehensive scientific field, has recently undergone significant qualitative and quantitative changes, especially in the 1990's with changes in the paradigm of special pedagogy, expanding its scope to include phenomena and processes that it had not previously dealt with. In this context, we note attempts in special pedagogy to incorporate new trends, paradigmatic changes into a conceptual, systemic form with a transfer to the definitional and terminological field and in general to the theory and practice of special pedagogy, as well as the transfer of reflection of paradigmatic, conceptual, content and structural shifts and changes in the sciences of man and education into the proposal of the system of basic knowledge of special pedagogy, the author of which is prof. Vasek, CSc. (published in 1996 and 2003).

The period from 1990 to the present is marked by a significant shift in scientific knowledge and understanding of the sciences of man and education, not excluding special pedagogy. The following shifts and processes can be identified: innovation and reassessment of the "traditional" knowledge of the sciences in their conceptual, procedural or meta-scientific level, promotion of new philosophical views of man (anthropological philosophy, phenomenology, humanistic philosophy, holistic and hermeneutic approaches) and their translation into axiology, understanding of education (upbringing, education, teaching) as one of the basic social functions serving for socialisation, enculturation, self-realisation and achievement of a desirable level of quality of life for the subject, the plurality of opinions and interpretations in the period 20 years ago hardly imaginable and, at the same time, the impact of eclecticism in the sciences of education, the change of the paradigm of special pedagogy.

It is natural that these changes and shifts are reflected, accentuated and also induced in the theory and practice of special pedagogy, in the thematization, concepts and procedures of the investigation of special pedagogical phenomena and processes and their interpretation. In the future, the Department of Special Pedagogy is likely to focus, among other things, more strongly on attempts to research and theoretically and practically elaborate or reflect on current trends and new possibilities and methods of special-pedagogical interventions, educational and complex rehabilitation for disadvantaged persons from early childhood and preschool age to the elderly. With regard to the preparation of students, the existing range of curricula and other educational activities and opportunities is very likely to be expanded, and in addition to regular bachelor's, master's and doctoral studies, there is likely to be an increasing emphasis on lifelong and postgraduate training for special educators.