Developing Teenagers’ Soft Skills With Mentoring Group In A Children's Camp

Abstract

The article is devoted to research and analysis mentoring group as a way to develop soft skills a teenager in a children’s camp. It reveals the theoretical basis of this process and it raises topical issues of our time. The topic is widely used in psychology and pedagogy it is actively studied for a long time. The topic has received special attention now, when the development of personality and psychological characteristics of a person have become relevant. The knowledge is becoming obsolete, but skills are not, in our time, everyone knows. Especially the universal soft skills of a person do not become obsolete, now it is not enough to acquire professional skills, this is not enough. A person needs to be able to quickly adapt to new conditions and be able to find non-standard solutions to the tasks assigned to the individual. We will be able to develop the necessary skills in a short period of time, we will help teenagers to get over-professional skills during their stay in the children's camp. They will be able to take with them the necessary baggage of soft skills to become a full-fledged personality and all this thanks to mentoring group. This will help the teenager in further professional development and in the development of personal qualities necessary for each person.

Keywords: Child’s camp, development method, mentoring, mentoring group, soft skills

Introduction

The concept of mentoring has gained high popularity in our time, but despite this, its roots have been laid since ancient times, having a high practical significance. This concept is often used in pedagogy and psychology, studying the theoretical and practical significance in the formation of a teenager's personality.

There are various forms of mentoring in educational practice: individual, group, collective, mutual, online. Each has its own pros and cons, which should be based on when building the pedagogical process. We believe that mentoring group is more appropriate. "Mentoring group is the support of a single mentor (or team of mentors) for a group of students with the same or similar educational deficits" (Adams, 2016, p. 14).

Mentoring was considered as a technology of education since ancient times Socrates, we can the following scientists in modern scientific research - Abdullina, Zagvyazinsky, Isaev, Kuzmina, Podymova, Slastenin, etc.

We base our research on the age characteristics, psychological needs of a teenager, as well as on the basis of the implementation of pedagogical activities (Igumnova, 2019). At this age, intimate and personal communication and collective interaction are of great importance. With the help of the first, psychological development takes place and the child learns experiences of communication with his age category, interaction skills are formed, and with the help of the second, the teenager's personality is socialized and becomes ready for further productive activities. This becomes possible thanks to the competent approach of a more knowledgeable person (Thompson, 2019). The mentor helps to form the necessary competencies of a teenager, and also contributes to the formation of a harmoniously developed personality in the conditions of modern realities (Klus & Muller, 2020).

A person is a specific human being that requires exceptional attention, which is why the complex of soft skills that we will develop in adolescents with the help of mentoring will be especially useful not only in their further professional activities, but also will play an important role in the formation of a person. Soft skills are believed to be related to a person's personal qualities and attitudes, as well as to an individual's social skills. With the help of our mentoring group, we will contribute to the development of soft skills of teenagers in the process of organizing the activities of a children's camp

Problem Statement

Many authors have studied the concept of mentoring, its principles, stages and forms. Blinov et al. (2019) adhere to the concept that "mentoring is a relationship in which an experienced or more knowledgeable person helps a less experienced or less knowledgeable person to acquire certain competencies" (Adams, 2016, p. 34). The article Clarina gives a different concept of mentoring. "Mentoring is a way of transferring knowledge, skills and abilities from a more experienced employee to a less experienced one in a particular subject area" (Esaulova, 2017, p. 93). Foreign author Fletcher "Mentoring is a compulsory teaching requirement. Brings to our attention a practical and up-to-date mentoring guide for all practising mentors working in schools at primary and secondary levels, as well as those responsible for initial teacher training" (Gorodilova, 2020, p. 57).

With the help of mentoring group, it is possible to form the appropriate soft skills of a teenager. The amount number of foreign and domestic authors interpret this concept differently in their research. Khizhnaya et al. (2019) and Prishchepova (2019). I believe that "soft skills are a complex of non-specialized, career-important supra-professional skills that are responsible for successful participation in the work process, high productivity, that is, not related to a specific subject area" (Fletcher, 2007, p. 77). Sh. Thompson approves, what «soft skills develop over time, with practice; involve cognitive processes, manipulation of knowledge and an element of discretion in relation to effective and productive interpersonal interactions» (Vetoshkina & Polyanok, 2017). The study by Woodard states that "soft skills can be continually developed through practical application in daily life both inside and outside the workplace. The development of these skills has become a necessity for the formation of a full-fledged personality, in the modern world" (Woodard, 2018, p. 39).

Having studied the literature on this topic, we found out that despite the fact that similar studies have become very popular in the modern world, this topic is still little studied, especially in the field of children's health improvement (Heckman et al., 2013). This process is often considered in the educational environment, in the process of general and professional education, but not in our chosen field (Puzanova, 2019). There is a certain regulatory framework, but the organization of this process is implemented to an insufficient extent (Lee & Scaffolding, 2019).

In connection with all the above, we have identified the problem of our research and identified the following contradictions:

1) Between the requirement of a constantly changing socio-economic environment and the lack of development of modern technologies and methods for developing soft skills of adolescents in a children's health camp through group mentoring

2) Between the development of the theory of group mentoring as a way of developing soft skills in educational activities and the lack of development of this aspect in a children's health camp

3) Between the requirement of local regulations of the Russian Federation and the insufficient organization of this process

Research Questions

We have raised certain research questions that we have formed in the tasks presented below.

1) To reveal the essence and content of the concepts of group mentoring, soft skills, principles, stages and structure of the process;

2) To describe the main characteristics of the process of developing soft skills of adolescents in a children's health camp by means of group mentoring;

3) To test experimentally the effectiveness of group mentoring as a way to develop soft skills of a teenager in a children's health camp;

4) To develop a program and methodological recommendations necessary for group mentoring as a way to develop soft skills of adolescents in a children's camp.

Purpose of the Study

The aim is to study, theoretically substantiate and experimentally test group mentoring as a way to develop soft skills of teenagers in a children's camp.

Research Methods

The methods are developed in accordance with the following regulatory documents:

- Decree of the President of the Russian Federation No. 204 of May 7, 2018 "On National goals and Strategic Objectives of the Development of the Russian Federation for the Period up to 2024»;

- Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation of 31.12.2019 No. 3273-r " On approval of the basic principles of the national system of professional growth of teachers of the Russian Federation, including the national system of teacher growth»;

- Strategy for the development of the volunteer movement in Russia, approved at the meeting of the State Duma Committee on Youth Affairs (Protocol No. 45 of May 14, 2010) —

- Fundamentals of the State youth policy of the Russian Federation for the period up to 2025, approved by the order of the Government of the Russian Federation of November 29, 2014 No. 2403-R.

Thus, the research methods:

1. Theoretical (analysis of scientific literature).

2. Empirical (observation, questioning, testing), psychological and pedagogical experiment

3. Methods of mathematical statistics

Findings

We conclude based on all of the above, that our article reveals the essence and content of the concepts of group mentoring and soft skills. We have identified the forms and types of these concepts. The analysis of the literature allowed us to explore this topic from different angles, to delve into the process of studying and highlight the main content points.

Studying domestic and foreign literature, we described and highlighted the main characteristics of the process of developing soft skills of adolescents in a children's camp by means of mentoring group. We have revealed the theoretical basis of our research

The goals and objectives of the study revealed by us allowed us to highlight the features, the main idea of this work. They showed what is the main structure of our activity and pinpointed the underlying idea, showing all the main significance of the disclosure of this process in the present time.

The methodological framework is based on the regulatory and legal features of Russian education. It highlights current trends and current problems of the modern education system. The methodological basis allows us to state that the topic of our study "Group mentoring as a way to develop soft skills of a teenager in a children's health camp" meets the needs of modern society and modern education.

The effectiveness of mentoring group as a way to develop soft skills of teenager in a children's camp by means of mentoring group we will test experimentally. We will also develop a program and methodological recommendations necessary for mentoring group as a way to develop soft skills of teenagers in a children's camp.

Conclusion

Mentoring group is a suitable way of pedagogical interaction in a children's camp. The camp is considered a suitable environment for implementing this approach. In the camp, the role of collective interaction is high and this sphere nobly contributes to the psychological development of the individual. There are no strict limits of restriction, as in basic education, there is no focus on a specific area of development, as in additional education.

In the children's camp, there is freedom of thought and ideas, creative abilities are formed, and psychologically significant skills can be developed. If we focus our attention on group mentoring as a way to develop soft skills of a teenager in a children's camp, we can be sure that this method will have a significant contribution to the formation of personality. Together, these soft skills will help a teenager to be a competitive personality, learn to quickly adapt to changing living conditions and look for non-standard solutions to any problem, as well as help create a harmonious, well-developed personality.

The theoretical part of our work provided an opportunity to identify the position of the problem of mentoring group as a way to develop soft skills of a teenager in a children's camp. The study of psychological and pedagogical literature revealed to us the essence and content of the concepts of "mentoring group" and "soft skills", allowed us to explain what is the basis of our research work.

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