Abstract:

In the modern labor market of Russia, there is a constant complication, an increase in the speed and volume of changes, unpredictability of development. A situation of “delayed choice” is often characterized for schoolchildren, due to the unpreparedness of most school graduates to make responsible decisions about their professional future. The analysis of foreign experience, carried out in the work, revealed that abroad a lot of attention was also paid to the topic of professional self-determination, its stages, building a career at different stages of growing up, the family aspect of professional orientation and specifics depending on the state structure, national mentality and other factors.

The purpose of the study is to observe modern views on the requirements for professional self-determination of schoolchildren and analyze the attitude of the main participants in this process: students, teachers and parents to the content and to the terms of career guidance at school.

The methodological basis of the study is the psychology of professional self-determination, the age theory periodization of professional development of personality, as well as conceptual views on the psychological and pedagogical support of professional self-determination of schoolchildren. The survey covered 529 teachers from 49 schools, 1.520 parents from 35 schools and 909 first-year students of four universities in Ekaterinburg. In a survey of parents, it was taken into account which class their child is studying in. In a survey of teachers, what classes they work with and what subject they teach. The opinions of all three groups were studied by questioning and processing the results using multivariate data analysis methods.

The results of the study show that respondents in all three groups recognize that it is necessary to carry out career-oriented work at school. At the same time, there are differences in views on the beginning of its implementation. Among all the respondents: teachers, parents and graduates, the dominant group is choosing the optimal start of career guidance with students in grades 7–8. There are more supporters of earlier career guidance work among teachers. The timing of choosing the beginning of career guidance is influenced by factors such as school status, gender, level of training.

The authors conclude that schoolchildren should get an idea of as many professional choice options as possible and the range of future career paths. It is important to help the young man in realizing his needs, abilities, interests, inclinations, values. Career guidance methods should be supplemented by modern technologies of differentiated targeted psychological and pedagogical assistance which should be provided to students taking into account their age and personality characteristics. In order to effectively support professional self-determination of schoolchildren, it is necessary to solve the problem with the staff through the training of vocational guidance specialists, as well as the systematic training of all teachers, administrative and managerial staff in the field of student guidance.

Keywords:

Professional self-determination, professional orientation, teachers, parents, school graduates.