The socio-psychological climate of the student group is endowed with a number of features that stem from the socio-psychological nature of the student group itself, which, in turn, are generated by the leading activity of students - study, which has specific psychological characteristics. Cognitive activity training is intellectual work, the complexity and intensity of which reaches a high level. As a result of students completing educational tasks, they develop professionally important knowledge, abilities, skills and personality traits. Educational work, therefore, has two kinds of results: a) external - completing educational tasks, i.e. studying the specified literature, performing tests and other works, and even answering questions exam questions; b) internal - relevant beliefs, skills, mastered methods of solving professionally important practical problems, moral and motivational qualities of the individual.
The specificity of educational tasks is that they are usually not distributed among students, but are solved by each of them in full. If in production general tasks are divided into specific ones corresponding to specialties within a particular division of labor, then in the educational process the general task of the group, with some exceptions (role-playing, simulation games, etc.), is also the task of each individual student.
This indivisibility of educational tasks, or even the absence of such a thing as a common task of the group, does not stimulate collective activity and educational interaction among students. Hence the climate of individualism, which hinders the development of a common educational environment for the group and the university.
At the same time, the similarity of the educational tasks being solved is important factor brings students closer together, helps them understand individual style academic work each other, exchange experiences, correctly evaluate their comrades and practice mutual assistance. Students on equal rights can discuss the topics being studied and problems of study in general, paying attention to methods of work, reveal the causes of difficulties, express useful recommendations. Here, everyone’s working methods, the causes of shortcomings, and ways to eliminate them can become the subject of a business conversation. As a result, they are created favorable conditions for friendly joint study, stimulation of educational and social activity of students, development of mutual assistance.
In a production organization, where everyone is busy with their own business, such interaction and such assistance are more difficult to obtain.
A specific feature student group is its adopted goal - to provide favorable conditions for mastering each university curriculum and comprehensive preparation for independent professional activity. The implementation of this goal is achieved by the fact that, firstly, the group creates an environment of interaction, mutual assistance and collective work, which stimulates individual activity, and, secondly, students, as members of the team, gain experience in solving their intra-collective problems, practically become acquainted with socio-psychological regulatory mechanisms life together and efficiency and, thus, prepare themselves for successful work in leading a team in the future.
The student group is characterized by the peculiarities of its composition. Here, along with the relative homogeneity of education, age and some other data, there are significant interpersonal and social differences.
Today, student groups represent different social strata modern society. Conventionally, it is possible to divide the students who are part of the academic group according to their belonging to three status layers: high, middle and low. For a student who has high status, middle-status and low-status classmates, and for a student occupying an average status - low-status - are not equal in both formal and informal interaction, and, moreover, sometimes find themselves in a subordinate position. They are sometimes simply unattractive to those “superior”. A high-status group member is a bearer of informal power. His opinion on significant group issues is decisive. At the same time, an emotional and personal attitude towards a superior student can be both negative and positive. High-status students may be friendly with each other, but they may also be intensely competitive.
Average-status members of a student group are most often friends with each other. Sometimes they join subgroups of followers of competing leaders. It happens that this category of students does not contact each other at all.
For outsiders, the student community loses its attractiveness; contacts with fellow students cease to be personally significant. This leads to the emergence of reference groups outside the university.
Thus, social inequality has its impact on the socio-psychological climate of the student group.
The socio-psychological climate of groups that consist of students of different nationalities with certain traditions is influenced by the ethnic factor. Students of some nationalities sometimes stand apart and show intolerance in communication. Adaptation in a team is important for them, the effectiveness of which depends on many factors: the socio-cultural distance between the population of the host environment and students who find themselves in the minority, individual psychological flexibility, characteristics of their native culture, religious beliefs, language abilities, etc.
True, there are socio-psychological studies that show that, on average, after two years of studying together, there is a significant leveling of socio-cultural differences between students - representatives of different economic, social and national groups.
One of the features of the student body that influences its climate is the simplicity of its organizational structure: students, they are students, who within the same study group are not differentiated by specialties and specializations, especially by “positions” and work functions, as in the labor force. team. Everyone is equal in formal and official terms, and only the elders stand out a little from this layer.
The psychology of the student group, including its climate, is distinguished by the fact that it is formed, as they say, “from scratch.” First-year students do not join existing groups, but create their own, albeit on the basis of traditions existing at the university (institute, faculty), including under the influence of special traditions of senior years. In subsequent development, the student team goes through a number of stages of consolidation, in general outline corresponding to the dynamics described by A.S. Makarenko. One of the most difficult and important stages in the history of the student body and in the life of each individual student is the initial period. At this time, students are poorly oriented in the conditions of university life and study, do not know how to interact with each other, coordinate their efforts when performing educational tasks, which leads to a large expenditure of effort, causes fatigue and gives rise to a distorted idea of the difficulties of studying.
In the process of developing group psychology, mastering the skills of collective thinking, coordinating views and developing common opinions is essential. A study group living the same life and the same educational and business goals gets a lot of practice in collective discussion of various problems and quickly develops its opinion on any issue that attracts interest, as a result of which unity of views and actions is easily achieved. Along with the undoubted advantages of this socio-psychological phenomenon, certain costs, haste, insufficient criticality when perceiving and discussing information, and instability of opinions are possible.
The climate of the student group is influenced by a number of technical, sanitary and hygienic factors: the equipment of classrooms, the provision of educational and scientific literature, development of training programs, etc.
It goes without saying that all processes of formation of the psychological climate are influenced by the individual characteristics of students, and their combination, which contributes or hinders the formation of a spirit of community in the team. The individual-personal factor determines role, status and leadership processes. Some students become more popular, take on more significant roles, and become leaders, while others experience difficulties in group dynamics, remaining for some time as outsiders. If the group does not become a reference group for such students, then they can compensate for their low status by participating in other groups that are more personally significant to them in the course, department or outside the university.
Others are drawn to students who occupy a high status, and as a result, microgroups of 3–5 people are formed. Each microgroup is relatively isolated, has its own socio-psychological climate, a special style of relationships depending on the individual psychological characteristics of its members. Students in microgroups support each other and strive to spend time together. Further differentiation also occurs at the level of microgroups.
All these processes and phenomena are ultimately concentrated in the psychological climate of the group. A favorable climate in a group is experienced by each person as a state of satisfaction with relationships with classmates, teachers, their work, learning, processes and results. This improves a person’s mood and has a positive effect on the desire to learn and develop their creative skills. If a group successfully copes with its tasks, then its members experience warm mutual feelings and are proud of their group membership and their group. A favorable socio-psychological climate is a condition for increasing interest in learning.
It is difficult to direct an insufficiently cohesive group to solve any problem. An unfavorable climate is individually experienced as dissatisfaction with relationships in the group, conditions and content of training. This affects a person’s mood and his attendance at classes.
It is in this way that the socio-psychological climate of the student group influences student performance.
Psychological characteristics of the student group, its structure.
The student group is an element of the pedagogical system. He carries out management functions through feedback: teacher - group, group - teacher (curator). In psychology there is even the concept of a group subject - a community of people with appropriate characteristics.
The student group is an autonomous and self-sufficient community. She is able to solve her own internal problems, and her activity is connected with the social life of the institute (faculty), university, solving social issues (for example, student construction teams, participation in the work of student government bodies, etc.).
Students in the academic group are united by:
general purpose and objectives of vocational training;
joint educational and professional activities;
connections of a business and personal nature (active participation of each student in the life of the group - good school the right to experience living and working in any production team);
homogeneity of the group composition by age (late adolescence or early adulthood);
high awareness of each other (both about successes and personal lives);
active interaction in the communication process;
high level of student self-government;
the period of existence of the group, limited by the period of study at universities.
Between students, firstly, functional connections are established, which are determined by the distribution of functions between students as members of the group, and secondly, emotional connections, or interpersonal communications, which arise on the basis of sympathies and common interests. In this regard, a student group may have the following structure:
1. Official substructure, which is characterized intended purpose groups - professional training, assistance in developing the personality of a future specialist. It is based on the authority of the official leader - the headman, appointed by the directorate (dean's office), as well as other leaders who carry out role management of the group, organize business relations between group members (trade union organizer, cultural organizer, editor, etc.). - This is a business relationship.
2. An unofficial substructure arises when a group is divided into microgroups that arise on the basis of the same interests, manifestations of empathy, sympathy for each other - this emotional sphere relationships.
During the period of its existence, the student academic group develops and goes through several stages, each of which is characterized by qualitative features of the following parameters:
direction of behavior and activities of group members;
organization of group members;
communication skills of group members.
The holistic characteristics of the student group are the following indicators:
intra- and integrative activity;
psychological microclimate in the group (emotional status);
referentiality of the group - its significance, authority for group members;
management and leadership;
cohesion, etc.
Based on these indicators, the following stages of development of the student group are determined:
1st stage - a nominal group, which has only an external, formal association of students by order of the rector and the list of the directorate (dean's office);
2nd stage - association - initial interpersonal integration, primary association of students according to common features.
Stage 3 - cooperation, at which the socio-psychological and didactic adaptation of students is almost complete. It turns out that the unofficial organizers are authoritative activists of the group. They are assigned social attitudes and leadership of the internal life of the group.
General requirement to the group at this stage is as follows: show sensitivity to comrades, mutual respect, help each other, etc.. Only under such socio-psychological conditions the group will reach the highest level of its development.
Stage 4 - the student academic group becomes a team.
In each group, there is an immediate exchange of socio-psychological information.
Group norms are a set of rules and requirements developed by a group that regulate the behavior of its members.
Group mood is the general emotional state that prevails in a group and creates an emotional atmosphere in it.
Group cohesion is determined by the measure of the group's commitment to its members.
Self-affirmation - each member of the team recognizes himself as part of it and tries to take and maintain a certain position in it.
Collectivist self-determination - although each student has a certain freedom for individual judgment in the group, for him the most significant is the collective opinion, group assessment, and the guide to action is the group decision.
The reasons for contradictions in the student body may be as follows:
inadequate assessment of the partner;
inflated self-esteem of individual students;
violation of the sense of justice;
distortion by an individual student of information about another;
authoritarianism of the leader of the group as a whole or of a separate microgroup;
incorrect attitude towards each other;
just a misunderstanding with each other.
Types of intragroup conflicts:
role conflict - inadequate fulfillment of social roles;
conflict of desires, interests, etc.;
conflict of norms of behavior, values, life experience.
IN last years In applied psychological research, interest in problems associated with group activities of people has noticeably increased. The relevance of these issues is primarily determined by practical needs, as well as trends in the development of large and ultra-large systems. All of them are characterized by some common features: a large number of their constituent subsystems and elements, a complex structure, significant flows of information circulation, a high level of mechanization and automation. Large and ultra-large systems cannot be serviced by one specialist; as a rule, a group of specialists takes part in their management and maintenance. In this regard, the student group, where a future specialist is formed and develops, is of great interest. Group maintenance of large systems brings to the fore a number of problems that require a comprehensive study of the joint group activities of specialists united in various small groups and teams. The effectiveness of group activities in large systems is determined not only and not so much by the characteristics of individual specialists, but by the characteristics of their interaction with each other, psychological compatibility, teamwork and organization, the distribution of functions between them, the psychological structure of small groups, and so on. Features of group collaboration play a big role in the process of performing work by a group of specialists in conditions of direct interaction. Practice shows that in such a situation, even minor differences in opinions, assessments, or some inconsistency in actions can quickly develop into an interpersonal conflict. Group activities place demands on consistency, teamwork, psychological compatibility specialists. It places participants in interconnected relationships, assumes mutual responsibility and requires coordination of actions. A student group, having the specific nature of group activity, which is determined by its organization, directly uses various forms of organizing joint activities, which require constant interaction from students, a clear distribution of individual operations, consistency and a high level of coordination of work. All this leads to an increase in the importance of socio-psychological support for group activities of students. Including this, joint group activity of people in modern conditions is characterized by the following mandatory components: - a clear distribution of functions performed between the participants in the joint activity; - combining distributed functions in space and time, that is, their simultaneous execution various participants; - coordination of distributed and combined functions, that is, a strict sequence of their implementation according to a specific program, taking into account the activities of each participant. Group activity differs from individual activity not only in the presence of interaction between people in the process of carrying out the activity, but also in the nature of the inclusion of interaction in the structure of the activity itself. In a student group, along with group activities, there is individual activity, which provides big influence for the formation and development interpersonal relationships, which, in turn, are projected onto the educational process in maximizing its result. In individual activity, interaction and communication between people may also be present, but this does not fundamentally change the structure of individual activity. Interaction in this case seems to be present in parallel with activity in the form of communication between specialists about the activity or for some other reason. In group activities, the interaction of specialists is organically included in the joint activity and fundamentally changes its structure. To describe group activity, it is necessary to use such concepts as interaction, communication, assistance, coordination. The structure of group activity of specialists includes the following main elements: - group goal - this is what the group strives to achieve in joint activities, the result ideally represented by it. A group goal can be described in the form of more private and specific group tasks, the step-by-step solution of which brings the group closer to achieving common goal; - group motive is what encourages a group to work together, a direct motivating force; - group action is an element of joint activity that is aimed at completing the current (fairly simple) group task. Group actions are performed using general group action tools; - group result is what the group actually achieves in joint activities. The most important point in organizing group activities is the need for distribution, combination and coordination for each of its main structural components functions between all participants. In accordance with this, we can identify some features of human activity that essentially make it a group joint activity: - commonality (unity) of the goals of the activity for its participants; - distribution and coordination of specific tasks that participants in the activity need to perform jointly; - community (unity) or consistency of motives of participants in group activities; - distribution and consistency of actions and operations performed in joint activities; - commonality (unity) of the result of joint activities for a group of specialists. Let us consider from these positions a student group as one of the varieties of small social groups. To do this, we need to decide on the basic concept regarding the small group. There is no generally accepted definition; different authors use different forms of presenting this concept, which makes it difficult to identify them. Let us first present the definition of a social group given by J. Shepanski in the book “Elementary Concepts of Sociology”, and on its basis we will try to formulate the concept of a “small group”. A social group is an association of people (at least three persons), based on common participation in some activity, connected by the system relations that are regulated by their functional relationships, as well as by social rights and responsibilities determined by relevant institutions, group members have common values and are separated from other communities by principles of separation. Based on the definition of a social group, a small group can be considered a small (no more than 20-30 people) social group in composition, whose members interact with each other personally and have common goals. In other words, the main (generic) characteristic of a small group is a social group, and the specific difference is interpersonal relationships and direct contacts. Therefore, a small group is usually understood as a small social group whose members are united general activities and are in direct personal contact, which is the basis for the emergence of both emotional relationships in the group and special group values and norms of behavior. Small groups, by definition, include one or another production, scientific, sports teams, small military units, university study groups, etc. Problems of relationships in small groups are discussed in the section on formal and informal interpersonal relationships. If formal relationships are determined by job position and qualification standards, then informal ones are determined by the psychological climate in the group, internal motives, incentives and other factors that determine the psychological essence of the content of the activities of individual group members. In small groups, which include the object of study - the student group, the informal structure of relationships can have such an impact strong influence on the processes of their functioning, which sometimes changes the formal relationships between team members and affects the quality of their joint activities. On the other hand, the informal structure depends on the formal structure of the group to the extent that the members of the group subordinate their behavior to the goals and objectives of joint activities, and the rules of role interaction. However, in such groups interpersonal relationships remain very effective. The concept of “relationship” is often given the same meaning as it has in everyday speech, understanding relationships as a system of conscious and subjectively determined interactions of individuals. However, this understanding somewhat narrows the boundaries of the relationships of individuals in the group described above. Relationship is a broad concept, which means one of the forms of unity of objects, phenomena and properties; it is based on a certain real or conceivable commonality of two or more objects between which relationships are established. Relationships include a variety of dependencies, correlations, and connections. These are both subjective relations (communication between individuals) and objective ones, for example, industrial relations. Interpersonal communication, in the corresponding understanding of the term, is determined exclusively by personal characteristics, people’s craving for information and emotional exchanges. By its nature, interpersonal communication ignores the status of the group, which immediately provides and explains the causal essence of its communication channels with the environment. On the one hand, without interaction, without interpersonal communication, individuals cannot survive, and on the other hand, the norms of this interpersonal communication in the community still limit the freedom of the individual at the level of self-regulation. There is no need to talk about the individual’s absolute, unconditional acceptance of the social duality of his position in the community. Hence the internal conflict in the formations under consideration, including the dyad and triad. Ignoring the conflicting duality of the individual’s position can be traced in the fundamental works of V. M. Bekhterev, and in the compilative works of M. E. Shaw, and even in American works on the nature of anomie. The reason for the oversight is easy to see in the personal importance of interpersonal communication for each researcher as a person. In this sense, the view of K. Horney is interesting: “Emotional isolation - ordeal for every person, but when combined with prejudice and self-doubt, it turns into a disaster.” Essentially, starting from this ideological and thematic moment, trends in small group research divided into two directions. After introducing the concept into typology formal group small group theory has completely abandoned the second feature of generality. Collins can confidently be considered the founder of the second direction, who divided the motives of an individual in a small group into pragmatic and emotional. Drawing a conclusion from a review of definitions and trends in small group research, we can say that the first direction laid the foundation for K. Lewin’s Gestalt psychology, and the second - the foundations of operational management with its socio-psychological and economic directions. If the second sign of community narrows the freedom of the individual already at the level of representing the internal content of society, then the introduced conditions of the type, external status of the group only worsen the picture. An approach to the study of contact groups from the point of view of the concepts of a group with external status and external status itself seems important already because of the list of phenomenological features inherent in both. Firstly, the axiomatics of phenomenology include the incompatibility of external status and interpersonal communication, which makes the group internally conflicting by definition. Secondly, professional qualification stratification in general case may not correspond to the personal structure of the group, which is generated by interpersonal communication and the personal characteristics of individuals. From all of the above, we can conclude that the student group, as a small group with external status, has a number of problems, the solution of which will make it possible to achieve the goals set before higher education tasks - high-quality training of specialists. It is understood not only as mastery of a system of knowledge regarding empirical facts, not only skills in technology of action, but also mastery of theoretical principles derived from the system of scientific-theoretical knowledge, culture of thinking, erudition, and the ability to introduce scientific achievements into practice. Graduates high school constitute a special layer of the intelligentsia. These are the bearers of the basic spiritual values of society and human culture.
Psychological characteristics of the student group.
The term "students" means a social and professional group, including students of higher education. educational institutions.
The learning process is not only about gaining knowledge and gaining experience related to future profession, but also in self-realization, the practice of interpersonal relationships, and self-education. Undoubtedly, the period of study at a university is the most important period of human socialization. Socialization is generally understood as the process and result of an individual’s assimilation and active reproduction of social experience, carried out in communication and activity. At student age, all mechanisms of socialization are involved: this includes mastering social role student and preparation for mastering a new social role associated with a future profession, and mechanisms of social influence on the part of the teachers of the student group. Since student age is characterized by the desire for independence, freedom of choice life path and ideals, independence, studying at a university is a powerful factor in the socialization of a student’s personality.
The characteristics of student age largely depend on the socio-economic level of development of the country and the conditions that currently exist in the labor market. The threat of remaining unclaimed in the labor market is typical for all students of our generation. Students understand education as a resource for mastering new social roles, capital for investment when achieving the desired social status. The main motives for choosing any specialty are: success, education, prestige of the future profession. The desire of young people to be successful in life, the construction of various strategies for achieving success indicate an increase in the investment function of education. Young people are trying to try out these life strategies as early as possible. Moreover, the demand for certain specialties in the labor market largely determines the motivation and specifics of school graduates’ choice of future profession. The time of studying at a university coincides with the second period of adolescence or the first period of maturity, which is characterized by the complexity of the formation of personality traits. Characteristic feature moral development at this age is the strengthening of conscious motives of behavior. Those qualities that were completely lacking in high school are noticeably strengthened - purposefulness, determination, perseverance, independence, initiative, and the ability to control oneself. Boys and girls at this age are trying to understand their needs, interests, abilities, values, and opportunities.
Youth is a time of introspection and self-assessment. At this stage, a comparison of the “ideal self” with the “real self” takes place. The lack of objectivity in this comparison can cause a young man to have internal self-doubt and a feeling of incomprehensibility, which may be accompanied by external aggressiveness or swagger. Adolescence, according to E. Erikson, is built around an identity crisis, consisting of social and individual personal choices, identifications and self-definitions. If a young man at this stage fails to resolve these problems, he develops an inadequate identity, which can cause a number of problems in subsequent personality development.
A necessary condition successful activities The student’s goal is to master the new features of studying at a university and quickly adapt, which leads to the elimination of the feeling of discomfort and prevents conflicts with the environment into which the student has entered. Student age, according to B. G. Ananyev, is a sensitive period for satisfying basic sociogenic human needs, ᴛ.ᴇ. a favorable period for the development of a person as an individual.
For this reason, in modern pedagogy and psychology, the approach to education begins to prevail not as the formation of an individual in accordance with the dominant ideal in society, but as the creation of conditions for the self-development of the individual.
The favorable position of the student in the environment and in the student body contributes to the normal development of the individual. During the initial courses, a student team is formed, skills and abilities in organizing mental activity are formed, a calling for the chosen profession is realized, an optimal regime of work, leisure and life is developed, a system of work on self-education and self-education of professionally significant personality qualities is established.
The student environment itself, the characteristics of the student group to which the person belongs, and the characteristics of other reference groups have a powerful socializing effect on the student’s personality. The behavior of people in a group differs from their individual behavior. Due to the formation and subordination of group norms and values, the behavior of group members becomes similar, but the opposite effect is also possible. An individual group member, as an individual, can have a powerful influence on the group as a whole. In a student group, dynamic processes of structuring, forming and changing interpersonal relationships, promoting leaders, distributing group roles, etc. take place. All these processes have a strong impact on the student’s personality, on the success of his educational activities and professional development, on his behavior. For this reason, it is very important to understand and take into account the characteristics of the student group when organizing educational activities.
Researchers have found that the level of academic performance and position of students in a study group depends on the level of formation of interpersonal relationships in it. It has been proven that it is easier for a student to study in a group with a more differentiated and more stable structure of relationships. The activities of the student group serve as the basis on which the relationships between its members develop.
Τᴀᴋᴎᴍ ᴏϬᴩᴀᴈᴏᴍ, knowledge of the student’s individual characteristics͵ on the basis of which a system is built for including him in new types of activities and new circle communication, makes it possible to avoid maladjustment and successfully form a student team. For this reason it is very important point is the transformation of a student group into a team, and the introduction of a recent applicant to student forms of collective life.
A student group, like any other small group, can grow and develop. In his concept of group development, L.I. Umansky identifies the following criteria for the development of a group: the moral orientation of the group; organizational unity; group preparedness in a certain business area and psychological unity of the group. Using these parameters, it is also possible to identify the levels of development of the student group.
From the point of view of Yu.M. Kondratiev, speaking about the formation of a student group, it is extremely important to mainly characterize the first, third and fifth years. This is due to the fact that groups of first-year students can be assessed as groups of “becoming”, study groups of third-year students – as groups of relatively “mature”, and study groups of fifth-year students can be conditionally designated as groups of “dying”, ᴛ.ᴇ. finally ending their life activity.
According to S.A. Bagretsov, communication plays a large role in the development of a group subject. Communication and activity are independent forms of group activity, but they are closely interconnected.
It is noted that the “subjectivity of a group in the sphere of communication is manifested in the desire of its members to belong to it not formally, but psychologically to have a close psychological distance from each other, their community, to participate in joint actions, while experiencing positive emotions.
The formation of a study group as a subject of communication creates internal prerequisites for its further transformation into a subject of activity and relationships. ʼʼRelationships in a small group are a complex formation. Their structure includes formal and informal, business and personal, leadership, reference relationships ʼʼ . And on this basis, the properties of the group subject of relationships are highlighted: cohesion, as commitment to the group of its members, referentiality and subordination.
Based on the approaches of Yu.M. Kondratiev and S.A. Bagretsov, we can give the following characteristics of the basic stages of development of study groups at a university:
First course. The group acts as the subject of communication. The emotional and volitional sides are developed at a high level. There is a focus on the formation of a cooperative type of interaction. Group consciousness and self-awareness, as well as perceptual unity, begin to form. Average indicators of psychological distance are observed. Focus and motivation have not yet been formed, that is, there are no common goals, no common motivation for joint activities. There is no clear distribution of tasks, functions, duties, rights and responsibilities. There is a lack of leaders, but a large number of outsiders (this is explained by insufficient knowledge of value orientations and personal characteristics each other). Business leadership prevails over emotional leadership.
High-status freshmen, when assessing and comparing their accomplices with each other, strictly focus on their status superiority. Average-status freshmen try not to distinguish themselves from high-status freshmen, but at the same time they emphasize their dissimilarity from outsiders. Low-status freshmen easily distinguish between status inequality between high-status and average-status freshmen, and do not recognize their differences with unofficial leaders.
Second course. The group acts as a formed subject of joint activities. Adaptation processes have already been completed, but focus and structure are still not sufficiently developed. It is not communication that dominates, but relationships, which is a characteristic of groups with low effectiveness. However, the relationship is not necessarily successful.
The fact of entering a university strengthens students’ faith in their own strengths and abilities, gives rise to hope for a full-blooded and interesting life. At the same time, in the second and third years the question often arises about the correct choice of university, specialty, and profession. By the end of the third year, the issue of professional self-determination is finally resolved. It happens that at this time decisions are made to avoid working in their specialty in the future.
Third course. At this time, division into specialization begins, which helps to strengthen the educational process and increase group forms of educational work. Integrative processes dominate in groups, which creates psychological and organizational unity in groups. Now the communication factor dominates. At this stage, the group can be characterized as an established subject of joint activity. The relevance of study groups for their members is reduced. The authority of official leaders is taking shape.
High-status third-year students, just like high-status first-year students, strictly focus on their status superiority when evaluating and comparing their participants with each other. At the same time, in a number of cases, unofficial leaders and conditions of “mature” groups, when assessing their accomplices, emphasized their similarity with some average-status students (the support group of a particular unofficial leader) and their low dissimilarity with specific, high-status group members - competitors. Average-status third-year students are clear adherents of the method of evaluating accomplices through the prism of their belonging to one or another intragroup status layer. “Outsiders” show an even greater willingness to view their accomplices through the prism of status than their average-status classmates.
Fourth year in college. Relationships dominate, relationships are restructured according to sympathies, which are of a more individual nature, which is associated with the approaching end of university studies. The subjectivity of groups in the field of activity is weakly expressed.
Fifth year. The subjectivity of groups in communication is weakly expressed. There is no focus on communication. Perceptual unity, intellectual, emotional and volitional communication are reduced. There is a pronounced criticality in the self-perception of groups of fifth-year students, which is expressed in an underestimation of group self-esteem. The system of relationships in groups is gradually disintegrating. The attractiveness of their own groups increases; fifth-year students are satisfied with groups that do not place high demands on them, allow low cohesion, allow each of them to achieve their own goals and realize their own interests, regardless of their community, ensuring psychological independence.
High-status and average-status fifth-year students, being members of student communities that are completing their life activities, are guided by the intragroup status hierarchy, evaluating their accomplices only in cases when it comes to “outsiders”. Low-status students from these groups generally do not take into account the presence of an intragroup informal status hierarchy when making a single comparison of participants.
However, it must be emphasized that at each level of development, a student group has certain psychological characteristics that undoubtedly affect the success of the group’s joint activities and relationships in it. A group can manifest itself as either a subject of communication, or a subject of relationships, or a subject of activity, and combinations are also possible.
Also, relationships between group members largely depend on the climate in the group; in this regard, it is important to study the socio-psychological climate of each group and find out by what parameters its favorability is determined.
Psychological characteristics of the student group. - concept and types. Classification and features of the category "Psychological characteristics of the student group." 2017, 2018.
Students are a social and professional group that includes university students.
The learning process is not only about gaining knowledge and experience related to the future profession, but also about self-realization, the practice of interpersonal relationships, and self-education. Undoubtedly, the period of study at a university is the most important period of human socialization. Socialization is understood as “the process and result of the individual’s assimilation and active reproduction of social experience, carried out in communication and activity.” At student age, all mechanisms of socialization are involved: this includes mastering the social role of a student, and preparation for mastering a new social role associated with a future profession, and mechanisms of social influence on the part of teachers of the student group. Since student age is characterized by the desire for independence, freedom of choice of life path and ideals, independence, studying at a university is a powerful factor in the socialization of the student’s personality. A necessary condition for the successful activity of a student is the mastery of new features of studying at a university and rapid adaptation, which leads to the elimination of the feeling of discomfort and prevents conflicts with the environment into which the student has entered. Student age, according to B.G. Ananyev, is a sensitive period for satisfying the basic sociogenic needs of a person, i.e. a favorable period for the development of a person as an individual. Therefore, in modern pedagogy and psychology, the approach to education begins to prevail not as the formation of personality in accordance with the dominant ideal in society, but as the creation of conditions for the self-development of the individual
There are several fairly formal signs of group structure, which, however, were identified mainly in the study of small groups: the structure of preferences, the structure of “power,” the structure of communications. The student group belongs to a small group, so before starting to study it, it is necessary to consider the phenomenon of a small group. Researchers have repeatedly turned to the definition of the concept “small group”, formulating a huge number of various, sometimes very different and even contradictory definitions. This is explained by the fact that the authors, trying to define a small group, as a rule, proceeded from their own understanding of it, focusing on certain aspects of the group process.
Having studied a large number different interpretations, researchers studying the small group concluded the following: “A small group is understood as a small group in composition, the members of which are united by a common social activities and are in direct personal communication, which is the basis for the emergence of emotional relationships, group norms and group processes." This is a fairly universal definition in social psychology. But it does not pretend to be an accurate definition and is rather descriptive in nature, since it allows for the most different interpretations, depending on what content is given to the concepts included in it.
However, if we consistently consider the group as a subject of activity, then its structure must be approached accordingly. Apparently, in this case, the most important thing is to analyze the structure of group activity, which includes a description of the functions of each group member in this joint activity. At the same time, a very significant characteristic is the emotional structure of the group - the structure of interpersonal relationships, as well as its connection with the functional structure of group activity. In social psychology, the relationship between these two structures is often considered as the relationship between “informal” and “formal” relations.
Thus, composition (composition), group structure and dynamics of group life (group processes) are mandatory parameters for describing a group in social psychology.
Another part of the conceptual framework that is used in group studies concerns the individual's position in the group as a member. The first of the concepts used here is the concept of "status" or "position", denoting the place of the individual in the system of group life. The terms “status” and “position” are often used as synonyms, although a number of authors consider the concept of “position” to have a slightly different meaning. The concept of “status” finds its widest application in describing the structure of interpersonal relationships, for which the sociometric technique is best suited. But the designation of the status of an individual in a group obtained in this way cannot in any way be considered satisfactory.
Firstly, because the place of an individual in a group is not determined solely by his social status; It is important not only to what extent the individual, as a member of the group, enjoys the affection of other group members, but also what place he occupies in the structure of the group’s activity relations. Secondly, status is always some unity of the characteristics objectively inherent in an individual, which determine his place in the group, and the subjective perception of him by other group members. Objective characteristics of status simply do not appear in this case. And thirdly, when characterizing the status of an individual in a group, it is necessary to take into account the relations of the broader social system into which this group includes - the “status” of the group itself. This circumstance is not indifferent to the specific position of a group member. But this third sign is also not taken into account in any way when determining status using the sociometric method. The question of developing an adequate methodological technique for determining the status of an individual in a group can only be resolved with the simultaneous theoretical development of this concept.
The next characteristic of an individual in a group is “role”. A role is a dynamic aspect of status, revealed through a list of those real functions that are assigned to an individual by a group and the content of group activity. If we take a group such as a family, then its example can show the relationship between status, or position, and role. In a family, different status characteristics exist for each of its members: there is the position (status) of mother, father, eldest daughter, youngest son, etc. If we now describe the set of functions that are “prescribed” by the group of each position, we will get a description of the role of mother, father, eldest daughter, youngest son, etc. One cannot imagine a role as something immutable: its dynamism lies in the fact that while maintaining status, the set of functions corresponding to it can vary greatly in different groups of the same type, and most importantly in the course of development of both the group itself and the broader social structure, in which it is included. An example with a family clearly illustrates this pattern: the change in the role of spouses during historical development families are a current topic of modern socio-psychological research.
An important component of characterizing an individual’s position in a group is the system of “group expectations.” This term denotes the simple fact that each member of the group not only performs his functions in it, but is also necessarily perceived and evaluated by others. In particular, this refers to the fact that each position, as well as each role, is expected to perform certain functions, and not only a simple list of them, but also the quality of performance of these functions. The group, through a system of expected patterns of behavior corresponding to each role, controls the activities of its members in a certain way. In a number of cases, a discrepancy may arise between the expectations that the group has regarding any of its members and his actual behavior, the actual way he fulfills his role. In order for this system of expectations to be somehow defined, there are two more extremely important formations in the group: group norms and group sanctions.
All group norms are social norms, i.e. represent "establishments, models, standards of behavior, from the point of view of society as a whole and social groups and their members."
In a narrower sense, group norms are certain rules that are developed by a group, accepted by it and to which the behavior of its members must obey in order for them to Team work was possible. Norms thus perform a regulatory function in relation to this activity. Group norms are related to values, since any rules can be formulated only on the basis of acceptance or rejection of some socially significant phenomena. The values of each group are formed on the basis of developing a certain attitude towards social phenomena, dictated by the place of this group in the system public relations, her experience in organizing certain activities.
Features of the socio-psychological climate in the group depend on what the student’s social activity was before entering university, on the influence of living conditions and activities on his personality, on his diligence in studies, etc. Research data also convinces that academic performance for first-year students, the higher the less homogeneity of the academic group in terms of school preparation, i.e., with unequal school preparation (received unequal grades on entrance exams), students of the academic group receive more high grades, fewer satisfactory and unsatisfactory ones.
This result can be explained by the fact that in heterogeneous academic groups there are more favorable conditions for the emergence of competition, leadership and mutual assistance. The success of student learning is higher, the more activists in the group with good school preparation who are different independent work during the semester, a higher level of intellectual development, greater mobility of psychophysiological processes.
A team cannot be judged by individual episodes from its life. Required full characteristics of this team, which includes the following basic data: a) social composition of students, age, personality traits; b) relationships of students with seniors, teachers and their orientation; relationships, moods and opinions in the team, authorities; c) asset composition: total number activists, the predominant features of their activities in the team; how the team evaluates current events in the country and abroad; academic performance and level of social activity of the team. The combination of socio-psychological and individual psychological characteristics allows us to more specifically identify weak links in the structure and psychology of the team and purposefully overcome them.
What are the ways to form a student body?
First of all, it should be noted that collectivist relations do not exclude, but on the contrary, presuppose the comprehensive development of individual independence. Otherwise, the team faces the danger of inculcating conformism and individualism inside out. The optimal ratio, the measure of unity of communication and isolation can be achieved and ensured only by scientifically based leadership and management. Here is a whole sum of issues of student self-government, its scope and boundaries, the development of social activity, initiative, independence, and mutual demands. All this requires a comprehensive concrete sociological study. It is important to emphasize that the principles of education in a team reflect the unity of communication and isolation of the individual, for this unity is the basis of the entire set of educational influences on objective processes in the team, the most general tendency of which is expressed in this principle. The central issue of this principle is the question of the relationship between educational work with each individual student and the student body as a whole. The leading role belongs to working with the entire team. In this case, it is necessary to take into account two points: firstly, the leading role of working with the team as a whole involves educational work with each student; secondly, the importance of individual work increases in the smallest units of the team (in the student group). For example, an institute committee cannot directly influence every student; leadership of the team as a whole is complemented here by individual work with each student in general, and mainly with the activists. This is all the more necessary since the student body consists of people who enter the institute for various reasons: some of them were guided by clearly expressed socially useful motives; others - equally public and personal motives; still others hesitated in choosing a profession; individuals pursued narrowly personal, selfish goals. Each such group of students has distinctive psychological characteristics that teachers need to take into account in their practical activities.
In the student group, friendly ties are strengthening and comradely mutual assistance is developing. The presence among university students of young people from foreign countries gives these feelings an international character.
Each student group has its own mentor, educator represented by a curator, who provides comprehensive assistance in organizing and uniting the team, and participates in the social and political events of the group. This is dictated both by the tasks of communist education of the younger generation and by the age characteristics of students, especially during the period of adaptation to university conditions.
Students, especially in their first years, do not yet have the necessary life experience and have not learned to independently carry out the main functions of the team - educational and educational. The curator must take into account that yesterday’s schoolchild, over the years of study, has become accustomed to the fact that in the social and educational affairs of the primary team he constantly receives outside help class teacher. Therefore, the role of the curator is, first of all, to unite the team, overcome disunity and alienation in relations between students, especially in the first year. The role of the curator is specific; it is not as official and categorical as is typical for production and army teams. The curator is called upon, first of all, to organize young people to achieve socially significant goals, captivating them with the romance of study and work, developing a sense of social duty, creative initiative and independence.
The student body goes through a number of stages in its development. The first stage corresponds to the first and partially the second courses, the second - partially to the second and third, and the third stage is typical for the fourth and fifth courses. The first stage is characterized by industrial and socio-psychological adaptation, i.e. active adaptation to the educational process and growing into a new team. First-year students learn the elementary requirements, norms and traditions of university life, on the basis of which group traditions and norms of behavior will later be created. The help of all teachers (especially curators) and public organizations is especially important here.
The second stage is characterized by established public opinion, a workable asset, systematic work to master future specialty, involving all students in organizational work. By the end of the second stage, friendly and demanding relationships between students are established, interest in common affairs, readiness for joint action, versatile knowledge of the affairs of the faculty and university, thanks to which the team can independently, without the help of a teacher, solve problems.
At the third stage, each member of the team becomes a spokesman for social demands. This is the most fruitful period in the scientific, professional and civic education and self-education of the team and the individual. Each student strives to fulfill a collective, and therefore personal task - to provide maximum assistance to his comrades in achieving their intended goal.
The team does not immediately become mature and united. Team leadership manifests itself differently at different stages of its formation. In this regard, it is interesting to trace the four stages of development of demandingness in a team, following A.S. Makarenko:
The first stage is organizing a team, selecting an asset. During this period, great responsibility falls on the curator.
The second stage is increasing attention to the activist so that he gains authority, becomes a bearer of progressive opinion, supports and implements the requirements and instructions of teachers, dean's office and university leaders.
The third stage - teachers and managers rely on the consciousness and cohesion of the team, on its assets, traditions, and public opinion.
The fourth stage - the collective acts as a subject of education. Teachers and the dean's office set tasks, suggest the most appropriate ways to solve them, etc. The team makes demands on its members and is capable of a certain amount of self-government. This is the highest level of its development.
In general, the formation of a team requires the following activities:
- 1. Formation of academic groups taking into account the psychological compatibility of people.
- 2. Creation of social and value unity by explaining the meaning of study, its goals and objectives, stimulating the work of the activists to unite the team.
- 3. Development of consciousness, creativity and friendship, communist understanding of relationships in the student body.
- 4. Strengthening the authority of the asset, increasing its exemplary character, prevention and psychologically justified resolution of conflicts.
- 5. Ensuring friendly joint activities.
- 6. Showing concern for students, taking into account their requests, interests, needs, desires
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