Youth social competence: content analysis results of senior students’ Olympiads in social studies

The relevance of the research lies in resolving the contradiction between the need to develop in modern conditions the social competence of young people aged 14-17 in the field of social policy of the Russian state using the resources of the subject “Social Studies” and the insufficiently effective implementation of this task in modern social science education. The purpose of the research involves the definition of ideas about the social policy of the Russian state, formed in the process of studying “Social Studies”, participation in Olympiads on this subject, and assessment of social competence level of modern schoolchildren. We have carried out diagnostics of ideas about the modern social policy of the Russian state using a formalized analysis of written works of students of grades 8-11 -the participants of the qualifying stage of the Olympiad in social studies. The scientific novelty of the research consists in understanding the issues offormation /development of a competent attitude of young people to social policy using the resources of social science education. We have found that the students’ knowledge in the field of social policy is not deep enough. The Olympiad participants consider the state to be the main subject in the implementation of social policy. In the works, social policy appears as object-oriented. The strengths of the social policy of the Russian state are characterized abstractly, and judgments about its negative aspects are more definite. Inequality and poverty, problems of social policy management occupy the first places in the list of weaknesses. Youth policy and its directions are rarely mentioned. The emotional component in the students’ representations is expressed quite clearly; negative assessments of social policy dominate. The practical significance of the research lies in the fact that the material of the article may be of interest to teachers of social studies. Based on the results obtained, we can determine the possibilities of cooperation between sociologists and teachers in the design of the educational environment and teaching social studies at school taking into account modern challenges, young people’s requests, the state order and society’s expectations.