Soft competences of first-year students: current level and development possibilities

Statement of the problem and purpose. In the modern world, where conditions, tasks, and content of professional activity are changing, the issue of developing soft, supra-professional competencies that allow successful solving of professional problems is becoming especially important. Soft competencies are considered as a priority result of education at all its levels. And, of course, the importance of mastering soft competencies by teachers themselves is high. The article considers the results of a study of the level of development of soft competencies among first-year students – future teachers. The most significant parameters characterizing the starting level of development of soft competencies of students are described, the main tasks for their further development in the learning process are defined. The theoretical and methodological foundation of the study includes the analysis and generalization of Russian (T.N. Anufrieva, O.P. Gorkovaya, D.S. Ermakov, O.V. Igumnova, N.V. Potapova and T.S. Panina, L.N. Stepanova and E.F. Zeer, S.N. Fomina, T.A. Tskvitaria, A.E. Tsymbalyuk, T.A. Yarkova and I.I. Cherkasova) and international (K. Ananiadou, L. Camarinha-Matos, R. Canning, R.Weissberg, D. Wilkie) scientific approaches that describe the essence and key characteristics of ‘soft’ competencies. The study was conducted in October 2024 on the Russia – the Country of Opportunities platform based on the diagnostic system proposed by the Center for Assessment and Development of Students’ Management Competencies. The study involved 673 first-year students, including 133 boys and 540 girls studying at KSPU named after V.P. Astafyev. During the testing, the levels of development of 12 competencies were studied. Statistical processing included calculation of primary descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation analysis, factor analysis using the computer statistical program SPSSStatistics 22.0. Research results. The ‘competency’ portrait of future teachers correlates well with the mental, personal, behavioral characteristics of generation Z described in sociological and psychological publications. Students have well-developed competencies related to communication, somewhat worse – with the joint activities in a team; there are also difficulties with task management; competencies ensuring self-development are insufficiently developed. The features of soft competencies development and their interrelations indicate that for a significant number of first-year students the identity crisis has not yet been overcome. Assistance in completing the crisis stage of the self-determination process can become the focus of work for teachers, curators, mentors, and employees of the psychological service of the university. Conclusion. The identified developmental features of both individual competencies and groups of competencies should become the subject of selection and, if necessary, modification of techniques and methods of teaching and educating students, building a unified approach that provides conditions for the maximum possible development of soft competencies of students.