Shatyuk T.G., Candidate of Pedagogical sciences

Shchekudova S.S., Teaching Assistant

Francisk Skorina Gomel State University, Belarus

The role of a psychologist in vocational guidance process

The article is dedicated to the specifics of psychologist's vocational guidance activities in educational establishments. It covers the essence and core areas of vocational guidance provision for pupils.

In conditions of socio-economic transformations education system psychologists face complex problems of enhancing all the areas of vocational guidance by providing pupils with psychological help in their professional self-determination, because the world of professions has become much more diversified, the number of higher education establishments and work directions has increased greatly. The transformations should firstly aim to develop a personality, who is ready for self-determination, self-consistency and personal activity expression while selecting the future profession.

V.A. Polyakova, N.K. Stepankova, S.N. Chistyakova were engaged in exploring the problems of educational and vocational guidance. The concepts, methods and forms of vocational guidance process organization are covered in numerous investigations of V.I. Zhuravleva, N.N. Zakharov, E.M. Pavtotenkov and others.

Psycho-educational problems of vocational guidance were examined by E.A. Klimov, V.P. Paramzyn and S.N. Chistyakova.

In accordance with A.P. Borisevich and V.N. Punchik vocational guidance is “the system of social and pedagogical impact on youth aimed at preparing them for conscious profession selection; system of government measures ensuring scientifically substantiated profession selection” [1, p.5].

Vocational guidance process at school is considered as “the system of teaching and educational work directed at helping pupils to learn the necessary volume of knowledge in socioeconomic and psychophysiological features of profession with a glance to person’s individual peculiarities and labor market requirements” [2, p.4].

While analyzing psychoeducational literature the following areas of vocational guidance provision were picked out: vocational entitlement; vocational upbringing; vocational consultation; vocational diagnostics and adaptation.

Vocational entitlement lets pupils become familiar with the essence of various professions, its social prestige and requirements, with personal features and professional qualities that are essential for self-determination. It implies acquiring knowledge of the education establishments system and approaches to getting a profession, labor market condition and status of wanted professionals.

For effective arrangement of activities on informing pupils a psychologist must focus on the changeable world of professions and its psychological typology, besides a psychologist must be well informed about available vacancies across the labor market and be well aware of the economic situation inside the country.

Vocational upbringing is aimed at forming a need for self-determination as a professional, honest labor importance awareness, readiness to provide society with benefit by working hard, willingness to self-devote while reaching the life goals [4, p.11].

Vocational consultation is a system of helping pupils in their professional self-determinations, which implies pupils’ self-awareness, discovering their spheres of interest, aptitudes, character traits, temperamental attributes and guides their professional intentions growth [2].

Vocational diagnostics makes it possible to inspect the pupil’s personality and define the maturity level of his or her personal properties, abilities and interests. The inspection results are then inserted into pupil’s vocational inspection record book.

Vocational adaptation favors the adaptation to new working and social environment, to the specifics of a concrete specialty [5].

A psychologist plays one of the key roles in vocational guidance provision covering all the mentioned areas. The priority task of a psychologist in an education establishment is helping pupils in their professional self-determination, because the profession selection should be made consciously and must never be influenced by a chance factor.

While carrying out vocational guidance activities a psychologist should focus attention on subject relations with pupils, which implies pupils to become active participants of the process of professional self-determination — the subjects of their profession selection process.

A psychologist engaged in vocational guidance activities at school should hold not only personal and group hours dedicated to vocational entitlement, but also organize school-to-enterprise interaction to let pupils explore the working process specifics of different professions in production environment.

Thus for proper organization of vocational guidance process at education establishments a psychologist must pay particular attention to the following activity areas:

- exploring pupils’ professional interests, vocational aptitudes and individual psychological features;

- monitoring pupil’s readiness for professional self-determination;

- arranging trainings and role-games dedicated to vocational guidance;

- providing all the subjects of education process with psychological entitlement activities;

- psychological counseling of pupils considering their age- and personal specifics.

The result of psychologist’s vocational guidance activity is the formation of pupils’ readiness for profession selection, developing the ability to design and analyze their career plan and understanding that future profession selection is made on their own.

References

Borysevich, A.R., Punchik, V.N. (2010). Beautiful far-far away: what should I be? Minsk: Krasiko‑print, 17-34.

Grigoryeva, G.E., Litvina, I.S., Karaban, A.V. (2009). Professional guideline: study guide for supervising teachers. Minsk: Sovremennoe slovo, 120-138.

Tereh, V.S. (2011). Pupils’ professional self-determination. Minsk: Krasiko‑print, 36-40.

Tarasevich, S.V., Shalima, N.A., Kuprevich, O.A. (2007). Vocational guidance at school. Minsk: Krasiko‑print, 82-95.

Zakharov, N.N. (1988) Pupil’s professional orientation: students’ tutorial. Moscow: Prosveshcheniye, 199-217.