Theoretical and Methodological Approaches to the Essence of Professional Self-determination in Psychological, Pedagogical, Scientific and Methodological Research

The article actualizes the issue of professional self-determination of young people as a conscious coordination of professional and psychological capabilities of a person with the content and requirements of the profession to a person. The purpose of the article is a deep analysis of the problem of professional self-determination, the essential understanding of the concept of “professional self-determination” in the psychological and pedagogical context by different areas of humanitarian knowledge, as well as the analysis of dissertation scientific and methodological studies of scientists. Methodology and research methods. Different positions of authors, groups of authors and scientific schools that present this topic as a scientific problem are revealed, models of professional self-determination for different types of educational institutions and different levels of education are considered, theoretical approaches are described from the standpoint of which the process of personal self-determination is considered. Attention is focused on works devoted to the practical foundations of the formation of professional self-determination of young people in the context of continuous education. The conditions for the formation of professional self-determination are presented, the main one of which is the presence of cognitive and professional interests in students. Attention is paid to different stages of professional self-determination, starting from preschool age and up to building a professional career in vocational education institutions. The article highlights the tools of professional self-determination used in the educational process (career guidance lessons, professional trials, project activities, academic and extracurricular activities simulating any professional operations, excursions, work with professional studies, popular science literature, career guidance games, competitions, quizzes, etc.). In conclusion, a conclusion is made about the multidimensionality of the concept under consideration, the advancement of personality-oriented and activity-based approaches to the consideration of issues of professional self-determination of young people as the main methodological provisions, implying personal development of a person through his/her inclusion in a variety of career guidance activities, as well as the further evolution of professional self-determination as a process, in connection with the development of pedagogical and methodological science and society as a whole. It is pointed out that it is necessary to study the issues of scientific and methodological support for the preparation of future teachers for activities aimed at developing students’ readiness for professional self-determination within the framework of natural science education, as an important component of a teacher’s professional competence.