The role of students' life course conception in their self-development

To facilitate students' self-development it is necessary to understand the inner factors of this process as well as the ways of increasing its productivity. This paper studies whether a person's idea (mental representations) of their own life course influences self-development. To examine this phenomenon 215 engineering students completed the study. The empirical research included two phases. The purpose of the first phase was to examine if there was co-herence of the two analyzed constructs - the life course conception and intentional self-development. During the second phase a programme was implemented which was dedicated to the improvement of students' life course conception. Also, changes in indicators of self-development and life course conception were studied. The results show that maturation of student's life course conception, awareness of experience and future goals, understanding of one's significant life achievements, attitude toward oneself as a source of life events and achievements, and thoughtful actions in goal pursuit promote intrinsic motivation, and activity in self-development. The improvement of student's life course conception and formation of meaningful ideas about their own lives help to actualize self-development. The results of the study can be implemented in education programmes' development in order to choose appropriate methods for the facilitation of students' self-development.