О профессиональной направленности личности студентов специальности "Социальная работа"

Under the modern conditions changes in the professional sphere are characterized by complication of the working activity’s content, transformation of the value-sense orientations, attitude changes towards career-building. Moreover, a person’s own demands for the levels of his or her professionalization in working activity are growing. The contradictions caused by the contemporary demands for a specialist, competition in the labour market, on the one hand, and the present-day conditions of the professional training system at any level, on the other hand, reflect complex problems of a person’s being prepared for the professional activity.

Today a professional community feels the urgent necessity for effectively working specialists in their activities, who at the same time possesses a wide range of professional operations, an ability for individual innovation and designing his or her own professional future, and who has an aspiration to self-perfection, self-education, self-development and self-fulfillment.

In the working activity as well as during the educational process at the university one of the person’s components, ensuring the successfulness of the professionalization process, is the professional trend as the manifestation of a personality trend. The professional trend becomes apparent not only as a person’s characteristics, but also as a component of the pedagogical process, and as the aim of the higher education. Modern educational standards consider the development of the professional trend to be the main result of a graduate’s professional training.

In spite of the importance of the professional trend’s development during professionalization process, the number of psychological researches in the field of analyzing the formation not fully correspond to current demands in the psychological and educational practice in the system of training future specialists. Such considerable problems as discovering structural components of students’ professional trend and displaying its dynamics still need to be examined. The problem of developing the model of a person’s professional trend remains acute. The solution of the fixed problems will conduce to increasing the quality of the future specialists’ training. This way, the importance of this problem, defined by the tasks of optimization and effectiveness of the professional training process at the level of higher education, determined the theme of our research.

The aim of our research is the elaboration and theoretical basing of the structure of a person’s professional trend, the change of its dynamics during university training of those students who study social work. For that we worked out steps of an experimental research of the professional trend’s components.

The whole research was made in the forms of establishing, forming and controlling experiment.

The empirical research was held on the basis of the universities, where specialists for social work are taught. 244 first-fourth year students took part in the research. The selection range of the basic part of the research was 30 people: 15 second-year students in the every group – experimental and controlling. It was worked out and realized a working program of the forming experiment, which included games, discussions and practical tasks for the students. The forming experiment lasted one semester.

At the stage of the establishing experiment reliable and valid psycho-diagnostical methods were selected. The methodical provision of the research included questionnaires and the following psycho-diagnostical methods: “Professional ideal”, “Scale of the conscientiousness” by V.M. Melnikov and L.T. Yampolsky [1, p. 399], expressdiagnostics of the personality trend (MEDNAL) [3, p. 92], “Empathy level diagnostics” by V.V. Boiko [1, p. 385], “Person’s socio-psychological purposes in the sphere of motivation and necessity” by O.F. Potyomkina [1, p. 387], “The study of students’ motives during learning” by A.A. Rean and V.A. Yakunin [1, p. 434], “Value orientations” by M. Rokich [1, p. 389], “Self-actualization test (SAT)” by L.Y. Gozman, M.V. Kroz and M.V. Latinskay [4, p. 580], “Sense- in- Life test” by D.A. Leontiev [5].

Now we are to appeal to the results of the establishing research.

The results of the questionnaires testify that humanistic motives take the leading position in the students’ choice of the profession: desire to be of benefit to the society, to help children and adults in the difficult lifetime – 81%. The social orientation of the motives pointing out to deliberate choice of the profession is the evidence of the high rate of the professional trend of the students’ majority.

The intention of them to work by profession is the evidence of the dominating professional interests in the sphere of the chosen and being mastered profession. For some respondents professional knowledge, intellectual development with a wide range of interests serve as the instrumental value, which makes easier achieve the life success connected with the status position in the society.

At the next stage the students’ notion of professionally important qualities were studied. The students arranged the qualities from the point of view, whether an ideal representative of the profession that they study has such qualities or not. We would like to provide some examples. So, one’s good breeding is mentioned more often by the 4-year students than the 1-year (t=6,72; p<0,01), the

2-year (t=3,55; p<0,01) и the 3-year students (t=3,41; p<0,01). The presence of the empathy is more important for the 4-year students, than for the 1–year (t=5,56; p<0,01) and the 3-year students (t=2,37; p<0,05). The tolerance is more significant for the 4-year students, than for the 1–year (t=5,33; p<0,01), as well as the tactfulness, the difference is significant (t=5,66; p<0,01). Such quality as the objectiveness that can influence on the circumstances and interactions with the future clients is highly rated by the 4-year than the 1-year (t=7,64; p<0,01), the 2-year (t=5,11; p<0,01) and the 3-year students (t=3,71; p<0,01) [1, p. 102].

The significance of the communicative skills is increasing in accordance with the students’ professional training, the differences are significant between the 1-year and the 2-year students (t=3,68; p<0,01), the 1-year and the 3-year students (t=3,91; p<0,01), the 1-year and the 4-year students (t=4,50; p<0,01) [1, p. 102].

As the students become more professional during the learning process, the mention of the ability for organization in the professional ideal’s characteristics is also increased, the differences are significant between the 1-year and the 3-year students (t=3,58; p<0,01), the 1-year and the 4-year students (t=6,95; p<0,01), the 2-year and the 4-year students (t=4,72; p<0,01), the 3-year and the 4-year students (t=2,65; p<0,01). For all the respondents such qualities as responsibility, altruism, justice, honesty, which are introspected by them during the whole learning period, are important for them. The responsibility has more significance for the 4-year students than for the 1-year students, the differences are significant (t=2,64; p<0,01). The comparison of the 1-year and the 3-year respondents also show bigger significance of that quality for elder students than for the 1-year students (t=2,26; p<0,05) [1, p. 103].

As the students become more professional and master professional knowledge those moral and psychological qualities become more valuable for them, satisfy the requirements of their future profession. The students’ opinion towards their professional ideal’s strong-willed qualities includes resoluteness, purposefulness, activity, good organization, discipline, self-possession, selfcontrol and patience. The differences between the students’ courses are not significant. Thus, during the students’ professional training some changes take place in the image of the professional ideal: it is identical to an amateur’s ordinary notion for the 1-year students; this image is similar to the image of a professional for the 4-year students, i.e. the notion of the professionally important qualities of a specialist in social work become more formed, clearer and more differentiated.

The results of the “Scale of the conscientiousness” method show that 70 % of all the respondents have high rates of such factor as “conscientiousness”: the 1-year course – 62,5%, the 2-year course – 69,1%, the 3-year course – 79,7%, the 4-year course – 82,7%. Such characteristics as responsibility and honesty are typical for them, and they are particularly important for the representatives of profession type as “man – man”. This way, we can say that during the students’ professional training the development of the standards and values that correspond to socialprofessional environment take place.

The results of express-diagnostics of the trend testify that the 1-year students demonstrate collectivist orientation more often than the elder students. Evidently it is connected with the 1-year students’ topicality to arrange successful interpersonal relations with the group-mates and contact with the new teachers. The lowest rate of collectivist orientation is marked in the 4 -year course. Obviously, it is connected with the strengthening of individually significant motives and orientations during that period, and also the students’ getting ready for independent work and leaving that studying group. According to the results, less than a half of the students have the personal orientation. The differences are significant between the 1-year and the 2-year students (t=2,16; p<0,05), the 1-year and the 4-year students (t=2,57; p<0,05). We can say that the 2-year, the 3-year and the 4-year students take more efforts for selfdevelopment than the 1- year students. As to business orientation the differences are significant between the 2-year and the 1-year students (t=2,16; p<0,05). Thus, high rate of the business orientation of the 1-year students together with the interaction orientation reveal their intention to master professional knowledge and skills.

The “Empathy level diagnostics” method allows to define a present level and a leading channel of empathy. As a result three groups of the students were defined according to the empathy level: middle (25%), low (60%) and very low (15%). The analysis of the results with the help of Student’s criterion shows that all the levels have a tendency to change depending on year of studying. For all that the differences are significant between the 1-year and the 2-year students (t=6,27; p<0,01), the 1-year and the 3-year students (t=6,42; p<0,01), the 2-year and the 3- year students (t=2,68; p<0,01), the 3-year and the 4-year students (t=3,01; p<0,01). The results of the research for the picking out the leading channels of empathy register that the differences between the courses are insignificant. This way, we can suppose that during professional training all the empathy channels are equally developed.

In order to define the leading orientation – altruistic or egoistic – we used the “Person’s socio-psychological purpose in the sphere of motivation and necessity” method. The results show that 70% of the students have altruistic orientation, willingness to help people disinterestedly. These facts confirm the results of the questionnaire, where the most respondents called the main motive – to help children and adults. The 1-year (72%) and the 4-year students (71%) have the high rate of altruism. Obviously it is connected with the aspiration of the 1-year students, who have just got acquainted with the future profession, to concentrate on people’s interests and society needs. It is also acute for the 4-year students as they are starting their professional activity.

Owing to the fact that the students’ attitude towards solving of the setting problems is determined mostly by the motives of the educational activity, we studied the educational motives with the help of “The study of students’ motives during learning” method. In general we got high rates on the professional motives directed to the results of the professional activity: “to become a qualified specialist”, “to ensure successfulness of the future professional activity” and pragmatic motive: “to get a diploma”. The lowest rates have such motives as “to be ready always for the regular classes”, “to avoid condemnations for the bad studies”, “to meet the pedagogical requirements”, “not to fall behind the group-mates” and “to be an example for the group-mates” [1,p.106].

Now we can appeal to the results of the research among the courses.

For the 1-year students such motives are acute in the following logical order: pragmatic motives (to get a diploma), then professional motives (to become a highly qualified specialist, to study well, to ensure successfulness of the future professional activity). At the same time for the 2-, the 3- and the 4-year students the professional (to become a highly qualified specialist, to study well, to secure successfulness of the future professional activity) and the cognitive motives (to get deep and sound knowledge, to get intellectual satisfaction) are of primary importance; on the last place there is a pragmatic motive (to get a diploma). Thus, the results of the research are the evidence of the important changes in the students’ educational motives depending on the year of studying, with the tendency of the prevailing the professional motives in the higher courses.

According to the results of the research about person’s values by M. Rokich’s method an average point was counted for every course. The average indices allow to judge about the value significance for the students. The main efforts of all the respondents are directed to the development of such values as health, love, happy family life and friends. Such values as beauty of the nature and art, entertainment and creative endeavor take last places in the value-purpose hierarchy.

Among the values-means, the leading ones for all the students are socially approved values and professional self-fulfillment values: good breeding, to be an educated person, responsibility, independence and cheerfulness. Such humanistic oriented values as sensitiveness and patience take last positions. This tendency can be explained by the young people’s pragmatic orientation. Thus, social and individual values prevail in the forming process of the future specialists’ professional trend.

The results of the research with the help of the “Self-actualization test” show that the majority of respondents strive for displaying such qualities as marked time-orientation, i.e. to see his or her life complete; ability to self-designing, purposefulness; motivation for gaining success in the all undertakings. The results of the research by the “Self-respect” and the “Self-acceptance” scales show that the 3-year students have clear and complete idea about their environment as well as about themselves. They have such characteristics as self-confidence, self-acceptance, and self-respect to a greater extent than the other students. At the same time the results of the “Support” scale of the 2-year students testify about their not being independent, being dependent on other people’s opinion.

The results of the research of the students’ life orientation show that average rates of understanding the purpose in life and average rates by five subscales practically coincide with Leontiev’s rates. The “Purpose in Life” scale characterizes presence or absence of life purposes that make life sensible, directed and perspective in time. The 1-year and the 3-year students are characterized by being more purposeful, directed to the future rather than the 2-year and the 4-year students who also have low rates by the “Sensible Life”, the “Control Locus – Life”, and the “Result” scales, i.e. they have difficulties in finding the meaning of life for themselves. But at the same time, the 1-year students’ low rates by the “Control Locus – I” scale reveal these students’ unbelief in ability to control their own life. The low level of the «Sensible life»

М.Д. Будаева. Особенности самосознания родителей, воспитывающих детей с отклонениями в развитии scale can be connected with the low rate of selfacceptance.

This way, the overwhelming majority of the students have high rates on the scales which testify about their ability to make life more sensible and effective, satisfaction with self-fulfillment on the present stage of their development.

Conclusions:

In conformity with the educational process at the university we regard the professional trend as the subject’s characteristic, a criterion of success during the professionalization process and as the purpose of training. During mastering the profession the making of the professional trend becomes the stage of its developing as a person’s formation. The conditions to learn the professional content of the activity and for active communication with professionals are created during this period. The enthusiasm for the learning process and personal aspirations for professional perfection, selfrealization give stability to the structure of the students’ professional trend, future professionals in the sphere of social work.

The dynamics of a person’s professional trend can be described as a movement from the emotional enthusiasm for the profession to the real knowledge about themselves ad professional activity. The emotional enthusiasm for the future profession at the 1-year course is replaced by a realistic estimation of the future activity. At the 4-year course the significance of inner motivation is increased, the inducement for self-realization is intensified and the personal attitude towards the profession is formed. It promotes the positive dynamics of a person’s professional trend.