Subjective Space Of Possible Action And The Level Of Students Subjective Position

Abstract

The level of subjective position of the teacher influences its development in students. The study aims at studying the relationship between the subjective space of students’ possible action and the level of their subjectivity. The subjective space of possible action implies the subject’s representation of possible actions in the form of an integral system of representations about those actions in choice situations. 32 students of the second baccalaureate year in the department of Pedagogical education (preschool education and primary education) take part in the study. We describe ten problem pedagogical situations. The subjects are instructed to bring as many options as possible for possible action in each situation. According to the results of the study, two groups are identified - with a narrow and broad subjective space of possible action. In the both groups, the level of subjective control is determined as a criterion of subjective position. In the group of the subjects with a narrow subjective space of possible action, the predominance of external control is found. In the group of the subjects with a wide subjective space of possible action, the predominance of the internal control is revealed. We have come to the conclusion about the connection between the characteristics of the subjective space of possible action (narrowness-latitude) and the level of development of the student's subjectivity.

Keywords: The subjective space of possible actionsubjectivity

Introduction

Education is a process in which cooperation between the teacher and the pupil is inevitably carried out. The emotional state of the child, the formation of his educational motives, and his development depend on the characteristics of this educational cooperation. L.S. Vygotsky believes that it is education that leads to the development of the child, relying on the cooperation of the child and the adult within the zone of proximal development (Vygotsky, 1935). Analyzing existing educational strategies, N.E. Veraksa concludes that the most productive strategy in the educational work with preschool children is the amplification of development (Zaporozhets et al., 1965). According to this, the child's life must be saturated as much as possible with the various types and forms of activity that make up the basis of childhood and allow him to successfully enter adulthood in the future. This requires the maximum possible support of the children's initiative on the part of the teacher, support of the selfless activity of children (Veraksa, 2012, 2014). The level of subjectivity of the teacher influences not only his activity and self-development, but also the nature of his relationships with trainees, in particular, the attitude of the teacher to the children's initiative and creative activity. Attitude to oneself as a doer generates the same attitude towards others, including your students. Therefore, in the process of teaching students in a university it is important to develop a subjective position in their own educational and professional activity and their readiness to be the subject in the future professional pedagogical activity.

The notion of subjectivity in psychology.

The term «subjectness» (in English «identity») means a person's ability to act as an author and a source (subject or agent) of his own activity, and its driving force. For the first time this term was by the Soviet psychologist A.N. Leontiev in the work «Activity. Consciousness. Personality» in 1977. By «subjectivity» Leontiev understands those qualities of a person that characterize in the first place the sphere of his activity, namely, the ability to self-determination and creative activity (Leontiev, 1975). R. Harre develops the theory of «subjectivity» in the light of the approach to explaining social behaviour. He believes that autonomy is an important requirement for a person to be considered a subject. So that, «his behaviour (actions and acts) are not completely determined by the conditions of his immediate environment» (Harre, 1979). Harre understands subjectivity as the ability to distance himself from the influence of other people and his own previous experience, that is, previous principles of behaviour and the ability to change one's own life and identity.

Problem Statement

The factors and prerequisites for the development of subjective position of the students in the process of studying at the university have not been studied. As one of the factors of development of subjectivity, one can single out the ability to represent a wider range of possible actions than those that will be realized. Representation by the subject of possible actions in the form of an integral system of representations about those actions in a choice situation, we call the subjective space of possible action (Bagova, 1999).

Research Questions

  • Are there any individual differences between students in the subjective space of possible action in the problem of pedagogical situation?

  • Are there any individual differences at the level of subjectivity of students?

  • Is there any relationship between the subjective space of possible action and the level of subjectivity of students?

Purpose of the Study

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between the subjective space of possible action and the level of subjectivity of students.

Research Methods

We used the method of questioning, «The method of investigating the level of subjective control» (LSC) (Bazhin et al. 1984) and quantitative and qualitative processing of the results. This method was based on the concept of locus of control by J. Rotter. Locus was a place of control, where a person took control of his life, which was attributed to responsibility for his success and failure. However, according to Rotter, locus of control was considered to be universal in relation to any type of situation: locus of control was the same in both achievements and failures. In developing the LSC methodology, the authors proceeded from the assumption that sometimes unidirectional combinations of locus of control were possible in different types of situations. The methodology LSC has the following indicators: Scale of general internality, Internality scale of failure, Internality Scale of achievements, Internality Scale of family relations, Internality Scale of vocational relations, Internality Scale of interpersonal relationships and Internality Scale of health and disease.

Subjective space of possible action of students in the problem pedagogical situation.

We carried out the study engaging 32 students of the second baccalaureate year in the department of Pedagogical education (preschool education and primary education). We compiled the description of ten problem pedagogical situations. The subjects under test were instructed to bring as many possible options as possible in each situation, responding in writing to two questions: 1. How can we act (as usual) in this situation? 2. How would you personally act in this situation? The answers to the first question reflected the results of the past experience of the subjects under test, their idea of ​​how one could behave in the present situation. The answers to the second question reflected the personal position of the subject and the result of his choice. The results of quantitative processing of the protocols are given in Table 1 .

Table 1 -
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The data obtained indicate individual differences between the subjects in the number of response variants. This difference can be interpreted as a latitude-narrowness of the space of possible action. Depending on the results on the basis of expert evaluation, we assigned each subject to one of these two types of dimensionality of the possible action space. 9 subjects were involved in the group with a narrow space of possible action. In the group with a wide space of possible action 23 subjects were in

volved. Two teachers of psychology of the Department of Pedagogical Education of KBSU were experts.

Subjectivity of the subjects

In each of the groups, the «Method of investigating the level of subjective control » (LSK) was applied to study students' subjective experience.

Table 2 -
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Analyzing the results on the scales, we found that low level of subjectivity (externality) on the scales "attitude to failures," "health," "interpersonal relations."

Table 3 -
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Analyzing the results on the scales, we found that on all the scales, high indices and prevalence of an internal type of localization of subjective control, which can be interpreted as a higher level of the development of subjectivity in this group of the subjects.

Findings

In the group of the subjects under test with a narrow subjective space of possible action, the predominance of external control was found. In the group of subjects with a wide subjective space of possible action, the predominance of the internal control was detected. We have made the conclusion about the connection between the characteristics of the subjective space of possible action (narrowness-breadth) and the level of development of the students’ subjective position.

Conclusion

The study aimed at studying relationship between the subjective space of students’ possible action and the level of their subjective position. 32 students took part in the study. We described ten problem pedagogical situations. The subjects under test were instructed to bring as many options as possible for possible action in each situation. According to the results of the study, two groups were distinguished - with a narrow and broad subjective space of possible action. In the both groups, the subjective level of control was determined. In the group of the subjects under test with a narrow subjective space of possible action, the predominance of external control was revealed. In the group of subjects under test with a wide subjective space of possible action, the predominance of the internal control was detected. We have come to the conclusion about the connection between the characteristics of the subjective space of possible action (narrowness-breadth) and the level of development of the students’ subjective position.

References

  1. Bagova, R.H. (1999). The study of the subjective space of possible action and personal self-determination of students. / R.H. Bagova // Problems of modern education. - Moscow: MPGU, - P. 118-127. [in Russian].
  2. Bazhin, E.F. (1984). The method of investigating the level of subjective control / E.F. Bazhin, E.A. Golynkina, A.M. Etkind // Psychological journal.. Vol. 5. No. 3. [in Russian]
  3. Harré, H. Rom. (1979). Social being: a theory for social psychology. : Blackwell, Oxford (Spanish translation).
  4. Leontiev, A.N. (1975). Activity. Consciousness. Personality. Moscow: Politizdat, 1975. - 304 p. [in Russian].
  5. Veraksa, N. (2014). Modern trends in early childhood education development in the natural vs cultural paradigm// European Early Childhood Education Research Journal, 4, 1-5.
  6. Veraksa, N.E. (2012). Subjectivity of preschoolers and teachers / Proceedings of the First International Scientific and Practical Conference "Early Childhood Care and Education" (October 27-28, 2011, Moscow). - M .: MOSAIC-SYNTHESIS, 2012. - p.45 = 49. [in Russian].
  7. Vygotsky, L.S. (1935). Education and development at preschool age / / Vygotsky, LS. Mental development of children in the learning process. M .; L .: Uchpedgiz, 1935. With. 20 - 32. Stenogr. doc. on Vseros. Conf. By doshk. upbringing; [in Russian].
  8. Zaporozhets, A.V., El'konin D.B. (1965). Psychology of personality and activity of preschool children. [in Russian].

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About this article

Publication Date

13 July 2018

eBook ISBN

978-1-80296-042-6

Publisher

Future Academy

Volume

43

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Edition Number

1st Edition

Pages

1-694

Subjects

Child psychology, developmental psychology, child care, child upbringing, family psychology

Cite this article as:

Bagova, R. (2018). Subjective Space Of Possible Action And The Level Of Students Subjective Position. In S. Sheridan, & N. Veraksa (Eds.), Early Childhood Care and Education, vol 43. European Proceedings of Social and Behavioural Sciences (pp. 379-385). Future Academy. https://doi.org/10.15405/epsbs.2018.07.50