Psychological characteristics of mentoring as a condition for continuity of personal and professional development of a future teacher

Abstract

Background. The article presents the results of research into the characteristics of the personal and professional development of the future teachers in interaction with their mentors — young university teachers. Objectives. The study had its purpose to investigate the dynamics of personal and professional development of students who participated in the experimental mentoring program at the university. Study Participants. The study involved 300 respondents aged 18 to 22 years (245 women, 55 men), students of pedagogical specialties. Methods. Primary and final diagnostics included the questionnaires “Motives of the teaching profession” (T.N. Silchenkova), “Communicative and organizational inclinations” (V.V. Sinyavsky, B.A. Fedorishin), “Students’ motivation for achieving success” (S.A. Pakulina), Rogers — Diamond's method for diagnostics of socio-psychological adaptation, Holmes and Rage’s method for determining stress resistance and social adaptation. The Student's t-test was used to process quantitative data. Results. The article determined the characteristics of mentoring as a condition and technology for ensuring the continuity of personal and professional development of the future teachers. The empirical study results allowed to describe the dynamics of their professional (pedagogical) orientation, to assess the level of their flexible skills development, and reveal their motivation for success. As a result of participation in the developed Mentoring Program, students' motives for choosing pedagogical activity have changed (the number of internal motives has increased), indicators of flexible skills (communicative and organizational abilities, stress resistance, socio-psychological adaptation) have increased, their ideas about success have changed qualitatively (assessments of the main characteristics of success have become more internalized). Conclusions. Implementation of the Mentoring Program taking into account the students’ personal characteristics, motives and interests of young teachers makes it possible to consistently and purposefully activate the subject position of future teachers, ensuring the continuity of their personal and professional development at the university.

Keywords

• personal and professional development
• higher education
• teaching profession
• pedagogical activity