Student's Social Adaptation in Modern Cross-Cultural Conditions

Popova Anastasiya Valer'evna Pedagogical Department at Murmansk State Humanities University 183017, Murmansk, ul. Tortseva 11 naumenko.anastas@mail.ru Other publications by this author

Tarasova Svetlana Mikhailovna senior lecturer of the Department of Psychology at Murmansk State Humanities University 183038, Murmansk, ul. K. Egorova 16  tarasova-svetka@rambler.ru

Today the main task of Russian education is reflection and analysis of radical cross-cultural changes taking place in Russia. Interest to cross-cultural research is due to many unresolved political, economic and social problems. It connected with constantly emerging international conflicts and nationalism caused by the migration of people from the Caucasus and Central Asia to Russia.

Research of S. Tarasova, A. Popova shows that most of today's students are not socially adapted to work in an educational institution and do not have cross-cultural competence (70%). To ensure of students' social adaptation for future careers in today's cross-cultural environment it's necessary to create conditions for implementing the basic principles, tasks and functions which are clearly presented in a pedagogical model of students' social adaptation for cross-cultural interaction in professional activity ^[3]. The model is an empirical question, and includes a list of predicted activities contributing to the successful socialization of the teacher to future careers in contemporary cross-cultural environment.

The university as an agent of social adaptation to the future professional activity has the following tasks:

1. Identify organizational and pedagogical conditions of the university, which will help to adjust the psychological and social experiences of students and help to create an adequate position in the teaching collective.
2. Forming a high level of professional competence of students of pedagogical specialists.
3. Forming a cross-cultural competence of students and educators.
4. To develop the necessary personal qualities which contribute to successful social adaptation to profession in modern cross-cultural environment.
5. To nurture interest and forming valuable attitude to their chosen profession.

We hypothesized that social adaptation of students in today's cross-cultural environment will be more successful if:

• the process of training will include such subjects, which enhance by professionally-oriented content, and direct to practical training in cross-cultural interaction;
• forming of the students the necessary personal qualities to the teaching profession;
• forming of professional competence of students;
• organization of teaching practices, which provide social adaptation to the profession, and include tasks aimed at the formation of cross-cultural competence.

Today teacher professional should have a cross-cultural literacy and cross-cultural competence that will ensure a productive inter-ethnic cooperation and will adapt to professions. Cross-cultural competence will help the teacher not only adequately act in the currently available cross-cultural environment, but also be prepared to change it, be prepared for self-adjustment of its own educational activities, if the changing conditions required it.

Managing the process of social adaptation - it is an active impact on the determinants of its progress, timing, reducing the adverse impacts, etc. In organizing the process of social adaptation of pedagogical skills of students we have developed a package of measures to improve the social adaptation of future teachers in the current cross-cultural conditions.

As a means of increasing the level of social adaptation we see:

1. Development of training programs to facilitate social adaptation to the profession, forming a cross-cultural literacy, ethnic tolerance.
2. Improvement of educational practices programs.
3. Development of an integrated psychological and pedagogical support of students in studying.
4. The organization of psychological and pedagogical training which help to improve cross-cultural and professional competence of students.

In our opinion, one of the most effective methods of teaching students which helps to improve professional standards and cross-cultural competencies, supports and successful adaptation to the profession, is a lesson in the form of training. We have developed the training "Teacher's adaptation to the professional activity in today's cross-cultural conditions". This training accumulates the content of practice-oriented disciplines that contribute to the adaptation of professional activity, such as "Practical work of solving psychological and educational problems," "Social adaptation to professional careers in today's cross-cultural environment", "Psychological and Pedagogical practical work" and others.

The work at training lessons devoted to issues of professional and ethnic identity, the students’ problematic (professional and everyday life) situations, the personal characteristics which are important for the profession. The training " Teacher's adaptation to the professional activity in today's cross-cultural conditions," aims to develop some skills, knowledge and abilities which are necessary to establish the relationships based on equality of all participants in the psychological process of teaching in situations of cross-cultural interaction (children, teachers, parents).

Training goal: to contribute of the effective improvement of the process of teachers’ adaptation to the profession in a modern cross-cultural environment.

Tasks:

1. Contribute the cultural improving of psychological conversation.
2. Recognize cross-cultural stereotypes.
3. Teach the methods of self-regulation of emotional states in the contemporary cross-cultural conditions.
4. Increase interest in the application received psychological and pedagogical knowledge in practice.

In accordance with the goals and objectives of future professional activity, students must possess the following competencies:

• willingness to apply the practical knowledge in the field of social adaptation to the professional activities;
• ability to adapt to the changing cross-cultural conditions of professional activity;
• ability to apply the knowledge to explain the facts and phenomena of the educational process, to transform yourself in the interests of professional development;
• ability and willingness to differentiate the situations of social adaptation mechanisms;
• willingness to use productive ways of interact in different situations of professional and personal life, including cross-cultural;
• ability to analyze own mental states;
• ability and willingness to own autogenic training techniques and stress;
• willingness to apply the methods of psychic self-regulation in professional and everyday life.

The main methods: a mini-lecture, a group discussion, a group work and work in pairs, modeling, problem solving.

The training program includes 12 lessons (Table 1). Each lesson lasts for 1,5 hours. Training classes are conducted in a group of 8-12 people.

Table 1

Case work planning

Here are some examples of the most interesting exercises of the training lessons.

Exercise «The perfect man».

The participants of the training sit in a circle. The model of human put on the blackboard. Each participant in a circle calls the dignity of any nationalities («he is as generous as Russians», «he is as pedantic as Germans», «he has a sense of taste like Italians» etc.). The leader writes the quality next to the model. The image of the perfect man creates at the end of the exercise. If the exercise is interesting for the participants, they can continue it. Instead of the qualities they can call clothes, household things, which characterize the nationality on positive side. Thus, the group pays attention only on the positive aspects of different cultures and nationalities, and forgets about the negative, that promotes tolerance and creates a positive image of different nationalities.

Role-playing «Family psychologist».

Training participants are invited to play the following situation: a couple (wedded pair) comes to a family psychologist: wife is Russian, husband is Armenian. Their problem is in misunderstanding of the mentality of each other. They quarrel because of different understanding of the status of women and men in the house. The psychologist's task is in reconciling the spouses. He must teach them to respect each other as representatives of different nationalities and cultures. The couple plays their roles and does not want to put up and provides a variety of psychological problems. At the end of the exercise group discusses the successes and mistakes of the psychologist. Perhaps the repetition of the game with other members.

Exercise «The best nationality».

All participants are divided into pairs. Each of them chooses his nationality (except his own). Debating in pairs, they must find a compromise by selecting one. Opponents find the positive qualities of this ethnic group and its features during the discussion. Each one need to convince other that his choice is right. Then the pair combined with another couple and four of them are trying to find a compromise by choosing the best nationality. Then, in the eight and etc. until the whole group won't select any nationality, which will be the best at this stage. The exercise helps to rally the group. It learns to negotiate and listen to each other. It develops a positive mood in relation to other ethnic groups.