Technologies of tutor activity in the educational environment of higher school

Introduction

The socio-economic development of modern society necessitates a change in the educational process in higher education, the purpose of which will be to create a pedagogically controlled and self-improving, adequate not only to the characteristics of the social environment, the educational needs of students, but also to the quality of their vocational training system. The importance of the initial stage of education in higher education for the formation of a competent specialist is beyond doubt (Smirnova, et al 2019a).

The urgency of the issue of students' adaptation is caused by the aggravated contradiction between the need of society and the state for high quality higher education and the insufficient willingness of applicants to enter higher education to receive professional education in the new conditions of interaction with the educational environment of higher education. Sufficient weak continuity of secondary and higher schools actualize this problem.

The interaction of the individual and society is denoted by the concept of "socialization". American sociologists (D.Dollard, A.Tark, etc.) in the middle of the last century for the first time turned to the consideration of this concept as a process of a person entering the social environment and adapting him to cultural, psychological and social factors.

Researchers of social and developmental psychology in Russia define socialization “... as a process of adaptation and integration of a person in society by assimilating social experience, values, norms, and attitudes inherent in society as a whole and for individual groups” (I. B. Kotova, E. N. .Shiyanov); as “... entering the social environment, adapting to it, mastering certain roles and functions ...” (B.D. Parygin). Thus, the definition of “socialization” in modern pedagogy and psychology is revealed through the concept of “adaptation”.

In modern science, various approaches to determining the process of adaptation of students are noted. A.K. Grishanov, V.D. The student’s adaptation is considered as a process of bringing the basic parameters of his social and personal characteristics into line, in a state of dynamic equilibrium with the new conditions of the university environment as an external factor in relation to the student (Smirnova, et al 2019b).
Yu.S. Babakhan, noting the importance of a student’s self-esteem as an indicator of his ability to learn, indicates that adaptation is always one way or another balancing of the internal and the external, the individual with the public. An important prerequisite for the successful adaptation of a student is the presence of his ability to correctly assess his abilities both in relation to the training tasks presented to him, and in relation to his schedule and the rules that determine their implementation (Vaganova, et al 2019a).

A.V. Siomichev, when considering adaptation as a process of adapting individual and personal qualities of a person to changing conditions of life and activity, identifies cognitive and communicative aspects in the field of students' adaptation as the main direction of educational activity. The researcher connects the adaptation of freshmen to the need to overcome difficulties when entering a new social environment with established intra-group relationships, with adaptation to new forms of learning. The second “critical” point is third-year education; it is characterized as a process of professional self-determination of a person associated with the beginning of professional adaptation of a person to his future specialty. These processes are considered as integral components of the adaptation process and are in a logical sequence (Egorov, E.E, et al 2019).

The study by A.G. Tereshchenko indicates that the dynamics of the development of attention, memory and imaginative thinking should be considered as a process that reflects the "adaptation" of students to the learning process in a university. An indicator of adaptation to the educational process is a change in the level of functions and their stabilization (Chelnokova EA, et al 2015).

According to T.I. Ronginskaya, the adaptation of students is a complex process when there is a restructuring of mental activity. This process is manifested in changes in the level values of individual personality characteristics and in changes in the relationships between them, as well as in different ratios of changes in different periods of the adaptation process (Chelnokova EA, 2012).

I. Kon understands adaptation as an active process of adaptation, a strong-willed reaction of acquired norms and values in a specific situation. R. Bibrih, L. Tomilina under adaptation understand the process of bringing the basic parameters of the student’s social and personal characteristics into line with the new environmental conditions of the university as an external factor in relation to the student (Chelnokova EA, et al 2015).

Based on the work of researchers on the problem of students adapting to learning, we single out the provisions adopted as a regularity of this process:

• adaptation to the training of a profession is carried out only on the basis of the activity of the student himself, in his interaction with the surrounding social environment. The decisive factor should be considered the harmonization of the interests of society and the personal interests of students in determining the goals and objectives of the pedagogical process;
• the unity of education and upbringing. In education aimed at the formation of a common human culture, an individual develops, who gains social experience, forming a complex of necessary knowledge, professional abilities;
• the integrity of the educational influences of the environment, provided by the unity of the declared social attitudes and the real actions of the teacher, the consistency of pedagogical requirements imposed by all subjects of education of students.

We define the adaptation of students to study at a university as an intensive and dynamic, multilateral and integrated process of life activity related to the development of an individual's stable skills to meet the requirements for him in the course of training and education in higher education based on appropriate adaptive reactions. At the initial stage, adaptation to the educational and sociocultural environment of the university is carried out, then to the chosen professional activity. Therefore, the entire further process of student learning at a university depends on the successful organization of adaptation.

Close attention is paid to the problems of students' adaptation and the questions of the effectiveness of the training of future specialists in such branches of scientific knowledge as psychology, sociology, and medicine. The dependence of the effectiveness and success of training on the ability of students to master the new educational environment of a higher educational institution is noted.

Theoretical framework

The domestic science in the 1960s, the Leningrad School of Psychology under the leadership of B. G. Ananiev, when studying the psychophysiological functions of adults, students were identified as a separate age category that correlates with the stages of development of an adult, representing a "transitional phase from maturation to maturity" and defined as a late youth - early adulthood (18-25 years old).

Winter I.A. when considering students as a special social category, a specific community of people who are organizationally united by the institute of higher education, it focuses on highlighting the main characteristics of student age. Students differ from other groups of the population in their educational level, increased cognitive motivation, higher social activity, as well as a completely harmonious combination of intellectual and social maturity. The age of students from the point of view of general psychological development is a period of intensive socialization of a person, the development of higher mental functions, the formation of the entire intellectual system.

Psychobiological prerequisites of student age are reflected in the specifics of the adaptation process. According to modern psychologists (K.A. Abulkhanova-Slavskaya, A.G. Asmolov, A.A. Bodalyov, V.A. Petrovsky, V.I. Slobodchikov and others), the process of ontogenetic development of a person is characterized by crisis periods marked by changes in the development of the psyche and the body, leading to the development of mental tumors. These neoplasms are characterized by the need to recognize their own life meanings on the path to becoming a person as a future professional, family man, citizen; ability to holistic perception of own "I"; to self-determination of their own behavior; creative self-development; to self-regulation of activity and behavior, a tendency to improvisation, non-adaptive activity; the desire for independence, independence; rapid adoption of all new, advanced; the need for interactive communication; in emotional attachment to the teacher, parents, person of the opposite sex; the need for the search for true meaning in life, etc.

Mental neoplasms, the most sensitive to the adaptation situation in connection with the beginning of studies at a higher educational institution, combined into the concept of student adaptation syndrome, include: motivation, emotional response, communicative comfort, human energy potential.

When considering the process of adapting students to learning in higher education, it should be noted the factors of maladaptation, which are characterized by unpreparedness for new ways of perceiving and processing information; unpreparedness for self-presentation in educational activities and in the academic group; dissatisfaction with learning; lack of ability to systematize knowledge. At the same time, physical overfatigue, an increase in fear of violation of the norms of behavior in a university, an inability to turn on and withstand a high pace of life are noted.

Education and communication in the new conditions for yesterday's entrant becomes the main and most significant activity related to emotional experiences. Emotion is a subjective attitude towards objective reality, it is a highly integrated reaction that encompasses the whole organism as a whole. According to the activity theory of emotions of V.I. Medvedev, emotions arise as a result of assessing the significance of goals and means of activity, as an assessment of their own significance (Palfreyman, D., et al 2001). Analyzing emotional experiences, we can conclude about the reaction of the individual to the success or failure of his behavior in the new environment. Thus, adaptation to the university, requiring the mobilization of both the mental and physical strengths of a person, tension, and the activation of all his capabilities, plays an important role in the energy aspect. For successful adaptation of students to the conditions of study at a higher school, the communicative aspects of this process are important: the student and teaching society, which are significant for the student, have a great influence on him through attitude, requirements, norms of behavior and traditions. Therefore, it is important to diagnose the emotional state of a freshman in a new social environment. Motivational factors are also determining the success of the adaptation process. Motive - this is what motivates a person to act in one way or another, it is an objectified need. The motive determines the behavior of the individual. Therefore, it is necessary to establish the motives that determine the behavior of students in a new life situation for them at the university; to understand why certain actions are performed, ways of behavior in learning and in communication are chosen.

The principles that correspond to the goals and objectives of education that teachers face are determining the possibilities for implementing these tasks. Subject to the following principles, adaptation to the educational environment of higher education will be successful:

1. The principle of humanistic orientation requires considering a person as the main value in the system of human relations, the main norm of which is humanity.

2. The principle of social adequacy requires matching the content and means of educating the social situation in which the adaptation process proceeds. Thus, the tasks of upbringing should be oriented towards real socio-economic conditions and suggest the formation of predictive readiness of students to implement various social tasks.

3. The principle of individualization of education involves the determination of the individual trajectory of the social development of each student, the allocation of special tasks for its adaptation to vocational training, corresponding to its individual characteristics.

Weak motivation for choosing a profession is also one of the reasons that impede the adaptation of students to study at a university. Some students have doubts about the correctness of the choice of a university or specialty. Freshmen begin to experience disappointment in the acquired profession. As sociological studies show, when asked about the reasons for entering a university no more than 45% of respondents say that entering a university is caused by a desire to get good knowledge and become a qualified specialist in the chosen field.

The main content of the process of adaptation of junior students should include the formation of a new attitude to the chosen professional activity, the development of new forms of the educational process, ways of assessing the results of educational activities, methods of independent work, adaptation to a new type of teaching staff with its customs and traditions, teaching new types of scientific activities, adaptation to new models of "student" culture, forms of use of free time.

Thus, adaptation to the university is considered as a complex and multifactorial process, expressed in student adaptation syndrome, the manifestation of which is associated with the organization of education in higher education and with the personality characteristics of students.

With the expansion of the forms of the educational process, the question also arises of the need to identify the general and special mechanisms of the formation and manifestation of adaptive behavior of students associated with the characteristics of a particular university system in the most difficult and critical periods of training. Of paramount importance is the development of measures to reduce the adaptation periods as much as possible. Studying the process of students' adaptation is important for the early diagnosis of maladaptive students and the correction of ways to adapt to the university.

Tutoring acts as one of the main directions of students' adaptation to higher education. “Tutor” - “tuior” in translation from English - teacher-mentor, teacher-consultant. The etymology of this word (lat. Tueor - to care, protect) is associated with the concepts of "protector", "patron", "guard" (Smirnova, et al 2019c). For the first time in history, the position of a tutor was introduced at Oxford, and a little later at Cambridge universities in the UK in the XII century in order to contrast the narrowly focused process of teaching a student in a specific subject area the opportunity to see and use the full potential of a rich university environment and create their own educational programs. The position of the tutor was introduced as the position of a senior, accompanying the process of each student forming their own educational program and providing advice in response to their specific educational needs (Markova S.M., et al 2013).

The term "tutoring" in the world of pedagogical practice defines the provision of assistance, support to students, providing conditions for their self-development.

Tutoring as a system of individual work with first-year students sets the main task to ensure their successful adaptation to training, familiarization with the organizational culture of the university, the standards and rules of life at the university. At the same time, the tutor is an intermediary between the student and the socio-cultural environment of the university. The main task of the tutor is personality-oriented help to freshmen (Ilyashenko, L.K., et al 2019).

Based on the foregoing, tutoring at the university pursues:

• social goals: the formation of professional intentions that meet the needs of the individual and society, the correction of understanding of the role of the chosen professional activity in the life of a person and society, the development and consolidation of sustainable professional intentions within the professional field of activity;
• psychological goals: the study of the “Image of I” in order to correlate personal characteristics with representatives of the chosen profession; their image and style of activity; in order to correlate personal characteristics with the requirements of the profession of manager; with the goal of successful adaptation in the labor collective;
• didactic goals: ensuring the continuity of the general and university systems of education, general and vocational training; consolidation of the need for self-educational work and work on professional self-improvement;
• educational goals: the formation of a belief in the need for professional adaptation, the development of a responsible attitude to work in the chosen profession, the formation of a positive emotional attitude to professional activity.

The activities of tutors at the university should be aimed at solving the priority task: creating optimal conditions for adaptation and self-development of the student’s personality. Types of activities of the tutor in solving this problem: counseling, orientation and psychological and pedagogical support of students. Also important are assistance in the social adaptation of first-year students and familiarization with the corporate culture of the university.

When developing tutoring programs aimed at optimizing the adaptation process, it is necessary to take into account that a person is a complex, multi-level system that is extremely open to social impact. Therefore, a systematic approach to the personality of students is decisive and includes: maximum informing students and their parents about the conditions of the upcoming activity in order to form a positive attitude towards the proposed changes in life; identification of personal characteristics of students through psychological diagnosis in order to inform them about the characteristics of neuropsychic activity and provide them with timely psychological support; organization of joint extracurricular activities for uniting academic groups, identifying adolescents with persistent phenomena of maladaptation; organization of individual and group correctional classes (Vaganova, et al 2019b).

Among the areas of tutoring for the adaptation of students can be identified:

• formation of students' readiness to solve emerging problems;
• socialization at a specific stage of vocational training, inclusion in the social (educational) environment and industrial relations;
• perception of social and professional experience, mastery of diverse roles.

Adaptation tutoring involves the use of technologies that are not educational in content or in organizational form, but accompanying and supporting students in the educational process, preparing them for later life. Technologies of tutoring activities are aimed at overcoming the emerging difficulties of adaptation, preventing the possible occurrence of maladaptation. Since it takes some time to adapt, to form relationships with new people, establish interpersonal contacts, and get used to professional activities, for some school graduates this process proceeds intensively and painlessly, for others - with emotions and worries. Much depends on the individual psychological characteristics of a person (such as the nervous system, temperament, character, value preferences, etc.) and on how well thought-out pedagogical conditions that help them to adapt successfully in the team, to feel their involvement in the educational institution chosen specialty.

Tutoring activities should be focused not so much on specific elections as on the formation of students' readiness to make elections, i.e. readiness for self-determination, for conscious and independent planning, adjustment and implementation of the prospects of one's professional, life and personal development, readiness to consider oneself developing within the framework of a certain time, space and meaning.

It should be noted the importance of tutoring to establish students' personal maturity, including the development of professional reflection skills, the ability to evaluate professional plans, their aspirations and opportunities; identification of students' professional abilities and reserves; development of the ability to “calculate” one’s professional future, to relate the sides of one’s competence to the changing demands of society.

Thus, the adaptation of students to the educational environment of higher education should be considered from the position of assisting students in their professional orientation, self-determination, formation, formation of social significant and professionally important qualities necessary for a particular type of activity and life in society, stimulating the manifestation of activity and meeting needs in self-realization. Tutoring involves the creation of conditions for a unified system of work for the diverse training (social, professional, personal) of graduates for independent work carried out within the framework of an educational institution and including the following processes:

• perceptions of the learning environment in a vocational educational institution;
• personality development by means of professional labor activity;
• optimization and regulation of communication, the student’s entry into the team and the system of relations adopted in it;
• disclosure of potential opportunities and compensatory resources of students for the assimilation of educational material in subject areas;
• formation of character traits, professional competencies;
• adaptation to existing requirements in society, values, norms of behavior (Vaganova, et al 2019с).

The criteria for successful adaptation of a student to study at a university are:

• value orientations of students;
• high educational motivation;
• independence in cognitive activity;
• interpersonal relations;
• a positive attitude towards emotional well-being.

Methodology

Implementation of technology tutoring activities in higher education to create pedagogical conditions conducive to the successful adaptation of 1st year students to the educational environment of higher education was carried out for 8 months in the following areas:

• diagnostic: the study of the personal adaptive capabilities of students, the processes of interpersonal interaction in a group, educational activity;
• advisory: organization of advisory assistance on building relationships with classmates and teachers; organization of independent educational activities and living conditions (for students living in a dormitory); updating knowledge and skills of working with students with low adaptability; individual consultations;
• informational: acquaintance of students with an educational institution, in the conditions of study, with the charter and internal rules; immersion in the history of the institution; communicative trainings, exercises on the formation of time management skills, independent educational and cognitive activities;
• Adaptation: consideration of the main aspects of the adaptation phase, the training of psychological self-regulation, exercises to relieve anxiety, aggression and fears.

We organized a pedagogical experiment, in which 58 applicants took part, followed by 1st year students of the Kozma Minin Nizhny Novgorod State Pedagogical University, Faculty of Management and Social and Technical Services Training areas: teacher training preparation profile “Technology and Economics” questionnaire conducted among applicants allowed us to conclude that most of the respondents consciously chose their future professional activities, this is a positive trend regarding the adaptation and professional development of future specialists. (Markova S.M., et al 2020a). To the question on the questionnaire: “What determines your choice of educational institution (specify specific factors of influence)”, we got the following results:

Table 1. Factors of influence on the choice of applicants of an educational institution.

In order to diagnose the adaptation of freshmen to the educational environment of higher education, we conducted a survey using the methodology “Adaptability of students in a university”.

This technique is a set of 16 judgments, in relation to which students must express their degree of agreement, and allows to obtain indicators of students' adaptability to the study group and directly to the educational activity (Markova S.M., et al 2020b).

According to the authors of the methodology, the adaptability of students to studying at a university implies the presence of the following features in the behavior and activities of students:

1) a satisfactory psychological and physical condition of the student in educational and extracurricular situations at the university;

2) acceptance by the student of social expectations and the requirements for him, as well as the conformity of his behavior to these expectations and requirements;

3) the ability to give what is happening in the university the desired direction for themselves and to use the existing conditions for the successful implementation of their educational and personal aspirations and goals.

The study involved 1 year students in the amount of 35 people aged 17-21 years. Diagnosis was carried out two times: at the initial stage of training (fall semester of the 1st year) and at the end of the spring semester of 2 hens. The interval between the diagnostics was 8 months.

High indicators on the scale of “Adaptability in the study group” indicate that the student feels comfortable in the group, easily finds a common language with classmates, follows the norms and rules adopted in the group. If necessary, he can turn to classmates for help, is able to be active and take the initiative in the group. Classmates also accept and support his views and interests (Gruzdeva, M.L., et al 2019).

Low on this scale indicate difficulties experienced by the student in communicating with classmates. The student is aloof, showing restraint in relationships. It is difficult for him to find a common language with classmates, he does not share the norms and rules adopted in the group, does not meet understanding and acceptance of his views from classmates, cannot turn to them for help (Kostylev, D.S., et al 2019).

Results and discussion

High indicators on the scale of "Adaptation to educational activity" indicate that the student easily masters school subjects, successfully and on time fulfills educational tasks; if necessary, can seek help from a teacher, freely expresses his thoughts, can show his personality and abilities in the classroom.

Low indicators on this scale indicate that the student has difficulty mastering subjects and completing learning tasks; it is difficult for him to speak in class, to express his thoughts. If necessary, he cannot ask the teacher a question. In many subjects studied, he needs additional consultations, cannot show his personality and abilities in training sessions.

Fig. 1. Diagnostic results of 1st year students according to the methodology "Adaptation of students at the university" (as part of our study).

Thus, the created pedagogical conditions, which include tutoring to adapt students to the educational environment of higher education, should be considered as one of the areas of educational work in an educational institution, which is based on the approach formulated by C. Rogers and based on the view of a person as subjectively free, choosing, creating his "I", responsible for the choice. (Smirnova, et al 2018e). In this case, the organization of the pedagogical adaptation process is aimed at orienting students to participate in free independent productive activities and communication, where each participant in the educational process consciously sets goals, chooses means, strives to achieve and evaluate his individual result, the result of the group and the educational institution as a whole.

Conclusions

Implementation of technology tutoring activities in higher education to create pedagogical conditions conducive to the successful adaptation of 1st year students to the educational environment of higher education was carried out for 8 months in the following areas:

• diagnostic: the study of the personal adaptive capabilities of students, the processes of interpersonal interaction in a group, educational activity;
• advisory: organization of advisory assistance on building relationships with classmates and teachers; organization of independent educational activities and living conditions (for students living in a dormitory); updating knowledge and skills of working with students with low adaptability; individual consultations;
• informational: acquaintance of students with an educational institution, in the conditions of study, with the charter and internal rules; immersion in the history of the institution; communicative trainings, exercises on the formation of time management skills, independent educational and cognitive activities;
• Adaptation: consideration of the main aspects of the adaptation phase, the training of psychological self-regulation, exercises to relieve anxiety, aggression and fears.

We organized a pedagogical experiment, in which 58 applicants took part, followed by 1st year students of the Kozma Minin Nizhny Novgorod State Pedagogical University, Faculty of Management and Social and Technical Services Training areas: teacher training preparation profile “Technology and Economics”