Technology of applying integrative agricultural-profile assignments as an option of pedagogical support of professional self-identification of rural schoolchildren

Introduction. The problem of pedagogical support of professional self-identification of rural senior pupils in the formation and development of effective life strategies based on such values as labour, professional activity and importance of its results for the development of the individual and the rural society in general is becoming increasingly relevant in the conditions of uncertainty and rapid changeability of the world, the emergence of the NEET generation, and the focus on sustainable development of territories, including rural areas. Many senior pupils lack ideas about professional activity in their life strategies, which significantly complicates career guidance at schools, colleges, and universities. The study aims to develop, substantiate, and empirically test the educational technology of supporting senior pupils’ professional self identification in the format of integrative agricultural-profile assignments in the teacher’s didactic system. Materials and methods. The data were obtained following the experimental work in 5 general-education organisations of the Kirov region of the Russian Federation. The technology approbation survey encompassed 291 senior pupils and 30 teachers, who were split into 2 control and 3 experimental groups. The effectiveness of the technology was proven by the progress in changing the components of schoolchildren’s professional self-identification. This progress was diagnosed through the questionnaire revealing the motives for choosing a profession (E.A. Klimov), the “ProfAssociation” test, the questionnaires “Career anchor” and “Identifying the personality professional type”, the professional fitness test by L.N. Kabardova, and the “Interest chart” technique (L.E. Golomshtok). The main research methods included the notional analysis of scientific sources on the problem, comparative analysis, and modelling. KEYWORDS Results. The authors developed a technology applying integrative agricultural-profile tasks in the didactic system of a rural school teacher, including 5 stages. The types of learners’ and teachers’ educational interrelation have been determined for each stage. A two dimensional classification constructor of integrated tasks based on labour content and place of assignment is proposed. The authors prove the positive influence of the technology – expressed to a greater extent on the progress of the cognitive component of rural pupils’ professional self-identification (percentage changes in the indicators of medium and high level – from 52.8 to 65.7 and from 9 to 25.3 respectively), and on the activity component in urban pupils (percentage changes in the indicators of medium and high level – from 38.2 to 56.7 and from 11.8 to 22.3 respectively). The technology and the constructor of integrated tasks can be useful in solving career guidance problems by pedagogues of general-education schools and those teaching supplementary-education subjects. Conclusion. The use of agricultural-profile integrative tasks in the educational process is proposed as an educational technology accompanying professional self-identification of senior pupils. The confirmation of its expressed influence on the investigated process has been obtained, which concerns not only rural but also urban schools.