Dynamics Of Familistic Competence Changes Of Future Educational Psychologists

Actualizing the problem

The core role of a family determines its profound influence on the entire complex of growing person's physical and spiritual life. Family can be both a powerful developmental factor and a source of person's emotional and psychological support as well as a source of a person's trauma which can lead to various personality disorders and behavioral abnormalities (Minullina, 2014). A human is very sensitive to a family atmosphere, its condition, its prospects throughout the whole life. A child's attitude to himself/herself and people around is being formed in a family. The primary person's socialization, social roles mastering, basic values of life are laid in a family. Parents naturally influence their children through the mechanisms of imitation, identification and interiorization of parental behavior patterns. Family education has a unique catalyst – tribal feelings (Biktagirova, Burganova, 2012). Family education is unique, its absence or shortcomings are hard to compensate for at later life stages.

Explore Importance of the Problem

If family has such a strong influence on processes and results of personality development, then society and government should primarily focus on a family as a source of organization of correct educational impact. Strong, healthy, spiritual families are the basis for a powerful state. Nowadays the task of educational institutions and families is to revive person's sense of responsibility and pride for his/her origins and family, the desire to preserve and respect his/her family traditions. The actualization of the value of such disciplines as "Psychology of Family and Family Relationships", "Family Pedagogy" involves teachers transferring promoting knowledge which helps form students value systems, their attitude and behavior. This approach helps ensure personal choice and appropriation of values and leads to the formation of ideological ideas in students (Murtazina, Minullina, 2013, 2014; Sapopova, 2013). Family-based component of professional psychological and pedagogical competence determines the direction of future educational psychologists' training based on a family values priority, priority of children upbringing and family-oriented lifestyle.

Research methods

While investigation the following research methods were used: theoretical analysis of psychological and pedagogical literature (systematization, classification, generalization and comparison); method of studying and summarizing of best practices, pedagogical experiment, which included observation, interviewing, questioning, testing and methods of mathematical data calculation.

We assessed the future educational psychologists family-orientated competence through the personal characteristics evaluation as well as through a system of criteria that externalize in integrative quality indicators of self-standing activity and success of mastering professional knowledge.

We used the results of students’ final control and the following methods:

1. Test by. Schneider,

2. Value survey by Rokich,

3. The Questionnaire of Terminal Values by Senin,

4. "Personal growth measurement survey".

Basis and investigation sampling

The study involved 300 educational psychology department students including 150 4-5-year students of Psychology Department of Kazan State Pedagogical University in 2004-2005 (Kazan State University later became a part of the Kazan (Volga region) Federal University), and 150 2-4-year educational psychology students of the of the Kazan (Volga region) Federal University. The work was carried out in 2015-2017.

Description of the experiment

At the beginning of the research, the concept of educational psychologist's family-orientated competence was defined and its main components were revealed:

Intellectual component – includes knowledge on modern researches about a family, a structure and functions of a family; a family relations concept; ideas about parenting, essentials of family education; peculiar aspects of diagnostic and corrective work with a family.

Value -based component includes commitment to family values in professional activities.

The psychological component includes needs, motivation and interest in family-orientated competence; it also includes personal attitudes toward the target goal realization and transformations.

Activity component is represented by availability and skills for the implementation of practical family-orientated activities.

Hence, we identified a high, sufficient and elementary levels of family-orientated competence for future educational psychologists.

A high level is characterized by a distinct expression of professionally significant qualities; sustainable professional motivation; family value orientation in professional activities; strong self-improvement and creativity needs; systematized psychological and pedagogical knowledge in matters of family upbringing, family relations.

A sufficient level of preparedness, characterized by an average development of the above mentioned competencies and individual characteristics. An elementary level is connected with poor or ineffective development of the above mentioned qualities.

During the preliminary experiment, we diagnosed future educational psychologist’s knowledge in matters of family upbringing and family relations (table 01 ). All tests were made before students started to learn such courses as «Psychology of Family and Family Relationships” and "Family Pedagogy". The students answered the same questions after the experiment. The results of the questionnaire in 2004-2005 and 2015-2017 at the beginning of the experiment showed that more than a half of the students have an elementary level of development of family-orientated competence; most of them have superficial knowledge on issues of family upbringing and family relations. At the same time, a half of the participants spoke out about the necessity for future educational psychologists to develop the family-orientated competence. The indicators at all points were significantly increased after the experiment.

To determine the level of these courses knowledge that students possess we used a test by Schneider (2000), before and after the experiment. The test content covers the entire program of basic psychology and family pedagogy. This test is made especially for students of psychological and pedagogical departments. There are 6 tasks for each topic in the test. It uses algorithm of partially random selection of tasks limited by block frames (1 - fill in the blanks, 2 - right or wrong, 3 - choose the correct answer). The test includes several variations of tasks, being chosen randomly every time. The test is built on the basis of the gradual tasks complication. Such scheme allows to correct the probability of random responses.

The level of students’ knowledge before and after the experiment is given in table 02 .

As we can observe, the amount of students with elementary knowledge level before the experiment is 69.3% in 2004-2005. This fact creates additional motivation to improve students’ knowledge about psychological and pedagogical methods of work with a family. Re-conducting the survey after the experiment reveals significant changes, students’ knowledge improved to high and sufficient levels. Only 8% of students had an elementary level.

In 2015-2017 the number of students with elementary knowledge level before the experiment is 61.5%. It indicates that bigger amount of future pedagogical psychologists improved knowledge about psychology and family pedagogy. Re-conducting the survey after the experiment shows the growth of amount of students with a high and sufficient level of knowledge. Only 5% of students had an elementary level.

To prove the results of a positive dynamics of students’ knowledge we consider the performance levels of “Psychology of Family and Family Relationships” and “Family Pedagogy” courses based on exam results. Courses performance levels are shown in Tables 03 , 04 .

The exam results confirm that students’ academic progress in "Psychology of Family and Family Relationships", "Family Pedagogy" courses in 2004-2005 and 2015-2017 after the experiment is quite high. It allows to speak about the students’ knowledge positive dynamics and the development of family-orientated competence.

While learning these courses, students were exploring theoretical experience of psychological and pedagogical work with a family, systematization of psychological knowledge in matters of family upbringing, and family relations. All mentioned above was the basis for the family value orientation formation in professional activity. In the context of our study, it was found necessary to identify the formation process of family value orientation in a professional activity. We examined a group of terminal values using "Value Survey" by Rokich (2000), which included a "happy family life" value. The common basis point of the study was the necessity to realize which personal meaning is imported into each value. The main value meaning peculiarity is a high level of its abstraction and generality degree for the socio-cultural environment where a life of a person takes place. It means that despite all the differences in personal meanings, denoted by the same words, the generality is in this value relation to other values. We determined the values of student groups (before and after the experiment) in 2004-2005 and 2015-2017 to identify the family values orientation of these groups; to determine how students’ values hierarchy influences their professional activities, especially family-orientated competence.

In the 2004-2005 groups, before the experiment the following orientations were dominant: good and faithful friends, self-confidence, love, interesting work, happy family life. After the experiment the following values became dominant: love – this fact is typical for a given age, a happy family life, self-confidence, health, fulfilling work. Thus, during the experiment, differences in the value orientations of future educational psychologists with different levels of family-orientated competence were revealed.

In the 2015-2017 groups, before the experiment the following orientations were dominant: love, happy family life, interesting work, good and faithful friends, self-confidence. After the experiment, the following dominant values were revealed: love (typical for this age), a happy family life, health, and interesting work. As a result, it was found out that students’ family values orientation increased after the formative experiment in 2004-2005 groups. As for 2015-2017 groups, it held the leading position already after the experiment.

During the study, the educational process on the courses "Psychology of a Family and Family Relationships" and "Family Pedagogy" was focused on the value of a family in professional activities. Assessment of the effectiveness of changes is possible through diagnostic procedures. Thus, “The Questionnaire of Terminal Values by Senin” was used. (2000).

This questionnaire assumes that life spheres, which are represented in each person life to some extent, have different degrees of significance for different people. On this stage of the experiment we were interested in the following question: which life sphere is the most significant for future educational psychologists. All the groups were tasted two times: before and after obtaining the following courses: "Psychology of Family and Family Relationships" and “Family Pedagogy". The results are presented in Table 05 .

As a result, we can see the difference in the life spheres significance for students before and after the experiment. In 2004-2005, the sphere of a family life took the first place for future educational psychologists. This fact indicates the high importance of everything that relates to the life of one’s family. These people pay a lot of attention, time and energy to solve their family's problems, believing that the main thing in life is their family well-being.

The sphere of study and education remained unchanged, which reflects the desire of a person to improve the relationships with other people. All aspects of human relationships are usually very important for these people. They are often convinced that the most valuable thing is the opportunity to communicate and interact with other people. After the formative experiment the sphere of professional life took the third place. This fact indicates the high importance of professional activity for a person. These people spend a lot of time working, they are involved in all operational issues. Professional activity is the main content of their private lives. The importance of hobbies and interests sphere is low for such people. The importance of social life sphere (which reflects the high importance of society's life problems) decreased insignificantly. For 2015-2017 students a family life sphere took the first place before the experiment, professional life took the second place, study and education took the third one. After the experiment the significance of these spheres increased percentagewise.

The next step was "Personal growth measurement" test (Stepanov, Grigoriev & Kuleshova, 2003). A person reveals his/her personality through his/her attitude towards different life spheres. The attitude (according to this test) can be valuable (positive), non-valuable (indifferent) and anti-valuable (negative). The value attitude is the attitude of a subject to an object as a value. The interest of this study was dynamics of changes of future educational psychologists’ family value orientations; in this regard, the survey was conducted twice – before and after the formative experiment. This allowed to see not only the nature of the students' attitude to a family, but also the changes in this attitude during the following courses learning: "Psychology of Family and Family Relationships" and "Family Pedagogy" and it’s influence the family-orientated competence development. The results are presented in Table 06 .

The dynamics of students’ attitude and family values significance in 2004-2005 and 2015-2017 are similar. Comparing the 2004-2005 group’s tests results before and after the experiment, we observe a steady increase of family value of future educational psychologists.

We got the following results: just 12% of students in 2004-2005 and 13% in 2015-2017 believed the family had a high importance for future educational psychologists. They cherished family traditions and beliefs, they remembered about various trifles, pleasant for family members. Family holidays were always held with their participation and assistance. They wanted to create a happy family in the future. 42% of students in 2004-2005 and 43.2% of students in 2015-2017, considered the family as something valuable. The fact of having a family, and family traditions were perceived as natural by them ("how else could it be?"). These students take part in family celebrations, but without a reminder the one would unlikely remember grandmother's birthday. Parental care is taken for granted. The future family is perceived not to be like the one the student is living in. 36.7% of students in 2004-2005 and 35.6% of students in 2015-2017, had situational and consumer attitude to a family. Their families are to give money and forgive naughtiness. But if they want something serious from their parents, they will achieve it by any means – flattery, lies, temporary obedience. They believe that no one and nothing is obligated. 9.3% of students in 2004-2005, 8.2% of students in 2015-2017 didn’t see any value of the family. This attitude related to the shame on their family, and conscious rejection of any norms, ideas about life, presented in their own families. These could have negatively reflection on their ability and desire to create their own families.

Tests results after the experiment indicated the increase of family value significance to 42.7% in 2004-2005 and 44% in 2015-2017.